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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Sheriff of Nottingham in Tabletop Games
Nov 16, 2021
One neat thing about the board gaming hobby is how many new games are designed/created daily. So much innovation, creativity, and hype surrounds new releases and helps keep us gamers hooked! That being said, what happens to older games as time goes on? Can they still hold their own over the years? Do they still feel new and novel to first-time players who are getting to them late? The latter describes me with Sheriff of Nottingham. I only received it for Christmas two years ago, and it has sadly been sitting on my Shelf of Shame until recently. So now that I’ve finally gotten it to the table, how does it hold up? Keep reading to find out!
Disclaimer: I have the first edition of this game, so the pictures below do not reflect the art/component changes brought in the recently released second edition. -L
Sheriff of Nottingham is a party game of bluffing, negotiation, and set collection in which players are trying to earn the most money by bringing their goods (Legal or Contraband!) to market. However, before those goods can get to your merchant stand, they must be cleared to pass by the Sheriff of Nottingham. Are you honest in your declarations, or are you trying to sneak something past the town authority? Bluff, bribe, or negotiate your way to victory and collect the most gold!
To setup for a game of Sheriff of Nottingham, each player receives a merchant stand board and bag in their chosen color, 20 starting gold, and 6 Goods cards. The remaining Goods cards are placed in a draw pile, with 2 adjacent discard piles. Turn over 5 cards to each discard pile, select a starting Sheriff, and the game is ready to begin! Sheriff of Nottingham is played over a series of rounds, and each round is broken down into 5 phases: Market, Load Merchant Bag, Declaration, Inspection, and End of Round. Important note – the player acting as Sheriff for the round will only act in the Inspection phase of a round. During the Market phase, players have the opportunity to discard unwanted Goods from their hand in order to draw cards from the draw pile or either discard pile. New cards are drawn one at a time, and you will draw as many cards as you have chosen to discard. The cards you discard will be placed in either discard pile, in whatever order you choose.
The next phase, Load Merchant Bag, is pretty self-explanatory. All merchant players will select up to 5 cards from their hand to place in their merchant bag. Snap it closed, and place it in front of you for the next phase, Declaration. In this phase, players will take turns declaring what good they are bringing to market. You must say exactly how many cards you are bringing, and you may only declare 1 type of Legal good! Even if your bag has multiple types of goods, you must declare only 1 type. Here is where your bluffing skills come into play! Once all players have made their declarations, the game moves to the Inspection phase, and it is now time for the Sheriff to act! In this phase, the Sheriff will get to decide if they wish to inspect any of the merchant bags, and merchants will have the opportunity to negotiate or bribe the Sheriff to not inspect their bag, or to inspect an opponent’s bag instead. If you make a deal with the Sheriff, you must hold up your end of the agreement!
Once the Sheriff has made their decision, they will either inspect bags or allow them to pass. If you are allowed to pass, you will take back your bag, open it, and add all goods to your merchant stand in their corresponding locations. Legal goods are known to all players, but Contraband goods are kept face-down. If the Sheriff chose to inspect your bag, they will open it and reveal the cards inside. If you were in fact telling the truth, and the cards inside are exactly what you declared, you add them to your merchant stand and the Sheriff will pay you a penalty for each Good card in your bag. If you were lying, a few things happen. First, any goods that were truthfully declared will go to your merchant stand as normal. Any goods that you lied about are confiscated by the Sheriff, and placed onto either discard pile. You then will pay the Sheriff a penalty fee for each confiscated good! The final phase, End of Round, has all players draw back up to 6 cards in hand, and the Sheriff title passes to the next player. The game continues in this fashion until all players have been the Sheriff twice (or three times in a 3-player game). Points are counted up – from your goods in your merchant stand, any gold coins you possess, and any bonus points for majority of Legal goods compared to opponents. Once all points have been tallied, the player with the highest score wins!
I know that I have said before that I generally don’t like bluffing games, but I think that Sheriff of Nottingham might be an exception. Yes, in some cases you will have to bluff about the contents of your merchant bag, but the ability to bribe/negotiate with the Sheriff takes some focus off the actual bluffing part. Can you convince the Sheriff to inspect another player’s bag just because you are trying to hinder that player? Or do you try to get the Sheriff to inspect your own bag, because then they will have to pay you a penalty fee for your honesty (this round, at least). It feels like there is more strategic gameplay here than simple bluffing, and I like the opportunity to strategize instead of relying solely on my (admittedly horrendous) poker-face.
