Published by Maestro Media and Studio71, Tapeworm is a light pattern-building family game where players are laying out cards that must match one of the colours on an end of the usually convoluted tapeworm that you are collectively constructing. The object of the game is to get rid of all the cards in your hand, and you can play as many cards as you like on your turn provided they all play to the same colour...
Of course there's more... Tho ' the 2-4 players each start with a hand of just five cards plus the card you draw at the beginning of your turn, many cards have an icon on them that shakes up the game - for example, by forcing an opponent to draw a card or letting you 'dig' through the draw deck by drawing a card and discarding a card from your hand. Played judiciously, there can quite literally be game changers.
There's likely to be an element of 'take that' as you try to close off options for your opponents but Tapeworm remains a light-hearted and good-natured game. The rules are both simple and intuitive. And tho' there's strategy to your play, Edmund McMillen has designed a hand management card game that can be played and enjoyed by children as well as adults. It's a game that works at all player counts.
Tapeworm comes packaged in a small pocketable box with cartoon art by Krystal Fleming. Tapeworms have rarely seemed so appealing! Our plays at Board's Eye View typically ran to no more than 15 minutes but if they get a lucky deal it's conceivable that a player could play out all their cards on their first turn. In the unlikely event that that occurs, it's really no great hardship to deal everyone a new hand and start again.