Rack- 0

"Rack 'Em and Score Card Game!"

Publisher: Hasbro

Players: 2-4

Age: 8+

Game Time: 10-30 minutes

Objecttive of the game: "Rack up your cards in an ascending order before anyone does."

Board Game Contains:

-Deck of 60 Rack-O playing cards

- 4 plastic card of racks

- Instructions

Game Summary:

In this classic card game, the goal is to get your rack of cards sorted from lowest to highest. The catch is, you can't just rearrange them howevery way you want. The cards in your rack are placed in the order that that it was handed to you by the dealer. You have to slowly replace cards in your rack from the random deck or ones your neighbour has discarded. If you're the first one to arrange your Rack in ascending order then you may say "Rack-O" which immediately ends the game. The player with no runs only gets 75 points. The player who claimed "Rack-O" and has a run gets extra points. The first one to make it to 350 points wins the game.

Game Review:

I received this game for Christmas as a gift from my boyfriend's mother. The game is simple as stated above; arrange the rack in ascending order and you win the round, first one to score 350 points wins the game. The biggest challenge with this game is deciding whether or not you risk arranging your deck to get a run in order to get more points or just arranging the deck in ascending order (without any runs) and claim Rack-O. The decision doesn't usually come easy, the cards are placed in the rack in the order that it was handed to you by the dealer. You could just play it safe and just start collecting low cards and work your way up or vice versa. But, we're gamers! It's in our nature to be ambitious, to go big, always "risk[ing] it for the biscuit."

I enjoy this game for 4 reasons: it's easy to learn and play, can be played by almost any age group, can be played almost anywhere and you can have a conversation with your guests while plaing this game. First off, Rack-O is a super easy game to teach to anyone. It takes about 2 minutes to explain the whole thing. Second, Rack-O can be played by almost any age. I played this game with my neices, nephews and my grandmother on Thanksgiving and they all loved it. Third, it can be played almost anywhere you go. For people who love to go camping or if you're like me and wants to play board games in a plane- this is the game for you. It doesn't take up much room and the set up is easy. You just need your racks and a deck of cards. Simple! Last but not the least, you can continue to have a conversation with your guests while playing the game. It really doesn't take much brain power or concentration to win this game. I mean how hard can arranging numbers be right? So while you're arranging cards, you can carry out a full conversation about how your trip to Mexico turned out.

Despite it being such a simple, easy and fun game, there are a few issues with the game. First and for most, the game is more luck than it is strategy. Sometimes you get dealt a really easy hand to work with, most times the cards are so randomly place that you often start off with a "60" on your first card holder. The other thing with luck is who you're sitting next to. You better hope that the person sitting next to you isn't building the same deck as you, therefore they won't be after the same cards as you. Instead, they'll be throwing cards you need. Another issue gamers have with this game is that it's not engaging enough to be a center piece game or that there's not a lot of depth to it. If you're looking for a more strategic, logical and witty game- this is not for you! This is a family friendly game that allows you to have fun and catch up at the same time.