Another thing that I really like about Sheriff of Nottingham is that it can technically be categorized as a party game, but it doesn’t feel like a typical party game to me. It takes strategy to play, and doesn’t just rely on crude/adult humor for laughs. This game really engages all players at all times, as you’re constantly watching your opponents, keeping track of what goods they seem to be collecting, and trying to catch them in a lie. The gameplay itself is pretty streamlined and straightforward, and that just helps to make it flow naturally and logically. The playing time is listed as 60 minutes, but it doesn’t feel like a long game to me at all. It’s just a light, fun, and entertaining game for really any type of game night.
Let’s talk components for a minute. Again, I have the first edition of the game, so I cannot speak as to any component changes in the second edition. But overall, the quality of the first edition is pretty nice! The merchant stand boards are nice, thick cardboard, and are colorful and clear. Perhaps my favorite part of the boards is they each have a turn order reference on them. Not that the gameplay is that complicated, but it’s nice to just have that quick guide. The Goods cards are good quality and feel nice in hand. The artwork is mostly pretty simple, but I like that, since the crux of the gameplay is in the player interactions. The cardboard coins are chunky, and the insert doubles as a draw/discard pile organizer – which to me is a lifesaver! Nothing bothers me more than unruly stacks of cards. The merchant bags are nice and mostly functional. My biggest issue with them is that sometimes the snaps are a little hard to open, and it feels like you might tear the bag if you pull on them too hard. To alleviate that, I just don’t have players actually close the snap, instead just folding over the flap, and that works just as well! Great production quality in my opinion.
So if I seem to like this game, why did I only give it a 4 out of 6? The simple answer to that is that I do like the game, but I don’t love it. It’s fun and serves its purpose well, but it’s not a game that I am dying to pull out every game night. It’s one that will stay in my collection for sure, because there are some occasions that are just perfect for it. But it’s not one that will ever make its way to my Top 10. All in all, it holds up well for being an ‘older’ game, but it doesn’t exactly have me jumping up and down to play. That’s why Purple Phoenix Games gives this one an 11 / 18.
Disclaimer: I have the first edition of this game, so the pictures below do not reflect the art/component changes brought in the recently released second edition. -L
Sheriff of Nottingham is a party game of bluffing, negotiation, and set collection in which players are trying to earn the most money by bringing their goods (Legal or Contraband!) to market. However, before those goods can get to your merchant stand, they must be cleared to pass by the Sheriff of Nottingham. Are you honest in your declarations, or are you trying to sneak something past the town authority? Bluff, bribe, or negotiate your way to victory and collect the most gold!
To setup for a game of Sheriff of Nottingham, each player receives a merchant stand board and bag in their chosen color, 20 starting gold, and 6 Goods cards. The remaining Goods cards are placed in a draw pile, with 2 adjacent discard piles. Turn over 5 cards to each discard pile, select a starting Sheriff, and the game is ready to begin! Sheriff of Nottingham is played over a series of rounds, and each round is broken down into 5 phases: Market, Load Merchant Bag, Declaration, Inspection, and End of Round. Important note – the player acting as Sheriff for the round will only act in the Inspection phase of a round. During the Market phase, players have the opportunity to discard unwanted Goods from their hand in order to draw cards from the draw pile or either discard pile. New cards are drawn one at a time, and you will draw as many cards as you have chosen to discard. The cards you discard will be placed in either discard pile, in whatever order you choose.
The next phase, Load Merchant Bag, is pretty self-explanatory. All merchant players will select up to 5 cards from their hand to place in their merchant bag. Snap it closed, and place it in front of you for the next phase, Declaration. In this phase, players will take turns declaring what good they are bringing to market. You must say exactly how many cards you are bringing, and you may only declare 1 type of Legal good! Even if your bag has multiple types of goods, you must declare only 1 type. Here is where your bluffing skills come into play! Once all players have made their declarations, the game moves to the Inspection phase, and it is now time for the Sheriff to act! In this phase, the Sheriff will get to decide if they wish to inspect any of the merchant bags, and merchants will have the opportunity to negotiate or bribe the Sheriff to not inspect their bag, or to inspect an opponent’s bag instead. If you make a deal with the Sheriff, you must hold up your end of the agreement!
