Home with the three girls all day today on this cold President’s Day. Brynna had a friend over and Maddie was napping, so Abby and I played some Scopa!
Abby is much more into card games than board games. In fact, even among card games, she tends to gravitate to those with set rules (i.e. The rules aren’t printed on the cards.). Games like Euchre, Haggis, and Sleeping Queens are her typical fair, though she’s really enjoyed more themed games like Farmageddon and Boss Monster, lately.
Scopa was right up her alley! It’s got a fairly odd scoring mechanism (7s and a certain suit are worth more points), but she caught on quickly and won the first round easily. Unfortunately for her, she started playing cards I needed in the later rounds, and I ended up winning the game. I think as we both get more into the strategy of the game, it’ll get even better. The basic premise is matching ranks or sums of ranks. But the real strategy comes in when not matching (by choice or necessity) and looking ahead to what will benefit you and not your opponent.
We’ll definitely be playing this one again. I can see it going over well with our families, too. Looking forward to trying out the team aspects!
The game is quick to set up and play, and FEELS like a classic. The Gamer’s Edition from The Spiel is a quirky and fun edition that makes it feel fresh and new.
Let me know your thoughts!