Let’s start with an opening of I’d been chatting to Origame about reviewing their products, and they said visit them at the UKGE and they’d give me some games. They were one of very few companies to hand games over, which I’m grateful for! The other game they gave me was the secret flower, which I’ve previously reviewed and given away. Origames have made several games that have gained my interest, Rainforest City being the one at the top of the list, which was an enjoyable solo tile laying puzzle (but can also be played multiplayer).
Shop until you drop Lah! (Well that’s what it says on the box), otherwise known as Shop until you drop, good luck trying to find it on the interwebs! Shop until you drop is a push your luck set collection game. But Shop until you drop is a very generic name, and I can’t help but feel a better name could have been found. Yes it fits thematically, but from a finding the product perspective, there’s a lot of Shop until you drop games.
You take on the role of a shopper, who is out for a day of shopping! There are “advanced” player powers, which aren’t really that advanced and can be thrown in from the first game. Shop until you drop takes place over 3 shopping days, with each playing the same way. You’re essentially taking items from the mall (the central display) and placing them in one of your bags. You’ve three bags, your left arm, right arm and your head (well that’s what the layout looks like!).
Each item has a discount coupon value, and at the end of game each coupon scores it’s value divided by 10 e.g. 20 is worth 2 points. There are also quest cards in the deck, which will score you extra points if you’ve collected the relevant items by the end of the day, quest cards are placed below your character. Quest cards are negative points if you don’t complete them, so you need to not over invest! A bag can contain upto a total of 100% of the same colour or 5 different coloured coupons of the same value e.g. 20%. You can freely move your items around in your shopping bags as long as you obey the placement rules.
Shop until you drop has some elements of push your luck, as you’ll keep going until you can carry no more! But equally there are some take that cards, which will force you or your opponents to draw extra cards. You could say this enables you or them, but equally puts them closer to the edge of a shopping disaster ! The round ends when either you cannot place an item in one of your bags, or if you take a 3rd quest card in a shopping day. If you drop your shopping, as a result of taking an item you can’t place, you’ll have to discard an entire bag of shopping (that means all the items in one of your bags!). And the round ends immediately.
Each subsequent round works the same way, a new shopping display is dealt out and players take turns taking an item before the display is refreshed. After 3 shopping days, players add up points, remembering to divide discount codes by 10, and then scoring quest cards either scoring points of negative points depending on whether you achieved them.
All in all Shop until you drop is okay, it doesn’t have the tension of say Port Royal and feels almost mundane in comparison. As you take it in turns to take an item or a quest from the central display, early on it doesn’t feel like there’s any real decision to be made about where you put items. And as subsequent turns pass, there’s little to no sense of urgency, rather “oh that’s a terrible draw”. And I don’t get the need to divide points by 10, it feels like an unnecessary step, yes dividing by 10 is easy, but I can’t help but feel there could have been a better rule. I feel like there’s something missing from Shop until you drop, 6nimmt has a hook and over 10 turns feels although at times random like your decision can matter. No thanks keeps you engaged throughout as you try to keep count of chips and cards around the table. Shop until you drop doesn’t quite achieve that same sense, there are the quest cards, so you could try to deny an opponent the items they require but you’re limited on bags and there are so many of each item, it doesn’t feel achievable.
Overall, you know I rate games on a scale of:
Buy or play
Wait for sale or play if you like game XYZ
Avoid
Shop until you drop, isn’t bad enough to warrant an avoid, but equally it’s not on a scale of Buy or Play. It’s one of those games, that I suspect you’ll find before long in bargain sections of stores and that’s probably when it’s worth the pick up. Fundamentally it doesn’t do anything super unique or different to warrant an immediate purchase in my opinion, if you really really enjoy small card games and need another then Shop Until you Drop could be a game to add to your collection. But otherwise, this is a Wait for Sale.
Disclaimer: I was sent a copy to review by Origame, all thought’s are my own and I was not paid for this content.