Waddle Game Review

Multiplayer abstract games are notoriously difficult to design. Perfect information competition becomes muddied by the vagaries of turn order, suboptimal player blunders, and just flat out boring decision-making.

Waddle is none of those, mainly because it approaches the problems of abstract multiplayer game design head on, especially how it engages with turn order puzzles. Plus, it’s cute and plays in 10 minutes.

Lineage

Waddle is a remake of an older game called Gypsy King, which was reset and renamed for obvious reasons, and instead of trafficking in stereotypes that were completely unnecessary for an abstract game, we’re now just doing penguins, which is a much better idea.

What it is

Waddle is an area majority game, but like another great little area majority game, Rumble Nation, the majorities are more than meets the eye. Depending on player count, you have a hex map of different sizes. There are two different types of spaces: white ones which will soon house penguins, and water ones with numbers inside. At the beginning of the game, after determining a random turn order and placing player-colored marbles in a little cardboard chute, a marker hex is placed on the water hex with the number 1. Then, each player has two choices: place or scout.

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