Who doesn’t love to be creative? There are loads of ways to express creativity and imagination and when it comes to my favorite, I love just looking at the clouds. All shapes and sizes, clouds can really speak to our creative thoughts as we try to make fun shapes and scenes from them. Today we are going to look at a game that challenges you to do just that and see how well you can paint a picture with the clouds!
Cloud Control is published by 25th Century Games and designed by Eugene Bryant. Graphic design is provided by Matt Paquette Co. The game is for 3-10 players and plays in 15-30 mins.
Setup and Gameplay
In Cloud Control, players will be attempting to shape cloud cards into recognizable shapes before time runs out. The game is setup with stacks of cloud cards placed in a 4×4 grid in the middle of the table. Point cards, timer and Shape cards are placed in the play area as well.
On a player’s turn, they will draw a Shape card and study the listed 4 shapes. Once you are ready you are ready to go, the timer is flipped and you begin. As fast as you can you are trying to get players to guess the shapes listed with the cards to make “cloud formations” out of them. You cannot speak, or use shapes that form letters or numbers but everything else is fair game!
A fun part of this is you can “animate” the cards to make them try and move and do an action. For example, you could make a car and try to have it “drive” by picking up the pile and moving it. The more you move it around and try to do the thing that is one the card, the better chance your fellow players could get it right. But one of things we learned quickly was that it can fall apart if you aren’t careful. So be cautious when moving cards around on the table!
Gameplay continues around and players are awarded points for correctly guessing it correctly, and the clue-giver is also awarded the same amount of points. At the end of the first round a Lightning round is played and all players participate in designing the lightning word. Players all vote on the best one which receives 5 points. Then the second round starts up.
At the end of the second round players add up all their points and the player with the most points is declared the winner!
Impressions
Cloud Control is a fun game that takes the genre of guessing what someone is creating and drops a new twist on it. The cloud cards are a simple way to get it done, and they stand out well on the table for those that are sitting around it.
This game is suited well for bigger groups which is a positive for those of us that are often looking for games that will satisfy a larger player count. We tried it at 3 and 4 players and it felt a little too small, especially with the Lightning round part in the middle. The rules include a version for playing in teams which also works out well in this game as a style that keeps more people interacting around the table.
I would personally love to see some extra shapes for the clouds to really make for some fun a different styles of play. The game lends itself to easily adding that in, so maybe we will see that in the future.
The clues on the cards are all very doable as well, which is a really nice part of a game like this making it something players young and old have a chance at getting done. Younger players may need some reading help but after that it will be fun to see what designs that they come up with to make the ideas in their head.
Overall I recommend that players looking for a new party game check this one out and add it to their collection. The ability to really paint a picture in the clouds shines through here and it is a game that is sure to be enjoyed by your casual and party game fans alike. Be sure to grab control of this Cloud game and see how it plays out for you!
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