Plant Based Riot

BubblegumStuff is a company that prides itself on keeping up to date with the modern trends and has given us many clever card games like Name the Emoticon as a result. What started out as a novelty gift company has become a terrific new place to source fun and exciting games that will take pride of place on your games shelf.

In Plant Based Riot, 2-6 players are invited to an all-out food fight in this game of card collecting. Your goal is to assemble two full gangs of veggies to take on the nefarious Cartel and overthrow the leaders of the plant-based criminal underworld.

Egg-citing Stuff

The set up for this game varies depending on the number of players and how long of a game you wish to have. The first thing you will need to do is to create the Cartel. Using the Cartels own separate deck, you will randomly draw a certain number of cards and place them face down in the centre of your play area. For example, in a 3-player game you would have between 3 to 5 Cartel cards in the centre whereas for a 5-player game you would have 4-6 cards. It’s important to note that the fewer Cartel cards you have in the centre, the chances are you will have a longer game. Drawing the Cartel cards must be done randomly as a core element of the game is that players will not know who is in the Cartel and will have to initially guess which gangs to collect.

For the players, shuffle the main deck and deal each person 5 cards then place the rest of the deck facedown next to the Cartel cards in the centre to create a draw pile. Now, to give everyone a head start on which veggie gangs they should begin to collect, each player is given a chance to take a quick peep at 1 Cartel card. This is great starting mechanic as it gives everyone a fair chance to get their game off to a good start and, depending on which card everyone chose to look at, could start off some fun rivalries.

Peas Was Never an Option

The game is won by collecting sets of 3 matching cards to create ‘gangs’ in your Turf (your own play area). Once you have two full gangs you may challenge the mysterious Cartel to a Turf War, and if 2 of your gangs match with the Cartel you win!

Sounds simple right? Well, sorry to burst your tomatoes but it’s not so easy to assemble your gangs. Other players, as well as yourself, will have action cards in their hands that allow them to steal, swap, sneak and block you from obtaining the 3 veggies you need to complete a gang.

From Bad Apples to Cherry Pickers, there are a variety of fun ways to interfere with your opponents and their Turf. There’s even the opportunity to steal whole gangs and even the Turf itself from each other! But fear not, it won’t just become an endless cycle of theft from one another as the game does provide some shelter from this brutality.

Also available in the main deck are cards that offer protection to the gangs on your Turf and believe me when I say that these can be a game changer. Having them attached to your gangs prevents anyone from interfering with them and messing up your plans for a Turf War.

Other cards in the deck include Gang Cards which are the cards that make up the collections of gangs on your Turf. There are only 3 of each vegetable in the deck so the fight to collect them all will start immediately. The game does offer one respite though – Wild Cards. These helpful additions are printed with two different gangs on them. For example, one may have Tear Jerkers on top and Tommy Splats on the bottom. Having this card allows players to choose either gang printed and then add it to the corresponding gang on their Turf. So don’t worry if your friend has just taken the last Hip-Peas card that you needed, the Wild Cards will be the ace up your sleeve. There are 2 Wild Cards for each gang in the deck so there are plenty to go around.

A-maize-ing Components

Plant Based Riot is a card game, so when you open the box that’s exactly what you’re going to get. The 98 beautifully illustrated cards, designed by Roberto Rotaru, are fun, quirky, and filled with food-based puns. Games that allow their theme to bleed into each component allow for a deeper immersion into the game and Plant Based Riot does this so well with every card in the box. The cards also offer easy to follow instructions that are clear and concise, so you won’t get bogged down with walls of text whilst you’re trying to figure out your next move!

Mushroom For Improvement?

Plant Based Riot is a great 20-minute game. Every time my group has played, it has always gone down well on the table. It looks great when it’s set up and there’s always laughter to be heard during gameplay. From the quirky characters to the simple mechanics, this is a game that could be brought out in any gaming group whether they’re inexperienced or pros.

Like other games such as Unstable Unicorns or Exploding Kittens, Plant Based Riot is less about complicated strategic thinking and more just about having fun in messing with your opponents. Sure, you could have a moment of tactical brilliance and swap everyone’s Turf around just at the last moment to get the winning hand, but ultimately this isn’t a game that will leave you with a stress headache.

It’s clear that BubblegumStuff have done their best to balance the game as much as possible too. The addition of Wild Cards and other bonuses such as the ‘Sneaky Leeky’ card, give players who are falling behind the chance to catch up or gain an advantage over their opponents.

With that said, if you’re not a fan of ‘luck of the draw’ type games then this might not be a favourite of yours. In the games I’ve played, there have been some where I just haven’t been able to draw any kind of protection cards for my gangs which was quite frustrating, especially when I was close to getting a full gang.

That aside, this is a game that should be on everyone’s shelf. It’s quick and easy to learn, the theming is unique and it’s an all-round great time.

So, get your mop and buckets ready, this food fight is going to be a messy one.