WBG Score: 6.5
Player Count: 3-6
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Published by: Orbiter & Rover
This is a review copy. See our review policy here
Space Hoppers: Singko Academy is a fresh new card game created by Orbiter & Rover where players compete to gather Souvenir cards in a take-that race game. The game successfully funded on Kickstarter on 2023, and is now available at retail. The artwork is colourful and attractive, the rules are simple to grasp, and the gameplay is quick and enjoyable. So, is it worth playing? Let's get it to the table to see how it plays.
How To Set Up Space Hoppers: Singko Academy
Separate the five decks and give them all an individual shuffle. Deal four crew cards, two monkey wrenches, and one souvenir card to each player. Players will place the Souvenir card face up in front of them along with their four Crew cards, adding the two Monkey Wrench cards into their hand. Then place one Hop card face up into the central playing area (this immediately effects all players) along with each of the separate decks, placed face down along with the modifier tokens. You are now ready to play.
How To Play Space Hoppers: Singko Academy
Players now take it in turns to draw an Encounter card. Players will read the card out loud and immediately follow its instructions. These cards can do all sorts of things, but your goal is to try and get Souvenir cards. Any of the next two players in turn can now play a single Monkey Wrench card if they choose, if not, play moves to the next player. If a player draws a Souvenir card they will add it to their face up collection in front of them. If a player ever reaches five Souvenir cards (four in a six player game) they win the game. (Note, some Souvenir cards are worth double) So long as no other player can change this with a Monkey Wrench card of course!
Any cards played during a players turn are discarded to the bottom of their respective discard pile. Any player who played a Monkey Wrench card must draw a new one. You must have two in hand at all times.
Crew cards act as each players life points. If you ever lose all your Crew cards you are out of the game. Any player with one single Crew card remaining is immune to other players stealing their final card. However, final Crew are not immune to Encounter effects or Monkey Wrench cards. Your Crew all have individual scores for various attributes. Many Encounter cards require you to score a minimum within one of these characteristics. You can gain new and extra Crew throughout a game, but be warned, you can also lose them!
There is a variant where you can pick your crew one-by-one from all face up crew cards as part of a more customisable set-up. You can also boost your final crew card if you wish. And there is also a chaotic version where all players can play Monkey Wrench cards when ever they chose! Worth a try, at least once.
Play continues with players drawing an Encounter card until one player has reached the required number of Souvenir cards.
Is It Fun? Space Hoppers: Singko Academy Card Game Review
Games of Space Hoppers: Singko Academy move fast. You could see games over within minutes. If a player gets lucky, they can see victory come their way before any other player has a chance to stop them. In a two-player game, this is actually quite common. As such, I feel this game excels with more players. More people, more chaos, more fun.
Building a strategy can be hard. Things change fast. Your Crew can come and go, and the unpredictable nature of the Encounter cards can mean it is almost impossible to predict the path the game will take.
The art is great though. Everything is so bright and colourful, and adds to the comic book fun of the game. There is also a lot of effort within the lore of the game. Each card has a fair bit of flavour text. Whether you ever read this or not is up to you!
If you are looking for a quick, fun game that is light on rules and can be set up, taught, and played all within minutes, Space Hoppers: Singko Academy delivers. You will be disappointed if you are looking for a deeper strategy, but if you just want quick, fast fun, this is the one.
I like the drafting option to build your Crew during setup, rather than just randomly gaining them. Using their combined skills to achieve Encounters is satisfying, especially if you have hand-crafted them yourself. But it can be a little random too. You never know what attributes you will need. You can't aim for one over the other as you never know what Encounter cards will come your way. I tend you just try and build an evenly balanced c
Crew.
I like the variety in the Monkey Wrench cards. They offer some fun and interesting things to do. The Hop cards do bring a fresh twist to each game; I just wish they were used more, and you could cycle through a few of these each game. But overall, this is a light, fun game that certainly does not outstay its welcome. It just perhaps comes in a little too light for me. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a simple, fast, vibrant card game to play with their family, that offers quick, entertaining, take-that style card play without too much stress.
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