Matthew BaileyI would have loved to be a fly on the wall in the meeting room at Tomy when someone pitched the idea of creating a “The Screwball Scramble Card Game.”
Today, we dive into…
Game 1 of our “weird mainstream dexterity games that clearly shouldn’t have been made into a card game” duology.
The general concept of “The Screwball Scramble Card Game” involves dividing all the path cards among the players, ensuring they each receive a start and a goal card. Players then construct their own personal map on the table.
On your turn, you must complete a task that involves dice rolling, such as rolling a five or lower or a three or higher. There are also obstacle cards that typically have slightly more complex goals, like rolling two of the same number or achieving a specific number in a certain number of dice rolls.
As you accomplish these tasks, your Marble person advances along the track. There’s a tiny bit of strategy involved if you can even call it that. Each player has modifier cards that allow you to add one, subtract one, add two, or subtract two from your result. The key is knowing when it’s wise to use these modifiers to ensure you don’t get stuck on a section of the track with less favourable odds of rolling what you need.
There isn’t much depth to this game, and luck plays a significant role, but surprisingly, the boys did enjoy it. Perhaps after playing 58 different board games over the summer, they were in the mood for something a bit less mentally taxing. One thing worth noting is that despite being marketed as a card game and coming in a relatively small box, this is 100% not a card game. It’s actually a tile-laying game, and it takes up just as much table space as group favourite “Bandido.”
Overall, I can’t give this game a resounding endorsement, but considering I only paid £4.50, and the boys have played it a couple of times and oddly quite enjoyed it, it’s not a bad deal. However, it’s unlikely to be the game I rush to bring out when we have friends over.
A solid C+.
