Dobble Beach

Most people know about Dobble by now, or alternatively Spot It as it’s known in other places. But for those who don’t let’s just have a quick little run down. Dobble is basically a game of matching symbols. It’s a deck of cards covered with a variety of different pictures, although no two cards are identical. Your goal is to find a matching symbols between two cards before your opponents can. Sounds simple, but the twist is there will only be one matching symbol between the two, and the magic of the game is that every card will only ever have one symbol shared with every other card. Then they’ll appear in different locations, orientations and sizes, so with the time pressure of racing your opponents it’s suddenly not as easy as you first thought. So now we’ve got the basics down let’s see what’s different about this version.

Let’s Go To The Beach

Like many other family friendly games there’s all different varieties of Dobble with different themes (I also have a Harry Potter and Super Mario version on the shelf). It’s the same game but your selection of over 60 images are changed to match the new theme. Although sometimes there may be some different game modes involved, we’ll get to those. However, this version also comes with a few physical changes to make it suitable for playtime on the beach, which leads to the other title of Dobble Waterproof. [Just an aside that Dobble Beach and Dobble Waterproof are not the exact same game though, one version has less images on the cards and so less cards in total, but in all other aspects they are the same.]

For starters the game comes with a nice portable string bag to carry it around in rather than the usual tin, so you won’t be unpacking it at home and pouring sand everywhere, and also meaning it easily fits into a beach bag or a jacket pocket. The other notable difference is that all the cards have been made specifically waterproof, a deck of lovely laminated circles that are unaffected by being splashed. I’ve even dropped them in the pool on holiday and they’re still as good as new years later! However, the instructions are still just paper so if you plan on chucking your game into the pool then you need to make sure you commit all those to memory first!

Playtime

Now the main thing you’re here to know is how does it play? Well that’s quite simple, Dobble Beach is actually made up of 5 different mini games and so you can choose which one you’d like to do. Then either switch around between them at will or just engage in the same one repeatedly to your heart’s content. But if that sounds a but repetitive then check out the back pages of the rules booklet where it gives a points scoring system for each mini game for winning or how well (or badly) you performed, so play each game once than tally up those scores at the end to find your overall winner. Now while the games all involve matching, they each implement it in a different way. You could be looking to match between your card and a shared central card, either to take it to add to your pile and collect the most, or to give your cards away and end up with the least. Maybe you’re actually looking at the other players cards to try and put other cards on their pile and finish with the least for the round. You might be trying to be the last one remaining in a round, or the first one out. There’s a big variety in each with just a few simple mechanics, and plenty of room to invent your own games too!

Sunset

So final thoughts overall, as a standalone game it’s enjoyable for the family. The simple rulesets and easily identifiable pictures means younger players can get to grips and enjoy it. Experienced players might tire after a few rounds but it works as a good filler game. It does require some speed though so not for slow thinkers, and be careful if you’re playing with anyone who’s an expert Snap player, you might want to consider getting some finger guards.

If you get curious about the origins of Dobble there is also a short history of the game included inside too for you to have a brief read.

Compared to other titles in the Dobble series though the gameplay is virtually identical, so the selling point on this is Dobble Beach’s suitability for all weather play. If you plan on just playing this in standard board gaming conditions then grab whichever theme box you like the most. But if you do plan to take advantage of it’s unique features then it does the job perfectly, cards can be splashed, thrown, drowned, dropped, flicked, used as coasters, left floating on the pool, and they just wipe down and dry off and good as new. And in that way perhaps even if you don’t plan on going to the beach they are still useful for playing with younger family members who enjoy eating messy snacks at the same time. It also has the bag as a carry bonus. Sure other games come in just a tin so easy to carry around, but with the bag you can flat pack this into places even a tin might not fit, probably even a back pocket!