Designed by Hristo Hristov and published by Boarderia, Pairish is a light tableau building game where the 2-8 players are helping to develop their parish: the title feels like it was intended as a play on words but, curiously, this isn't a game where you're looking for pairs.
Players are adding cards from their hand to their individual tableaus in order to meet the requirements set out in the 'Mayor's Task' card. This will set out the number of rounds within which players have all to have met the building requirements in their tableaus plus any additional requirements; typically the number of coins players must collectively earn.
With its simultaneous reveals, Pairish has the look and feel of a competitive game but it's actually a cooperative: the Mayor obviously wants the villagers all to be working together! As the final action each round, players must pass a card from their hand to the player on their right, so for your card to be helpful you'll need to make a deduction about what set collection criteria your neighbours are working towards...
The cards players have in their hands include those that specify numbers (1-4) for slopes (roof), windows and floors. You need at least six cards in your tableau that have the same number for the same position; so if you decide to go for windows at value 3, you'll need to end up with six cards in your tableau that show three windows regardless of the numbers shown for slopes and floors. There are cards that allow manipulation of those already played to your tableau, and there are cards that earn you coins for particular animals or vegetables shown on your cards.
Some of the Mayor's Task cards give very little leeway or margin so it can be quite a challenge to meet the target of having six matched in just six or seven rounds. It might be almost impossible if players aren't helping each other in the cards they pass on. Happily for Pairish as a light family game, the deduction demands aren't overly demanding: you'll mostly be able to see whether your neighbour is going for slopes, windows or floors by the time the players have all laid and revealed their third card: it'll be whichever of the three have the same number. Still - it may require some careful hand management to solve the collective optimisation puzzle of ensuring that players all have the cards they need before the Mayor's Task 'timer' runs out.
Tho' Pairish isn't at all complicated there's an even simpler version labelled as being for 'newcomers'. Most adults playing the game won't need to first use this training wheels introduction to the mechanics but its inclusion makes Pairish a game that children can play: the box gives a 14+ suggested age but we reckon this game can be enjoyed by much younger children. And judging from the preview copy we've been playing at Board's Eye View, it's not just children who will be charmed by the attractive artwork from Mikhail Topalov. And with players all taking their turns at the same time, Pairish is a game that plays quickly regardless of the number of players: even with a full complement of eight players you can expect to finish a game comfortably in a filler-length 20 minutes.
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