Belle of the Ball Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review Belle of the Ball, a light set collection game published by Greater than Games. In Belle of the Ball, players are competing to throw the best party by trying to collect sets of cards.

Like me, you’ve probably experienced the anxiety of attending a party or a dance and desperately hoping to catch the attention of a special someone. Stolen glances from across the room. Brief smiles as your gazes meet. Or, apparently, standing in long receiving lines hoping for a few seconds to chat with the person and see if your symbols match theirs I guess?

Regardless of how strong the theme comes through, that’s the general vibe that Belle of the Ball is looking to convey. It was designed by Daniel Solis with great artwork by Jacqui Davis.

Belle of the Ball is a set collection and drafting game for 2 to 5 players that plays pretty quickly in about 30 minutes. At the start of the game, each player will be given three random guest cards, a single belle card, and three regret cards. (The regrets are effectively the game’s currency, which feels like it should be the name of an emo song… “Regrets Are Currency,” “Paying With Regret,” or something. You get the idea.) At the center of the table will be two lines of cards. One line is the guest line, which is the main way players will score points throughout the game. Each guest will be drafted and added to one group in the party in front of you.

The second line is the belle line. This line consists of five power cards that players can also draft to use on their turn. There are three types of these cards: cards that have an immediate impact on the game state, cards that can be played into your own tableau with varying effects, and cards that can be played on opponents’ tableaus with