- “Ten“: Review of the card game
- This is how the ingenious push-your-luck card revealing game plays
- Information, evaluation and conclusion
For everyone who is not familiar with the “Push Your Luck” mechanism: This is about pushing your luck to the limit, i.e. deciding for yourself how far you want to go. The principle is often used in gambling card games, examples are “Black Jack” or “17 and 4”. Why this introduction? Because “Ten” is a prime example of a “Push Your Luck” card game – and a very successful one, as our test has shown.
How does Ten play?
The basic material of “Ten” consists of playing cards (number cards from 1 to 9 in four suits, plus money cards) and money tokens. A player’s turn always follows the same sequence: Whoever has a turn draws one card after the other from the shared deck, but always has the option to end the drawing. If you stop drawing cards, you can either take all number cards (to form rows of points) or grab the money cards.
If you decide on the currency cards, all number cards end up on a separate pile – the “market”. You can never have more than 10 (black) currency tokens. If you take the number cards, you place them in rows in front of you. But watch out: In this case, each player receives the value of all money cards that have just been turned over in the form of money markers.
But you can also gamble when revealing the card – and the turn ends immediately: This happens when the total of all revealed cards (all numbers minus the value of the money cards) exceeds ten. Or if the sum of all money cards is higher than ten.
Jokers start the auction
The money markers are needed for two situations: If a joker card is turned over, an auction starts immediately, in which each end of the game can place a bid for the joker. If you decide to take the number cards at the end of a (not gambled) draw phase, you can buy a card from the market. The costs correspond to the card value. Nice highlight: duplicate number cards can also be used to pay.
When the deck of cards is empty, the game ends. Points are awarded for each card in the longest continuous row of suits. Whoever was able to lay a complete row of 9 (although the jokers can be very useful here) gets 10 points.
It’s these small and ingenious mechanisms that attract us Ten like that. Although it is a simple card game whose rules are internalized after one or two introductory rounds, tactical possibilities are definitely available. Other plus points are the above-average material with the modern but not overloaded card design, the exemplary designed instructions (plus the short form on extra cards) and the high level of interaction. Actually, each end of the game only cares about his rows of numbers. However, since an auction can always take place during the uncovering, everyone must remain attentive at all times.
Information and conclusion: Simple to play and yet sophisticated
Ten is playable alone (but quite unexciting solo) and useful for two. But it’s most fun with four or five players, mainly because of the joker auctions. The only criticism is that the box could have been a little more space-saving given the contents. And that – despite the tactical options mentioned – you have to be able to live with the high luck factor in push-your-luck card games. It is not uncommon for a player to exceed the 10-point limit with the second revealed card and has “gambled” with it. If this happens a few times in a row, it can be frustrating because there is no way to actively intervene in the game.
That being said Ten a fabulous deck that performed well in our rounds of testing. A short and usually very exciting pleasure that is always served as a starter or a nightcap.
- Information about “Ten“ at a glance:
- Number of players: 1 to 5
- Age recommendation: from 10
- Duration: 30 to 45 minutes
- Publisher: Game Factory
- Authors: Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin and Shawn Stankewich
- Per:
- rules learned quickly
- sophisticated tactical elements
- high interaction
- good material
- Cons:
- Lucky factor typical of Push Your Luck
- Editor’s rating: 8 out of 10 points
Conclusion: gamble, bid, place card rows – Ten is as entertaining as it is exciting, and is also easy enough to be fun. Anyone who likes push-your-luck games will Ten love.
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transparency notice: To test the game, the publisher provided us with a review copy without further conditions.
