If you don't have access to the Apple+ streaming service you may not yet have discovered Ted Lasso. It's been one of Apple TV's big successes: a sitcom about an American Football coach being hired to manage a struggling dysfunctional English soccer team. Ted knows nothing about soccer but his boundless enthusiasm inspires the team to quite literally raise their game. Now, thanks to Funko Games' ever-productive partnership with designers Prospero Hall, we have a Ted Lasso party game.
The Ted Lasso Party Game (TLPG) is a filler-length fully cooperative real-time game for 2-6 players. There are five locations and a card representing a character from the series is placed out at each location. The character cards all have a special characteristic, some of which are helpful; some a hinderance. Trouble tiles are also placed out at each location. These represent different negative emotions or responses (Sad, Angry, Skeptical, Insecure). Players are each dealt a hand of 'Believe' cards, each of which corresponds to one of the Trouble tile icons. Players then have two minutes to play these in combo to remove the Trouble tiles in order to raise players' morale. This will also involve playing cards to move the two coach standees so they are at the locations where you want cards played. It's actually quite a tough ask, especially at the higher player counts as you don't increase the two-minute per round timer when you increase the number of players. With more players, it can be tough to avoid tripping over each other in the rush.
Tho' it's not a pushover, TLPG is a light game that's easy to play. There are Event cards to shake things up a bit between rounds, and Funko Games have taken the opportunity to have some fun with the game's production. As you'd expect, there are images taken from the TV series but there are additional touches that show that producing the game has been a labour of love: the custom die is in the form of a football, and when you remove the card insert, the base of the box becomes a dice tray set out like a football pitch. The die, by the way, is just used to determine the amount of morale gained for removing all of a footballer's Trouble tiles (non-footballer characters give you a fixed amount of morale). The edge of the box is also used, with a marker clip, to record the players' collective morale.
If you are a fan of the feel-good Ted Lasso sitcom, you'll almost certainly want to add this game to your collection, but you can play and enjoy the game even if you've never even heard of the TV show. If you're looking for an easy-to-play real-time cooperative game then the Ted Lasso Party Game takes the biscuit!