Unhappy Campers Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have ever been camping, you know that it is not always a good time when we venture away from the comforts of modern society. Bad things are bound to happen. This is the theme that Unhappy Campers seeks to harness the joys or not so joyous moments when camping. While the illustration and flavor text on the cards help to convey that theme overall the came would be the same if the theme was something different. Unhappy Campers is not theme dependent, but that does not take away from the fun. The pictures and flavor text add some laughs while playing the game.

Unhappy Campers is a card game and at the core mechanically it is a set collection game. Mixed in with the set collecting are some take-that elements that can at times be frustrating. If you have played games like Rummy, Phase 10, or Uno then Unhappy Campers will be a breeze to pick up and play.

To set up a game you will first place campsites in the middle of the play area you will place one for each player plus one extra. Then you will shuffle all the playing cards, this includes all 100 playing cards and the 26 action cards into one deck. You then deal 5 to each player placing the remaining cards in the middle of the play area as a draw deck. Set to the side the deck of campfire cards. You are now set up to paly a game of Unhappy Campers.

On the player’s turn they will draw either 1 or 2 cards from the draw pile, or they can take the top card off the discard pile. Then the player can build campfires or claim a campsite. In order to achieve this the player will use the cards in their hand to complete sets of 3 numbers, a run of numbers or a collection of 4 of the same suit (Color). When any of these are accomplished, the player will be given a campfire card worth 1 point. For a campsite it requires a combination of sets and runs. Which is listed on the campsite card. Be careful though as during the game other players can play cards that disrupt your sets and run that will cause you to lose campfires and campsites. The game is played over a series of rounds. A round will end when a player runs out of cards in their hand. But to go out you must have claimed a campsite. When a player goes out all other players must return any claimed campsites back to the center of the table, only the player who went out gets to score the campsite. Other players do get to keep any campfires they gained. All the cards are put back into the deck reshuffled and each player is dealt a new hand to start a new round. The game ends when a player reaches 15 points.  

As I mentioned above Unhappy Campers is not theme dependent, it could have easily been space themed or fantasy themed and the game would not change. That being said, I enjoyed the theme as it brought back memories of camping as a kid and reading the flavor text made me laugh because I have lived some of those moments. The art and graphic design do a good job of activating a nostalgic feel of classic card games. The game is quick to play and easy to pick up, especially for anyone who has played classics like Phase 10 or Uno. My biggest gripe with the game is that a player can take a card from my sets which causes me to lose the campsites, especially if that stolen card causes me to lose the round and them to win or worse, they win the game. I don’t mind if some take that but on several occasions in the game it just ruined the overall enjoyment of the game for me. There are some limitations to the take-that like the Bear Spray card. But it is pretty easy to know when to play your cards to steal after a few games and you know how many bear spray cards are in the deck. With the game length being on the shorter side the take that for the most part is not an issue.

After playing Unhappy Campers several times at all players counts, I can positively recommend this game to fans of card games and casual gamers. The heavy-weight gamer may not find too much enjoyment out of this game, but it could be a great palette cleanser in between games of Twilight Imperium and Brass Birmingham. It’s quick enough to be a filler game and strategic enough to not be a mind-numbing slog. Plus, the humor is pretty good. On another note there is an after dark expansion that adds some more adult themed cards to the game (Make sure you take them out before playing with the kids, or you will be answering a bunch of questions),but they definitely add some awkward giggles when playing with people who weren’t expecting those cards.