BICYCLE announce two new games

The United States Playing Card Company announces the first two BICYCLE® light strategy board games. These new games join the GAMES BY BICYCLE™ growing portfolio of titles which currently includes It’s Blunderful and Shuffle Grand Prix.

The Alpha

The first is The Alpha. Where 3-5 players control a pack of wolves on the hunt for food. Some prey is easier to catch, others are more difficult, but the reward for this risk can be far greater. Players will first take turns stalking their prey, trying to strategically become the dominant pack in an area. Next comes the chase, a roll of the dice for each region to see how successful the hunt is. Finally there is a resolution round. Dominant packs will take the spoils of the hunt, but if a region has two packs of the same number a conflict will occur. This sees players turn a token over to either share the food or fight for it with different results for all different combinations. Adding a prisoner’s dilemma mechanic and a touch of bluffing to the game. Players then move along the board relative to their scores from the hunt. The player with the highest score after five rounds is named The Alpha!

Having been lucky enough to play The Alpha ahead of release, my first impressions are very good. The wolf tokens are particularly enticing, but all the components are of a good standard. You would expect nothing less from BICYCLE, the bestselling playing card brand for 135 years. The Alpha strikes a nice balance of being light enough to teach to non-gamers quickly, but also just enough strategy and pace for more mature gamers, to get some fun out of too as a filler.