Board Game Arena - Winter of Games #7 - Review - 24/7:The Game

 

24/7 The Game (2006)

Players - 2-4
Play Time - 20 minutes
Easy to learn, hard to master, luck element

We are a full week into the Board Game Arena Winter of Games 2023 already and how time flies! The 7^th game we were presented with in this, hopefully annual, event dates back to 2006 and is a almost-playing-card based game called ‘24/7: The Game’. With a rating of just 6.4 on Board Game Geek, and yet another card based game entry in the Winter of Game series, I was expecting a quick “one and done” experience.

 

24/7 is a light abstract strategy game that involves using a deck of cards numbered 2-10 to create runs and pairs and other scoring objectives. The game is played on a board (see below) that restricts play and cards must always be placed adjacent to others. The concept is simple, the level of teaching is under one minute and the game is easy to pick up and play. I played all of my games at 2 players, which I feel is how the game will work best, but the game is designed for up to four players.

 

 

The game is played on the board pictured above. Each turn you are essentially playing one card adjacent to another, scoring points if you made a combo and drawing another card. The game will conclude when all the spaces are filled or each player cannot make a turn, and the player with the highest score wins. As well as your own moves, it does make sense to be aware of what combos the opponent is trying to build as blocking a high scoring combo could sometimes be more useful than scoring yourself.

 

Points are score for pairs, trios and quads, runs of cards from 3 up and if the card you played makes the run total 7 or 24. This is where planning and strategy comes into play. The run cannot exceed 24 so you quick learn that runs such as 10-9-8 are not playable and hence a hand full of higher value cards needs careful management. In addition, there are several 2x squares which will double your score if played on. As the game develops things get more complex as runs score diagonally as well as horizontally and vertically meaning that you may be unable to play a card  where you wish to make a run, as you realise playing it would exceed 24 on a diagonal run.

 

Although I would say the game is skill-based to a degree (maybe 65/35), the luck element is quite high. In some games I have scored high and won well as I drew the cards I needed and had a very playable hand. In others I had no scoring options for turns on end. Luck is not necessarily a bad component in a game but it tends to dissuade me from playing long term when luck factors in anything over a 90/10 split.

 

In all, 24/7 is a fun strategy game. I have enjoyed my time playing it, and I won’t rule out going back to it, but again playing on BGA does not entice me to want to go out and get a physical copy. The BGA model with the scoring and highlighting were you can’t play makes the experience more seamless than perhaps it would in real life. 24/7 The Game doesn’t feel original hench I cannot award a large score, but having enjoyed the game a low score would be harsh as well.

 

In summary, it is worth a try on BGA whilst its around, it’s a fun easy to learn game and ideal for commutes but whilst it does nothing wrong, it doesn’t break any new ground either.

 

 

 

6/10

 

Pros – Easy to Learn, simple to play, ‘satisfying’ combos

Cons – Luck element, basic card game, doesn’t feel original