| 👨👩👧👦 | Players: 2-4 |
| ⏳ | Time: 15 minutes |
| 🎂 | Ages: 7+ |
| ⚙️ | Mechanisms: Tile placement |
Mashing up two songs results in bangers like Never Gonna Wake You Up (Avicii x Rick Astley). If you link two childhood games together (specifically Tic-Tac-Toe and Rock Paper Scissors), you get Linx from Matagot!
Two games link together to become… Linx
In Linx, players attempt to get 3 tiles in a row (Tic-Tac-Toe style). Players can either play a tile face-up (and receive 2 new tiles into their hand), or they can play a tile face-down on top of an already placed tile (their own or another player’s). To play a tile face-down, it must “beat” the tile it is being placed on according to ‘Rock Paper Scissors’ rules (e.g. scissors beats paper). When playing a tile face-down, players don’t add more tiles to their hand.
Deciding to play tiles face-up vs. face-down is tricky! Playing a face-down tile locks it in. This is a great tactic to lock yourself into position or stop opponents from getting 3 in a row. However, constantly playing face-down tiles causes your resources to dwindle, and may leave you without the tiles needed to block opponents. Playing tiles face-up gives you the benefit of drawing new tiles (yay!), but you’re now left open to being blocked by your opponents.
Rock, Paper, Tic, Tac… Scissors?
This game is so easy to pick up and play. The rules are one sheet (single-sided), and easy to follow, with illustrated examples. My only minor qualm with the English rulebook is the QR code for the how-to-play video took me to a YouTube video…. in French 😫
For such a simple game, there’s quite a bit of strategy in deciding which tile to place. I love the cat-and-mouse style battles as you attempt to get three in a row while also trying to block your opponent(s). I like that you can win with face-up or face-down tiles, but I’ve never seen a win with face-up happen – so I’m making this my personal challenge now. If you play Linx with me, you didn’t read this.
Is it possible to be in love with a box design?
Linx plays in about 15 minutes and can accommodate 2-4 players. I’ve really enjoyed it at all player counts. The box is perfectly sized (nice and small!) and very well designed. These little things bring it all together and make it the perfect portable game, which is great for a quick game over coffee.
You can see this post on Instagram here. For further information about Linx, check out the publisher’s website.
The copy of Linx used for this review was provided to Board All The Time by VR Distribution.
The Boardgame Detective 