Once the Sheriff has made their decision, they will either inspect bags or allow them to pass. If you are allowed to pass, you will take back your bag, open it, and add all goods to your merchant stand in their corresponding locations. Legal goods are known to all players, but Contraband goods are kept face-down. If the Sheriff chose to inspect your bag, they will open it and reveal the cards inside. If you were in fact telling the truth, and the cards inside are exactly what you declared, you add them to your merchant stand and the Sheriff will pay you a penalty for each Good card in your bag. If you were lying, a few things happen. First, any goods that were truthfully declared will go to your merchant stand as normal. Any goods that you lied about are confiscated by the Sheriff, and placed onto either discard pile. You then will pay the Sheriff a penalty fee for each confiscated good! The final phase, End of Round, has all players draw back up to 6 cards in hand, and the Sheriff title passes to the next player. The game continues in this fashion until all players have been the Sheriff twice (or three times in a 3-player game). Points are counted up – from your goods in your merchant stand, any gold coins you possess, and any bonus points for majority of Legal goods compared to opponents. Once all points have been tallied, the player with the highest score wins!
I know that I have said before that I generally don’t like bluffing games, but I think that Sheriff of Nottingham might be an exception. Yes, in some cases you will have to bluff about the contents of your merchant bag, but the ability to bribe/negotiate with the Sheriff takes some focus off the actual bluffing part. Can you convince the Sheriff to inspect another player’s bag just because you are trying to hinder that player? Or do you try to get the Sheriff to inspect your own bag, because then they will have to pay you a penalty fee for your honesty (this round, at least). It feels like there is more strategic gameplay here than simple bluffing, and I like the opportunity to strategize instead of relying solely on my (admittedly horrendous) poker-face.
Another thing that I really like about Sheriff of Nottingham is that it can technically be categorized as a party game, but it doesn’t feel like a typical party game to me. It takes strategy to play, and doesn’t just rely on crude/adult humor for laughs. This game really engages all players at all times, as you’re constantly watching your opponents, keeping track of what goods they seem to be collecting, and trying to catch them in a lie. The gameplay itself is pretty streamlined and straightforward, and that just helps to make it flow naturally and logically. The playing time is listed as 60 minutes, but it doesn’t feel like a long game to me at all. It’s just a light, fun, and entertaining game for really any type of game night.
Let’s talk components for a minute. Again, I have the first edition of the game, so I cannot speak as to any component changes in the second edition. But overall, the quality of the first edition is pretty nice! The merchant stand boards are nice, thick cardboard, and are colorful and clear. Perhaps my favorite part of the boards is they each have a turn order reference on them. Not that the gameplay is that complicated, but it’s nice to just have that quick guide. The Goods cards are good quality and feel nice in hand. The artwork is mostly pretty simple, but I like that, since the crux of the gameplay is in the player interactions. The cardboard coins are chunky, and the insert doubles as a draw/discard pile organizer – which to me is a lifesaver! Nothing bothers me more than unruly stacks of cards. The merchant bags are nice and mostly functional. My biggest issue with them is that sometimes the snaps are a little hard to open, and it feels like you might tear the bag if you pull on them too hard. To alleviate that, I just don’t have players actually close the snap, instead just folding over the flap, and that works just as well! Great production quality in my opinion.
So if I seem to like this game, why did I only give it a 4 out of 6? The simple answer to that is that I do like the game, but I don’t love it. It’s fun and serves its purpose well, but it’s not a game that I am dying to pull out every game night. It’s one that will stay in my collection for sure, because there are some occasions that are just perfect for it. But it’s not one that will ever make its way to my Top 10. All in all, it holds up well for being an ‘older’ game, but it doesn’t exactly have me jumping up and down to play. That’s why Purple Phoenix Games gives this one an 11 / 18.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Starlight Stage in Tabletop Games
Jul 25, 2019
Your talent agency is failing. All you have available are rookies looking for their big breaks. However, they will take almost any work you can give them, and they can use their experience to reinvent themselves to bring greater visibility to your agency and greater star power for themselves. Do you have what it takes to show them their true potential and set them up for success? Or will your skills in talent management sink your ship before leaving the harbor? Let’s find out.
DISCLAIMER: I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rule book, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy from the publisher directly or from your FLGS. -T
Starlight Stage is a deck building, card drafting, and set collection game with a very unique theme and art style. As with all deck builders, players start with a hand of beginner cards. In this case, all players are dealt the same hand of starter idol, model, and actress cards. These are collectively called “Idols,” which is confusing, but I will address that in my summary. Essentially, each different type of idol provides you with a different type of currency/energy/power/resource to use when buying or drafting newer, more powerful cards.
