Order here - Post Office Card Game
WBG Score: 7/10
Player Count: 1-4
You’ll like this if you like: Quick, simple, card placement games.
Published by: Hobby World
Designed by: Evgeny Petrov
This is a free review copy. See our review policy here.
Post Office is a 2023 polyomino tile laying game from Hobby World, where players are looking to bring some order to the chaotic nature of a Post Office run by animals! The game was illustrated by Natalya Kondratyuk, a comic book artist, who also worked on the comic, Post. A graphic novel that won a prestigious Russian comic book award, the Kommissia. The game has now been turned into a simple card game version, that offers a similar feel, but in a much more condensed experience. But is it still fun? Let's get it to the table and find out.
How To Set Up Post Office Card Game
The game comes with 36 cards, either marked with a single dice pip or two dice pips. For a four-player game, use all the cards. With three players, remove any nine cards. For one or two players, remove either set of 18 cards, keeping the other set. For a single-player game, shuffle these 18 cards, then remove nine at random. You can mix these up, but for a more balanced game, it is recommended to use the sets. Shuffle whatever you are left with and deal one card to each player as your starting card. Place this face up in front of you. Place the remaining deck face down in front of the players.
How To Play Post Office Card Game
Players will now draw two cards from the top of the deck. In multiplayer, players will keep one card and pass the other to their left. Taking one new card themselves from their right. In solo mode, you simply keep both cards. Now, all players place both their cards into their play area. When you place a card, you must cover at least one space of one existing card. You can never go under previously placed cards, and you can cover as many slots as you like on previously placed cards, as long as the number of uncovered slots increases by at least one after the placement of this new card.
On each card, you will find a mixture of images, either mice or different types of packages. The idea of the game is you are looking to create rows and columns with three or four different packages. A row or column with three different types will score you three points at the end of the game. Four unique packages will score you six points. If you have any packages repeated in any column or row, you will score nothing. Any uncovered mice will score you negative one. Most points wins. In the solo game, there is a simple score tracker to show how well you did, ranging from under six points to over 25.
Is It Fun? Post Office Card Game
This is an incredibly simple game to learn, teach, and play. Games typically last for me around five to ten minutes. I like to do a best of three to get a more complete game experience. The cards are all very cluttered. On each card, in the six spaces, you will see two Mince, two unique packages, and two blank spaces. The makeup of this is obviously different on each card, but the setup remains constant. Your goal is to find the best way to lay out and orient cards so that you can build up rows and columns for three or four unique packages. This is easier said than done!
You may find you are adding a unique package to a row, but in doing so, are inadvertently adding a duplicate package to a different column. In a game where you create a simple and small tableau, adding only two cards each turn, it is surprisingly easy to miss things like this! But as you play more, you will find there are ways to manipulate your array to maximize your points efficiency. And like many games, your enjoyment will come not just from aiming for a better score than your opponents, but bettering your own scores, game after game.
I enjoy the simple, relaxing nature of games like this. They are simple and fun to play, and you can fit them into any part of your day, considering the small impact they have both in terms of time and space. The game comes in a tiny box and takes up minimal play space when you play, so it can be taken with you and played in most environments. The cards are perfectly square, though, with no rounded edges. They are actually quite sharp, so watch out. And the card stock, though thick and high gloss, has no linen finish, so perhaps could be a candidate for being sleeved.
If you enjoy simple card-laying games, with pattern building and simple but interesting scoring, this could be one to check out. It has a tiny footprint both in terms of cost and size, so it fits easily into any collection, handbag, or pocket. Well worth checking out if you are looking for a new portable game.
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