There are a few different creatures I would not want to face. Vampires, Werewolves and really anything that is too scary would be a big NO from me. But the one I would hate to see the most: Zombies. Today we are going to look at a game that features zombies in the form of animals and see if we can protect our brainsssss!
Oh My Brain is designed by Bruno Cathala and Theo Riviere with art by Olivier Derouetteau. It is published by 25th Century Games and plays 2-5 players in 15 mins.
Overview
In Oh My Brain players are trying to empty their hand of zombie animals the quickest. Play cards to the center, play cards to your opponent but do whatever you can to get rid of them as soon as you can! Cards left equal brains lost for all players. Lose all your brain tokens and you lose the game!
Gameplay
Oh My Brain consists of a deck of cards numbered 0-19. At the start of the game give each player nine brain tokens and shuffle the 50 cards. Deal each player three cards and they start with a hand of two and one in the card holder to form the cemetery. This repeats until all players have six cards in hand and three in the cemetery. The other cards form a swamp deck in the middle of the table.
Turns happen clockwise, where a player will take a card from their hand to play and then refill their hand from their own cemetery. You must play a card higher than the value in the middle, and it may be multiples of the same card. If you use multiple copies, the extras go into the cemeteries of the other players. If you can’t play a card, reset the middle pile on the campfire and lose a brain token.
The round ends when a player finishes their turn with no cards in their hand or cemetery. Then the other players immediately lose a brain token. If all players still have at least a brain token left, the game continues. As soon as one player has no brain tokens left, the game ends. The player with the most brain tokens left is the winner!
Impressions
Oh My Brain is a simple to learn and play game that you can get to the table with a variety of different players. My friends and family have enjoyed new games I introduce to them but I find that they often want something quick and easy to play and don’t love games that take a long time to learn. Oh My Brain sits as a perfect timed game in my view for learning, getting it to the table and getting it played.
I love a good card game and the way this one plays out is a lot of fun. Hand management/card shedding is a fun style and people who are familiar with games like Uno, LLAMA, Phase 10 will understand the mechanic of this game. In that way it is a good gateway into different gaming for some more inexperienced players.
Oh My Brain as a theme is fun also-it’s all zombies and I really like that the art and style are silly and light. The character art is great and the little brains are cute. We had a lot of fun with the game characters and laughing at their fun appearances. If your kids are big into halloween characters and light scary stuff, this is the way to enjoy it without being too gruesome and gross. And the way it is packaged up is great, the box is made well and the way it comes out of the sleeve with a simple push on the small opening on the side is a great, ingenious design.
Overall Oh My Brain is a game that is sure to get play with lots of different people and levels of experience to the table at the same time. The style is fun, the gameplay is solid and smooth and sure to be a hit with your family and friends. So the next time you want to add a new card game to your table, consider Oh My Brain and see if you can survive the zombies!
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