It’s time to face the fright as we join our friends into the eerie woods to see what surprises await. Will it be a monster, hidden terror or maybe even something worse? Let’s jump and see if we can survive!
Scream! Campers vs Creatures is a new card game by Ted Alspach and published by Bezier Games. It plays 2-5 players in 30 mins.
Overview:
Your goal is to have the safest campsite compared to your opponents. Numbers on the card represent the fright factor of each and combined that is your camp’s fright strength. After three rounds of trying to clear high numbers and gain lower ones, the player with the lowest cumulative score wins!
Gameplay:
Play begins by shuffling the deck of cards and then you deal 1 card face-up and 5 cards face-down to each player. Players may look at their own face-down cards once, then place them back face-down in their campsite. Determine a start player and you are ready to go!
On a player’s turn, they perform one of two actions. A player can draw from either the top of the draw pile, or the top of the discard pile. If you pull from the discard pile you must replace one of your campsite cards. If you draw from the draw pule you can replace a card in your campsite, play it for the action or just discard it with no use or effect.
A drawn card may be placed into your campsite to replace a card or multiple cards there. If you have multiple cards of the same value you can replace them and claim that face up or down cards are the same. Others can challenge this claim and if proven wrong they take cards as a penalty.
Cards numbered 5 through 13 have special actions and if you pull them from the draw pile, you can play it for its action or place it on the discard pile. You can use them on your pile or other’s piles and they can do things like flip cards, swap cards and discard cards.
If at the start of a player’s turn they have two or fewer cards left in their campsite they may choose to declare “Scream” instead of taking a normal turn. Declaring Scream ends the round after every player takes one more turn. The round can also end if the draw pile runs out.
After the round ends all players reveal their campsite cards and add up their card values. If a player Screamed and has the lowest score, that player scores zero for the round. If a player Screamed but does not have the lowest score, they receive a ten-point penalty added to their total. The player with the lowest score becomes the start player of the next round. After three rounds, players total all round scores. The player with the lowest overall score wins the game and is declared the best camper!
Impressions:
Scream is a game that is in the same family as Scram, also from designer Alspach and Bezier games. This one takes that light camping theme and throws it right into the darkness of the woods where players must fight to survive and avoid big scary monsters and things that creep in the night!
I love a good card game and this one gives us everything we are looking for in an easy to learn and teach game that has been a great option for our more casual friends. That being said, gamers and non-gamers alike have enjoyed the back and forth of this game. The amount of player interaction is perfect and allows you to feel like the game is interactive in ways that make it very enjoyable.
For those who are looking for a game that goes well for travel, or for your next family dinner or date night Scream is a perfect fit. It’s a lot of game in a small box, allowing you to take the game on the go and play in lots of easy places! It lives in my backpack and and car, we even played it waiting for dinner the other day and it went really well.
I love the design of the characters, the scary but not too scary artwork and the over aesthetic that makes this a game that shines in spooky game nights or any other time of the year. So grab your blanket and flashlight, head out into the woods and try not to Scream! when this gets to your table with family and friends.
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