Falling

Published by Cheapass Games

Designed by James Earnest

$9.95

Once again, Cheapass Games has scored a winner with their new game, Falling. To quote from the box, "Everyone is falling. And there's not much they can do about it. So the object of this game is to hit the ground last. It's not much of an objective, but it's all you could think of on the way down."

Physically, this game differs from most of the other Cheapass games. All you need is the deck of Falling cards, and since they tend to get abused, they are made from a sturdier stock than usual and have been given a box for storage. At $9.95, it still qualifies for the title "Cheapass," though.

There are no set turns, no concessions made to politeness, and no chance for second thoughts. Due to the rather chaotic nature of gameplay, there is a referee/dealer who keeps the cards moving and stops fistfights from breaking out. At the bottom of the deck are the inevitable Ground cards, and the whole idea is to avoid getting one while forcing one's opponents to end up with them instead. Besides the Ground cards, there are seven others that either affect how you are dealt cards, or lets you mess with the other players. All in all, the game is very elegant; the cards that are valuable in the beginning can be anathema in the endgame, and vice-versa.

To put it mildly, this game is a blast! While the playing time of two(!) minutes is a bit of a challenge for new players, it only takes about five games to reach . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: May 29, 1998

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