Designer: Adrian Hoffman
Publisher: Cockblock studios
Year Published: 2021
A dastardly game of deception all in the name of a great dinner! Watch out for your fellow hunters and drive them into the rails as fast as you can so you can be the one feeding the family!
Turducken is a game for 2-6 people, ages 10 and up, and takes about 30 minutes after learning the rules and 45 to an hour the first time around. The goal of the game is to kill and keep one of each type of bird: chicken, duck, and turkey; to create a turducken. If you have all three birds at the end of your turn and you are out of the reload action, you win!
The rules are pretty simple, you can shoot at a bird (but make sure to name it first!), reload, draw /play action cards. You have a likelihood to hit that is different for each hunter that you have to roll above and each hunter has a special ability. Each hunter has a number of hits each bird must take from their weapon before they are dead. The action cards can be bonuses, minuses, or ways to mess with your opponents.
Review:
Overview:
On a player’s turn, they have two options. First option, take a shot at a bird. Second option, lower the reload die down one and draw a card. If shooting is the plan, the reload die must be down to one, then simply give that die a good roll. When rolling to hit a bird, it is accuracy equal to or greater than the number on the character cards lower right, it is a successful shot! Place a hit token under the target fowl. Every character has a certain count of hits it takes to successfully kill each type of bird. If the successful hit causes that bird to meet or exceed that number, the player takes that bird token and places it on the associated spot on the card, dead side up. Now, the fun can really start. The action cards that each player has can be played at anytime on any player. These cards are either blue or brown bordered. Blue ones are played, and they have an immediate effect, and then are discarded. Brown ones, when played, are left in play with their effect permanent. These cards can keep your birds safe from being stolen, can cause you to increase the reload value of die, becoming a +4 to your roll almost ensuring a hit, or even skip the next player. At any time, a player can discard three action cards from their hand to discard any brown card in play.
If the active player cannot take a shot for any reason or chooses not to (the right bird is not left), they can lower the reload die one number and draw an action card. Also, do not forget to use your character’s special ability whenever it applies. They are not one and done. Some of these actions can help you, and other ones can hinder your opponents.
The first player to have all three required birds for a turducken and have their reload die at 1 at the start of their turn, wins!
The artwork really elevates the theme of Turducken. The game is lighthearted and fun, and this is enhanced by the cartoony artwork. The components are well thought out. The player cards are a great size that allows for all the pertinent information to be read easily. The dead bird tokens fit nicely on the card. The reload die sits nicely in the upper corner. All in all, great graphic design!
The game comes with six D6, six player cards, 5 of each bird token, 15 hit tokens, and 50 action cards.
Turducken works better with the more players you have. If you only have two, you are limited to one of each bird, and every card you have MUST be played against that one person. All your choices are gone. You can even set it up to where your opponent must hand you the game. Once that third player enters the game, however, all bets are off. You have decisions to make. With four players, it gets even better. I am sure with 5 or even 6, Turducken would be a hoot! Wrong bird, whoops! I do fear though that higher player counts can make this game go on for too long. With so many ways to interact and hinder other players, reaching the winning conditions can seem like an impossibility.
Adam Collins – Reviewer
