Grass

Reviewed by Brad Freeman

Designed by Jeff London
Euro Games, 34 Rodney Street, Port Jefferson Station, New York, NY 11776
Price: $7.50 plus $2.00 shipping
Complexity: Beginner to intermediate
Solitaire Suitability: Low
Rating: ***1/2

Grass is a card game for two to six players, and even more than most games, the more, the merrier.

The object of the game is to amass $250,000 in the form of "Peddles" (dope deals), while preventing everyone else from doing the same.

In this, you're assisted bv cards that allow you to turn an opponent over to the authorities, get yourself off a similar hook, and protect your acquisidons. There are also cards ("Nirvana" and "Paranoia") that give you extra turns, let vou tap another players till, let you unload bad cards on someone else, and in short, allow you to do a variety of interesting and bizarre things.

What makes Grass fun is that you're not the helpless pawn of the draw: skill, or at least foresight, will get you further than luck or stacking the deck.

Grass comes in a small burlap sack with a drawstring (cotton, not hemp), with 104 cards (4 are replacements for lost or damaged cards), and two instruction sheets. One sheet is the official rules pages; the other is a step-by- step introduction to play

The cards come in a plastic baggie (what else?) and are colorful, good looking illustrations of the various deals, hazards, and rewards you, as a fictional dealer, might encounter.

My playtesters all enjoyed playing Grass. While knowing something about the subject matter might enhance the game and explain some of the more obscure references (who is Dr Feelgood?), you really don't have to know anything about the subject to play and enjoy the game. The game was challenging even to die-hard gamers.

The rules are clearly written, and the introduction to play is a nice feature that more games should have. My copy came with two of each sheet, which is very handy for teaching large groups at once, but this mav have been an accident.

As you play the game, basic strategies quickly become apparent (i.e., playing a mildly bad card in order to ditch a very bad card), but some of the more subtle strategies (giving someone a good card in order to get them to take an extra turn at an opportune time), were evolved over time. it's possible to get remarkably Machiavellian with this game once negotiating and horse trading become commonplace. Reversals are possible even very late in the game, and at least one session was in doubt right up to the very list hand.

Grass should appeal even to people who don't particularly like card games. The play is a nice blend of card-playing conventions and new ideas. There are elements that will be familiar to readers of Hoyle, such as the penalty for having certain cards in your possession at the end of a hand; and there are others, such as "Nirvana" and "Paranoia" cards', that are found nowhere else.

If you're interested in a light, diverting game that's portable and inexpensive, Grass may well be the game for you.

Brad Freeman (learned everything be knows about "Grass" from the game. He has been a gamer most of his adult life and will begin graduate school in the fall).

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