It’s time to be contributing members to our bustling neighborhood as we line up to create beautiful parks for all to enjoy. As designers we will all compete to build the best park full of attractions that will bring the biggest crowds to your entertainment district. If you are the quickest in the Parks and Rec department you will come out on top!
Today we are looking at the game Clipcut Parks from Renegade Game Studios designed by Shaun Graham and Scott Huntington and illustrated by Cold Castle Studios. It plays 1-4 players ages 8+ in 30 minutes.
Overview/Gameplay
In Clipcut Parks, players compete to build the best park from their tableau of park pieces all connected on a large sheet of paper. Armed with a pair of scissors, you will clip and cut your way into the correct orientations to match up on the cards in front of you. First player to match all of their cards wins!
Each round is played simultaneously with the following steps:
First players will Roll the 6 sided die. Each player will then Cut into their own park sheet at the same time. When you cut into your park sheets, you must follow the numbers on the die and perform every cut in a straight line from an edge. You cannot combine your cuts to continue on the same line and you cannot cut into a separated park sections as they fall.
Next is Build where players will take the park sections and build them on to their park cards. The pieces cannot overlap and must fit and match the requirements on the cards. Each type of color must match accordingly to the park placed. If there is a walkway those pieces must be connected on the same piece of paper. The Wildlife and Recycling squares must match the icon on the space and blank ones can be any pieces. At this point players will Check to see if they have completed any cards and if so they will take the bonus at the bottom and flip up the next card in their stack. Then take the next card and place it face up to build in the next round.
If you are not able to use a section you have to crumble it up in front of you. The first player to complete all of their sections wins! The extra crumbled pieces come in to play here because they are used to determine the winner in a tie-the less you have in front of you the better to be the winner!
Impressions
There are some great unique aspects of this game, and a few things that could be better. I would love to see some variety in the park sheets that you use and how they are applied. Once you play this a few times you start to get a feel of the best way to strategize your cuts based on what is coming. Maybe some different size park cards to handicap the game for different players.
This game is very different than anything else I’ve ever played before. Scissors are not something I ever expected to find in a hobby game box and I love that fits. It is unlike any other games we have played and yet still familiar. The matching and speed to do so is a fun twist, and you find that you really have to plan out the cuts and not leave yourself in a bad space with a bunch of pieces ready to fall off of your park sheet. Being able to knock out a few at a time is key.
There is a solo deck as well, and ways to make a longer and harder game mode. The Grand Parks are cards that are much harder to finish and can be a great way to ramp up the competition or even to use with kids versus adults in difficulty levels.
Overall Clipcut Parks is a great little game that can be learned and played relatively fast and gives you a speed based race to making the right combination. Kids and adults alike are sure to enjoy the unique aspects of this game right when it hits the table. For those that enjoy a good puzzle and really enjoy challenges to figuring out how well everything can fit together, this is the game for you!
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