I don’t know about you but I love a good, fresh piece of fruit. It doesn’t matter which one you have to offer but if it is fresh and juicy I will take it. Like the great performers The Wiggles once said: “Fruit Salad-yummy yummy”! Today we are going to take a look at a game that gives you some of those delectable treats and answers the question “what does it look like if you play with your food?”
Juicy Fruits is published by Capstone Games and is for 1-4 players. It is designed by Christian Stohr with art done by Annikah Heller and plays in 30-45 mins.
Overview:
In Juicy Fruits players will attempt to grow the best fruit gardens on their own island. Growing and collecting the fruit will allow you to add the best businesses to use and sell that fruit on your island along with supplying ships to clear more space to grow on your island!
Gameplay:
In Juicy Fruits players will each start with their individual board and then you set up the score and business board in the middle with the piles of the different fruits near as a general supply. The business tokens are placed face down on the business board. The ice cream markers are placed at the bottom with the milkshake markers.
Each player board is set up with 12 ship tokens taken at random from the two different scoring piles. These are placed in the bags to be picked without looking. Now you can start the game!
Juicy Fruits is played over numerous rounds with each player taking a turn. The game ends when a player causes the license marker to reach the end of the license track. The steps on your turn include:
Step 1: Move one of your collector tokens or move one of your business tokens.
Step 2: Supply one of your ships or claim one business token.
When you move a collector token you will collect the fruit for each space the token moves as per the type it is. You must move in a straight line and only in unblocked spots. You gain those fruits to your general supply. You could also move a business token like an ice cream cart or advance collector token to gain multiple fruit types or use them to make ice cream orders to sell as well.
In the second step you can supply a ship or claim a business token. When you supply a ship, you spend fruit to remove that ship tile freeing up more spaces on your boar dot move your collectors around on future turns. When you claim a business token this will allow you to add a new venue, stall or mobile business to your board. These additions will make it easier to change and add to your existing engine or secure large point bonuses that will also limit your motion on the board moving forward.
The game is played until the license marker makes it to the end of the track, then you finish the round so all players have equal turns. Points are added for any stall tokens and the game scores are totaled. Highest point total wins!
The game also comes with an optional upgrade to play called the Juice Factory that will add another track you can move along, spending fruit to gain victory points as an option. This is done with a third step where you move along one or both of your discs in the factory.
Impressions:
Juicy Fruits is a beautiful game in style and substance and once it hits the table you can really see how it all shines. The game is made up of some of the coolest components I have ever seen and the stars of the show here-the chonky fruit pieces. They are vibrant and large and really stand out in this game. I love the overall style and it all hangs on these pieces as the first thing that really pops about the game to us.
The art and colors in this game are grest also and really bring a fun, lighthearted air to the game. The style is appealing to gamers and non-gamers alike and I expect that anyone who plays this will be pulled right into the style as an easy attraction to this game.
Gameplay for Juicy Fruits is exactly what you expect when you blend a bunch of fruits together-it’s smooth(ie)! I love the simplicity of the choices in this game but how that allows for thoughtful and deliberate decision-making on the part of all the players involved. The puzzle sliding aspect of your personal board is a fun throwback to a style of toys we enjoyed as kids and lends itself perfect to this resource collection model in the game.
Overall this game is one of the he’s things I have played in quite some time and I love getting it to the table. It shines in appearance, theme and gameplay which is a rare trifecta in a lot of games. Your friends and family will love the colorful, fun pieces and how they make the game really stand out on the table on game night. Make sure to get this one in your collection soon and I’m sure you will love the quality and enjoyable gameplay!
Be the first to comment