Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
I’ve never really played Poker before. Sure, I’ve dabbled in it now and then, but it’s never really interested me. But when you add surfing dinosaurs with killer artwork, then you grab my attention. And that, my friends, is how I came to find out about the card game Surfosaurus Max. The problem was that it wasn’t available in the United States, and so I put it out of my mind. A few months later, I discovered that Happy Camper (publishers of the hit card game Trio) was bringing Surfosaurus Max to the states as Combo. I immediately reached out to the publisher and requested a copy and, hoo-boy, I’m glad I did. While I hope you read the rest of this review, I’d be fine if you just immediately went to the retailer of your choice to pick up a copy. Yes, it’s that good.
Combo-licious
If you’ve read any of my other reviews you know that I adore light card games. Some of my recent favorites have been Circus Flohcati, Jalape-NO!, and Vegetable Stock. They’re part of some of my favorite game times because they’re usually enjoyment-rich: packing lots of fun into a small slice of time. They’re usually light on the rules, heavy on the fun, and they often support higher-then-average player counts. Plus, I can almost always get my wife to play with me. 😍
Combo Overview
In Combo, up to six players aim to earn the most points by cooperatively building the “best” Poker hand. The catch is that each player will only play a portion of the cards which make up the hand, and they have no idea what cards the other players have. The cards range from 1-12 in 7 different fruits—yes, I said fruits, not dinosaurs. That’s because Happy Camper made the smart, but somewhat disappointing, decision to swap out the Allosaurus for apples, the Gallimimus for grapes—okay, that’s about as far as I can stretch the analogy. Basically, they went with a simpler art style, used fruit instead of dinos, and made the cards much easier to read.
And the result is :chefs-kiss:!
How to Play Combo
The game plays over a number of rounds equal to the player count, making sure that each player gets to be both first and last player—one of those positions is enviable, while the other is not. As you place your card, players are encouraged to engage in a lively discussion about what cards their opponents could or should play, without going so far as to reveal their hand. You can strongly suggest that it might be beneficial to play a specific color or number, you can cajole or wheedle, or even negotiate. All of which makes Combo highly entertaining and interactive.
So how does a round work? Depending on player count, each person will play a number of cards from their hand, one at a time around the table. In a 2-player game, 3 cards will be played from each player (along with 3 cards from the deck to inject a little chaos) which at the other player counts its only 2. As each person plays their card, a “best hand” will slowly reveal itself, and will often morph before the round ends. In a 4-player game, for example, you’ll select the 4 “best” cards from the 8 cards which have been played, and only those 4 cards will score. This graphic from the player aid should help.
Each player who has a non-tied (more on that in a moment) scoring card will collect that card and place it face down to the left of their player mat, where they’ll score points equal to the number next to the full star at the top of the card. The lower the number, the higher the point value. A 1 in your score pile earns you 12 points, while a 12 only earns you 2 points.
That’s because when determining the “best” hand, preference is always given to the higher cards. Let’s show some example hands.
In the case where you have multiple cards which could be included in the scoring hand, the matching cards all go on the right side of the player mat and score the points from the empty star. Here are some examples of that:
Don’t forget, as you play a card, you draw a card! And pass the pineapple first player token when the round ends!
Combo-tastic
When I first reached out to Jason from Happy Camper, I was curious how he’d landed a game as popular as Trio for their first release. And then he replied he had formerly been a Vice President at Gamewright Games, who have published such amazing card games as Sushi Go!, Abandon All Artichokes, and Sleeping Queens, and it all made sense. This was a man who knew a good game and had all the right connections.
And man, is Combo a good game. I’ve played it at every player count, and it just works. Even at 2 players it plays surprisingly well. Since table talk is encouraged, players are always in the mix, even if they might not have a card that works well in the current hand. They can always attempt to sway other players towards something that benefits themselves. Game nights with Combo are always full of laughing or groaning, sometimes in equal numbers—and more than one player has walked away from the game night with an order for the game already placed.
I briefly touched on the graphic design and artwork, but let me expand on it a bit more here. This is a bright and colorful game, one which practically begs you to pick it up. The numbers on the cards are large and easy to read, the colors are distinct and for those who might have color blindness, the cards also feature a fruit in the middle that provides an anchoring shape. The first player token is a pineapple; and even though it’s not one of the fruits in the game, it does symbolize hospitality, warmth, and welcome, which I think is perfect for this game.
Lastly, Combo has what I’d consider to be one of the best player aids I’ve ever seen. Not only does it include every bit of information you might need during a game (how many cards each player starts with, how many cards each player will place during the round, how many cards in each winning hand, etc.). But the mats are also player count color-coded, which means you simply flip over the player mats to find your player count, then hand the right ones to each player. Brilliant.
Combo has cinched a place in my “always want to play” roster of card games. I hope you’ll buy it and feel the same way.
Combo details
- Designer: Ikhwan Kwon
- Artists: Lisa Goldstein, Matthias Mödl
- Publishers: Asmodee, Bandjo, Broadway Toys LTD, Happy Camper, Loosey Goosey Games
- Release Date: 2023
- Player count : 2 - 6
- Age range : 10+
- Time range : 20 minutes
- Mechanism(s): Betting and Bluffing, Semi-Cooperative Game, Set Collection
- BGG Geek Rating: 6.96858 - converted to Meeple Mountain scale: 3.5.
- More articles about Combo.
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