Gasha was sent to us by 25th Century Games for review. This set collection card game is for 2-6 players and is all about collecting Gashas from toy dispensers. The goal is to have the best collection at the end of the game (i.e. worth the most points).
Each player will receive four Gasha cards to start from the shuffled deck, and the rest are separated into four facedown decks in reach of all players. Then the Set Reward cards are also shuffled, and four individual cards are placed in a row face up with the remaining deck placed at the end (excluding any cards for 5-6 players if you aren’t playing with that many people). This row of Set Reward cards will be replenished as cards are chosen throughout the game. Bonus tokens are then placed facedown, shuffled (between 5 to 12 tokens depending on player count). This simple setup takes very little time. The setup allows for the randomization and luck element to be easily implemented. You can place either row on top of the other, we did it the opposite way of the rulebook and it made no difference. You just need one row dedicated to each card type.
On a player’s turn, they can either draw two Gasha cards or trade in their Gashas for a Set Reward card if they have all the matching icons. When drawing Gasha cards, players can tell the possible Gashas on that card, so if a card backing depicts a Nigiri Gasha and a Robot Gasha, there is a chance that the card has either a Nigiri or Robot on the front. Cards can be drawn from the same or different decks. The first part of the game is mostly drawing cards until players have enough matching icons to collect one of the Set Reward Cards. There are always four Set Rewards to choose from. When drawing Gasha cards, if the deck is depleted the biggest deck should be split in two and if that isn’t possible the discard pile should be shuffled to create four new decks with the old decks on top.
If a Set Reward card has a Turnip, Cat, and Robot Gasha depicted for example, and the player turns in three cards matching those symbols, the player will be rewarded by the prize on the bottom half of the Set Reward card. Some Set Rewards award points and some also have ticket halves with particular colors. Players will hold onto these set rewards, and if they ever get two ticket halves, they can take a Bonus Token, irregardless if the tickets are the same color. However, if the ticket halves are the same color, players collect the bonus token and a bonus Gasha Card. The Bonus Token goes on the two Set Reward cards whose ticket was used for, to indicate they were cashed in. Turning in the tickets is a great addition to the game mechanics because it allows players to strategize between turning in tickets no matter the ticket color to get bonuses more often or saving tickets until they can color match to collect the extra Gasha card as well.
Gameplay continues until either the Set Reward pile runs out, there are no remaining Bonus Tokens, or there are not enough cards to make four Gasha card decks. When any of these three things happen, each player gets one more turn before moving on to scoring. This last turn can be crucial as players use up any remaining cards or abilities for last-minute points.
Scoring is simple, players add up all the stars on their Set Reward Cards and bonus tokens and get one additional point for each Gasha in their hand that they haven’t played. First place goes to the player with the most points, or if that ends in a tie, the owner of the most bonus tokens between the tied players wins.
Language Barrier Playability: Great. Once the rules are learned, this game really relies upon symbols. The main memorization is for the three types of bonus tokens, but their images are self-explanatory with an arrow for one more turn, a rainbow for the wild gashas, and a star for points. The rules also come in English and French.
Replayability: Great, the game can get slightly competitive, which always garners more playthroughs. But this game is also good to play once at a game night.
Artwork: Adorable. The toy theme is exemplified with the toy dispenser images and the keychains hanging off of each Gasha image. The bright colors pop, but nothing on the cards is overwhelming.
Quality: Great. The box is sturdy and the tokens are a thick cardboard. The cards bent a little with humidity but not anything concerning.
Strategy: Strategy is in collecting the Set Rewards, deciding which ones to go for based on the best reward or if you want tickets. There is also the strategy mentioned earlier of trying to get specific ticket colors to get a matching pair, which yield more reward but are harder to obtain. All the while, cards are running out as players try and get more and more points before the game ends!
Instruction Manual: Straightforward. This game takes maybe 3 minutes to learn as the instructions are written clearly and concisely in just a few pages. The image and text balance is perfect for quick learning of this game.
Organization: Minimalistic. The box is split into two sides that are bigger than the cards, so there is some sliding, but there’s honestly not too many components where this is a huge issue.
Sushiball Games 