Check out this game if: you’re looking for a two player game that’s a step up from checkers, but not quite chess.
This game stands out because of it’s simplicity. This game feels like it belong among the ranks of checkers, chess, and go -more like chess than checkers because it has that extra layer (remembering what you covered and where).
Positive:
1. Easy to teach
2. Quick to play.
3. Teaches memory and planning ahead.
4. Never felt competitive -although I see the potential.
5. Like other simple games, I think this has a lot of replayability.
Negative:
1. Only 2 players.
2. Abstract game makes this a harder sell
3. Games can go long -but you probably know who will take a long time thinking about every move.
4. Although it has high replayability, you probably wont want to play too many games in one night.
Brief Overview:
The goal of this game is to get four of your pieces/colors in a row. You have 12 pieces, but they start in three stackable piles. You can move a piece from off the board onto the board, or from one position on the board to anther. When placing your piece on the board, you can cover (or gobble) another piece -either yours or your opponents. To move a piece, either from off the board or on the board, you can only grab the piece on top of the pile -which means you cannot move your piece if it is covered by your opponents.
| Number of Players | 2 |
| Age | 7+ |
| Time | 15 mins |
| Friendly | ★★★☆☆ |
| Teachable | ★★★★★ |
| Replayability | ★★★☆☆ |
| Creative Freedom | ★★★☆☆ |
| Inclusive (no elimination) | ★★★★☆ |
Versions:
There is a junior version and a few holiday themed versions. They all play the same.
Teaching Advice:
Don’t worry about explaining the concept too much, just show how pieces can gobble other pieces. Also, my house rule is once you touch a piece, you must move it -this discourages sneaking a peek of what’s below.
Link to Video Tutorial.
Link to Gobblet on Amazon.