On your turn you MAY flip over a card from one of the three decks available – Idol, Fame, or Event cards. Then you play cards from your hand in order to acquire more cards from the offer rows. Typically, you may only use one idol card per purchase, unless you are purchasing an Event card – you may send more than one idol to an Event. If there are no cards that you want, or that you can afford to purchase, you may “take a lesson,” by grabbing a resource token.
Tired of using just the starter idol cards all the time? Idols may reinvent themselves to become stronger. You do this by exchanging your starter (or upgraded) idol card and adding supporting cards and tokens to purchase a stronger idol card. These will typically provide more currency used to purchase more and better cards from the offer rows as well as providing more end game VPs. Example (shown below): exchange your starting Model idol card (blue diamond) plus several other supporting cards and tokens to transform your current Model into Super Idol Saori Tenkawa, who now provides you with one of each resource each time she is played.
Play continues until the Fame deck runs out, and points from cards are tallied to determine the winner.
Components: This game is a ton of cards and some resource tokens. The cards are great quality and will hold up well to repeated use, but super fans of the game may want to sleeve them, as the cards will be handled quite a bit. The tokens are typical cardboard chits and feature the diamond, heart, or music note symbols that are used throughout the game. Overall, production quality is pretty good.
So here’s the rub. When I pulled this out to play with Josh and Laura, we were immediately impacted by the art on the cards. When I started to explain the game mechanics and flow, Laura just COULD NOT contain her giggles as I tried to tactfully cover how to make your girls do jobs and attend events so that they can later upgrade themselves. I have to admit, the theme is not one I am accustomed to nor one that I can really get behind. I understand I come from a different culture background than that which is depicted in this game, but the theme is a definite detraction for us. Similarly, the art on the cards ranges from cute and uniquely anime to outright demeaning and near softcore hentai (there is no real NSFW artwork on the cards, but I certainly will not be playing this with my son until he’s at least 18). The idea of employing only young females and assigning them to different jobs to gain more fame or sending them to photo shoot events in skimpy clothing is just not very PC and not very 21st Century American. Again, I cannot stress enough that I do understand where this game comes from and the intended audience, but that intended audience is certainly not a group of highly inclusive, mostly minority, LGBTQIA member and allies, gender equal, 30-something board game enthusiasts and reviewers.
That said, the game itself can provide an interesting play session, but I highly recommend only playing with a specific group of people that you know will tolerate its suggestive art and overtones. For us at Purple Phoenix Games, we suggest Starlight Stage consider reinventing itself with a different theme. Also, I think some alternate terminology could be used for the Idol deck of cards that contain Idol, Model, and Actress cards. A minor quip, but it should be stated. Perhaps with some “Americanizing,” or at least having it be more PC, it would then overcome its 6/18 score and be invited to Hollywood with Simon Cowell.
DISCLAIMER: I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rule book, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy from the publisher directly or from your FLGS. -T
Starlight Stage is a deck building, card drafting, and set collection game with a very unique theme and art style. As with all deck builders, players start with a hand of beginner cards. In this case, all players are dealt the same hand of starter idol, model, and actress cards. These are collectively called “Idols,” which is confusing, but I will address that in my summary. Essentially, each different type of idol provides you with a different type of currency/energy/power/resource to use when buying or drafting newer, more powerful cards.
On your turn you MAY flip over a card from one of the three decks available – Idol, Fame, or Event cards. Then you play cards from your hand in order to acquire more cards from the offer rows. Typically, you may only use one idol card per purchase, unless you are purchasing an Event card – you may send more than one idol to an Event. If there are no cards that you want, or that you can afford to purchase, you may “take a lesson,” by grabbing a resource token.
Tired of using just the starter idol cards all the time? Idols may reinvent themselves to become stronger. You do this by exchanging your starter (or upgraded) idol card and adding supporting cards and tokens to purchase a stronger idol card. These will typically provide more currency used to purchase more and better cards from the offer rows as well as providing more end game VPs. Example (shown below): exchange your starting Model idol card (blue diamond) plus several other supporting cards and tokens to transform your current Model into Super Idol Saori Tenkawa, who now provides you with one of each resource each time she is played.
Play continues until the Fame deck runs out, and points from cards are tallied to determine the winner.
Components: This game is a ton of cards and some resource tokens. The cards are great quality and will hold up well to repeated use, but super fans of the game may want to sleeve them, as the cards will be handled quite a bit. The tokens are typical cardboard chits and feature the diamond, heart, or music note symbols that are used throughout the game. Overall, production quality is pretty good.
