Numbsters Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review Numbsters, a wallet sized game published by Button Shy games. Numbsters is a solo hand management game that will be sure to be a brain burner for those that like thinky games.

With the growing size of board game boxes and limited space I’m always on the lookout for the next intriguing wallet game to add to my collection. Scheduling time with other gamers can also get complicated and sometimes you just want to play something on your own. Both of these needs are addressed in 2023 by designer Milan Zivkovic.

Numbsters is a hand-management game for one player that takes about 10 minutes to play.

To start, the Mouth card (marked with 8), is set aside while the remaining 17 Numbster cards are shuffled to form a deck. The player will draw 6 Numbster Cards and shuffle them in with the Mouth card to form a hand of 7 cards called “the stack.” The stack cannot be reordered from here until gameplay begins.

The game takes place over a variable number of turns, where the player will Draw, Move, and then Eat. One card is drawn and placed at the top of the stack, then the player can move one card to another position in the stack or swap two cards in the stack, or even choose to not move any cards. A single Numbster now must “eat” another according to the eating rules.

The eating rules are where this game shines and where hand management is key. The basic eating rule is if two sequential (i.e., differing by one) Numbster cards surround the Mouth card, the smaller eats the bigger, and the bigger Numbster card is discarded. Numbster cards also have a special eating rule, and the Stack’s top-card rule can be used instead of the basic rule if the player finds that to be the better option. If they do use the special eating rule,