From the team that brought you Fire Tower, Punch Bowl is coming soon to Kickstarter.
“When life gives you giant fruits, make giant punch.”
- Ages: 14+
- 2-4 Players
- 30-45 Minutes
- Publisher: Runaway Parade Games
Note regarding player count: There may be an option for a 5th player and/or solo mode through the Kickstarter. Follow the link above for more details.
Components
- 4 Supply Boards
- 3 Punches
- 1 Orchard
- 48 Revel Cards
- 18 Recipe Cards
- 3 Ladles
- 68 Fruit Gems
- 1 Serving Die
- 4 Seltzers
- 20 Ice Cubes
- 4 Cups
- 6 Gold Rings
Gameplay Overview
Over the course of the game players are trying to have the most overflowing cup of punch by collecting the most fruits, ice cubes, and seltzer. The player with the most pieces in their cup wins.
Players each have a fruit they align with, which is their faction. For example, if you have the lemon deck, a lemon marks your section of the punch bowl.
Rounds
Punch Bowl plays over rounds.
At the beginning of the round is the Selection Phase. All players simultaneously draw three cards from their decks in the Revel pile. From those three cards one card will be played during the round. The second rests and will be saved for later in the game. Finally, the third is trashed, and discarded from the game. Punch Bowl utilizes a deck deconstruction, as opposed to deck building. Every round players remove one Revel Card of their choice from their personal deck. This mechanic is easy to understand and changes the choices each player has moving forward in the rounds.
Next is the Action Phase. In this phase, players one at a time complete the action on their Revel card they have selected for this round. The cards have one or more actions to complete. Players must complete the actions in the order listed on the card.
The third and final step of the round it Serving. The first player of the round rolls the Serving Die (which also doubles as the first player marker). This die indicates which punch bowl advances closer to serving, and players add a ladle to the bowl. A punch bowl is ready to be served when the second ladle is added to the punch. However, if the recipe card has a ladle on it, the indicated punch moves right to serving.
Serving a Punch
When a punch needs to be served players look to the recipe card attached to that bowl of punch to see if there is a serve icon on the card. The icon of clinking glasses represents serving. The player with the most points of fruit or seltzer in their section of the punch bowl wins. A second place scores as well. There can be ties in first or second place but not both. Wining first or second is how players add punch to their personal cups and ultimately score points at the end of the game.
Special Ingredients and Seltzer
The Special Ingredient is either indicated in the recipe card or is the first fruit added to the punch bowl. The Special Ingredient scores additional points when the punch serves. Instead of adding a fruit to the punch bowl, players can add their seltzer. The seltzer adds a point to a player’s cup at the end of the game, but removes two points if it remains unplayed when the game ends,
Bonuses
Some recipe cards have a bonus shown at the bottom of a specific combination of fruits that a player needs to have in their section of the punch bowl. Once a player meets that condition, they add two ice cubes to their cup. No other player can collect the bonus for that recipe.
Players can also earn a Faction bonus. When a player wins first place with a punch bowl, and the special ingredient matches their faction, the player adds a ice cube to their cup.
Family Game Assessment
Punch Bowl is a cozy game great for families. The rules are easy to follow with enough choice to keep it interesting without an overwhelming number of choices to make. Punch Bowl takes the premise that giant fruit are being made into a legendary punch. Each player represents a fruit faction supports the cozy theme. With the goal of making the best punch with the most desired ingredients.
The turns and round move quickly and keep players engaged. Since the three punch bowls, and possibly the orchard, change with each players actions, the other players need to stay alert to the changes and how it will affect their next move. Players plan their move at the beginning of the round by choosing their Revel card with their actions. As each person completes their turn, and changes occur the best laid plans can be thwarted.
While the age recommendation on the game is 14 years old and up, that is not reflective of the difficulty. Strong reading skills are important to read the Revel Cards and Recipe Cards. Beyond that it scales down quite easily.
Final Thoughts
While the version we played was a prototype, the quality of the art and the gameplay was enjoyable. It is clear how much work went into this game. We are excited to play Punch Bowl in the final version.
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