So here’s the rub. When I pulled this out to play with Josh and Laura, we were immediately impacted by the art on the cards. When I started to explain the game mechanics and flow, Laura just COULD NOT contain her giggles as I tried to tactfully cover how to make your girls do jobs and attend events so that they can later upgrade themselves. I have to admit, the theme is not one I am accustomed to nor one that I can really get behind. I understand I come from a different culture background than that which is depicted in this game, but the theme is a definite detraction for us. Similarly, the art on the cards ranges from cute and uniquely anime to outright demeaning and near softcore hentai (there is no real NSFW artwork on the cards, but I certainly will not be playing this with my son until he’s at least 18). The idea of employing only young females and assigning them to different jobs to gain more fame or sending them to photo shoot events in skimpy clothing is just not very PC and not very 21st Century American. Again, I cannot stress enough that I do understand where this game comes from and the intended audience, but that intended audience is certainly not a group of highly inclusive, mostly minority, LGBTQIA member and allies, gender equal, 30-something board game enthusiasts and reviewers.
That said, the game itself can provide an interesting play session, but I highly recommend only playing with a specific group of people that you know will tolerate its suggestive art and overtones. For us at Purple Phoenix Games, we suggest Starlight Stage consider reinventing itself with a different theme. Also, I think some alternate terminology could be used for the Idol deck of cards that contain Idol, Model, and Actress cards. A minor quip, but it should be stated. Perhaps with some “Americanizing,” or at least having it be more PC, it would then overcome its 6/18 score and be invited to Hollywood with Simon Cowell.
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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Taco Ninja Adventure in Tabletop Games
Feb 15, 2021
Hello, my name is Travis Lopez. I review board games. I am half Mexican and half European mutt. I like tacos. I like ninjas. I like adventures. That all said, I knew I had to try a game entitled Taco Ninja Adventure right away, just because I like all those things mentioned. Did this one bring the salsa, or did it leave me with a soggy bottom mess?
Taco Ninja Adventure is a card battling game for two to six players where each player will control at least one Taco Ninja. It’s a taco head with a bipedal humanoid body. And they know ninjutsu. These ninjas duke it out on the battlefield to display the greatest technical skills and the Taco Ninja team that can deliver the final bite to the opponents will be the winner.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup each team (in my case I played two player so we each controlled two Taco Ninjas) will choose their Taco Ninjas in alternating fashion and begin the game in the Battlefield (near each other on the table). The Item and Attack card decks are to be shuffled and the first three Attack card revealed to create a market row. Each player draws two Item cards to be kept secret from the opposing team and a life tracker with the cube on 30 HP. The death battle may now begin!
On a turn the player will decide whether they would like to stay on the Battlefield to fight or retreat to the Dojo to retool. If they remain on the Battlefield the active Taco Ninja will choose an opponent also on the Battlefield to target. Three Yahtzee-style dice rolls later the attacking Taco Ninja will either deliver damage to the opponent, heal themselves, or draw an Item card to be used on a later turn. Each of these results are compared against a reference card that shows successful attacks for 3 of a Kind, 4 of a Kind, Full House, and 5 of a Kind for maximum damage. Rolling two pairs yields an Item card and either 4 or 5 in a row yields healing to the active Taco Ninja.
Should the Taco Ninja wish to retreat to the Dojo they may instead draw either an Item card, one of the face-up Attack cards, or an Attack card blindly from the top of the deck. Item cards can be played on the owner’s turn or out of turn in some cases. Attack cards usually will add damage to successful attacks if its specific dice roll requirement is met.
Once a Taco Ninja is knocked out from sustaining too much damage they are sent to the Afterlife. While a Taco Ninja exists in the Afterlife they will still take turns rolling. They can roll certain results to heal their teammate still on Earth or even reincarnate if the correct result is rolled.
When one team has sent both of their Taco Ninjas to the Afterlife they are finished and the winning team may devour their remains. If these are actually cannibalistic anthropomorphic tacos.
Components. This game is mostly cards with a few cubes, five dice, and a cloth drawstring bag. The cards are all fine, the cubes of normal quality and brown and orange in color, and the dice are the small dice (maybe 12mm?). The art style throughout is obviously cartoony tacos, so it invokes a feeling of silliness that I appreciate. I do not really know what the bag is for other than to protect the cubes and dice in the box? In the rules it mentions a first-player marker, which I found none of in the box, so I used the bag as that marker. It’s a nice bag. No problems with the components from me.
I do have a slight grumble with the name of the game, however. This is a head-to-head card and dice-based deathmatch. Unfortunately the Taco Ninjas do not actually go out adventuring, just battling and dying. So I think a more apropos title could have been Taco Ninja Crunchfest or On Eating Taco Ninjas. That’s ridiculous and I am sorry for making you read this paragraph.
All in all the game is actually quite a good time. It is very light and simple to learn, but strategizing attacks and when to retreat to grab more Item and Attack cards is great. Yes, at the end of the day all turns are decided by dice rolls, so no amount of strategy should logically work fully, but it is still fun to just roll dice and demolish some tacos in the process. Please do not expect anything more than a nice little filler game here. A game night probably will not revolve around Taco Ninja Adventure, but perhaps several games using different characters or a round-robin tournament could be enjoyable.
That said, Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a delicious 8 / 12. It is highly portable, very light, appetizingly fun, and has a unique theme. If you are looking for a good solid filler game that is a bit different in style and theme than most, I would have you take a look at Taco Ninja Adventure. It might just be the cardboard antipasto you have been seeking.
Taco Ninja Adventure is a card battling game for two to six players where each player will control at least one Taco Ninja. It’s a taco head with a bipedal humanoid body. And they know ninjutsu. These ninjas duke it out on the battlefield to display the greatest technical skills and the Taco Ninja team that can deliver the final bite to the opponents will be the winner.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup each team (in my case I played two player so we each controlled two Taco Ninjas) will choose their Taco Ninjas in alternating fashion and begin the game in the Battlefield (near each other on the table). The Item and Attack card decks are to be shuffled and the first three Attack card revealed to create a market row. Each player draws two Item cards to be kept secret from the opposing team and a life tracker with the cube on 30 HP. The death battle may now begin!
On a turn the player will decide whether they would like to stay on the Battlefield to fight or retreat to the Dojo to retool. If they remain on the Battlefield the active Taco Ninja will choose an opponent also on the Battlefield to target. Three Yahtzee-style dice rolls later the attacking Taco Ninja will either deliver damage to the opponent, heal themselves, or draw an Item card to be used on a later turn. Each of these results are compared against a reference card that shows successful attacks for 3 of a Kind, 4 of a Kind, Full House, and 5 of a Kind for maximum damage. Rolling two pairs yields an Item card and either 4 or 5 in a row yields healing to the active Taco Ninja.
Should the Taco Ninja wish to retreat to the Dojo they may instead draw either an Item card, one of the face-up Attack cards, or an Attack card blindly from the top of the deck. Item cards can be played on the owner’s turn or out of turn in some cases. Attack cards usually will add damage to successful attacks if its specific dice roll requirement is met.
Once a Taco Ninja is knocked out from sustaining too much damage they are sent to the Afterlife. While a Taco Ninja exists in the Afterlife they will still take turns rolling. They can roll certain results to heal their teammate still on Earth or even reincarnate if the correct result is rolled.
When one team has sent both of their Taco Ninjas to the Afterlife they are finished and the winning team may devour their remains. If these are actually cannibalistic anthropomorphic tacos.
Components. This game is mostly cards with a few cubes, five dice, and a cloth drawstring bag. The cards are all fine, the cubes of normal quality and brown and orange in color, and the dice are the small dice (maybe 12mm?). The art style throughout is obviously cartoony tacos, so it invokes a feeling of silliness that I appreciate. I do not really know what the bag is for other than to protect the cubes and dice in the box? In the rules it mentions a first-player marker, which I found none of in the box, so I used the bag as that marker. It’s a nice bag. No problems with the components from me.
I do have a slight grumble with the name of the game, however. This is a head-to-head card and dice-based deathmatch. Unfortunately the Taco Ninjas do not actually go out adventuring, just battling and dying. So I think a more apropos title could have been Taco Ninja Crunchfest or On Eating Taco Ninjas. That’s ridiculous and I am sorry for making you read this paragraph.
All in all the game is actually quite a good time. It is very light and simple to learn, but strategizing attacks and when to retreat to grab more Item and Attack cards is great. Yes, at the end of the day all turns are decided by dice rolls, so no amount of strategy should logically work fully, but it is still fun to just roll dice and demolish some tacos in the process. Please do not expect anything more than a nice little filler game here. A game night probably will not revolve around Taco Ninja Adventure, but perhaps several games using different characters or a round-robin tournament could be enjoyable.
That said, Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a delicious 8 / 12. It is highly portable, very light, appetizingly fun, and has a unique theme. If you are looking for a good solid filler game that is a bit different in style and theme than most, I would have you take a look at Taco Ninja Adventure. It might just be the cardboard antipasto you have been seeking.
