There is a certain near charm about 18-card games.
Their small table footprint, and easy transport features coupled with generally easy to grasp rules, make them an increasingly favoured sub-genre of gaming.
That many such games are also available in print-and-play format doesn’t hurt either, as they become low-cost and easy-to-create games.
Shallow Regrets is a new 18-card game upcoming from – yes, you guessed it – Button Shy.
This one which we had a chance to experience in a pre-release print ‘n play format is a game with an interesting lineage.
It is designed by Judson Cowan, who also happens to provide the cartoony and creepy art, and is a small footprint reimplementation of his bigger game Deep Regrets from Tettix Games – a fishing game about pulling progressively more horrifying things out of the ocean.
Shallow Regrets simplifies things down to a quick and sort of quirky card game for two to four players.
This one is super simple, and in that it falls into the brew and pretzels time filler category. Games won’t leave you in awe, nor will they tax your brains, but you’ll garner enough fun that Shallow Regrets is worth having.
Players ‘fish cards – two per turn, selecting one and tossing the other back into the ocean. Some cards give you points, some do not.
Some cards have single-use powers that can help a player or hinder an opponent, and that is a key element in selecting what to keep. Now, the ‘get your neighbour’ aspect won’t sit well with some game groups, but The Meeple Guild is happy to foil the plans of opponents any chance we get.
Fish all 18 cards and add up the points. Yes, it’s that simple.
It’s suggested the game takes 15 minutes, and that would need to mean slow-playing a few turns to extend a game that far. It’s lightning quick with only 18 cards.
Now this isn’t a game with enough going on that it would be worth playing a single game for an hour, but it does leave one wishing there was just a bit more – or at least a few more cards with maybe different effects to make the experience just a smidge more dramatic.
Given the game is from buttonshygames.com expansions are almost a sure thing. Most of their games get expansions – usually sooner than later in fact. That appears the case here too.
Two expansions; Shallow Regrets: The Fisher & the Frod and Shallow Regrets: Lingering Remorse already have been added to the database at Board Game Geek albeit with no indication has to how many cards each will be, their effect on the core game, or a release date past n expectation it will be in 2025.
Assuming the expansions are solid, they will likely boost interest in the core game a tick, making it at present at least a game to consider, and once it grows a bit, make it an easy ‘sure grab it for some fun’.
About Author
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
Shallow Regrets
Their small table footprint, and easy transport features coupled with generally easy to grasp rules, make them an increasingly favoured sub-genre of gaming.
That many such games are also available in print-and-play format doesn’t hurt either, as they become low-cost and easy-to-create games.
Shallow Regrets is a new 18-card game upcoming from – yes, you guessed it – Button Shy.
This one which we had a chance to experience in a pre-release print ‘n play format is a game with an interesting lineage.
It is designed by Judson Cowan, who also happens to provide the cartoony and creepy art, and is a small footprint reimplementation of his bigger game Deep Regrets from Tettix Games – a fishing game about pulling progressively more horrifying things out of the ocean.
Shallow Regrets simplifies things down to a quick and sort of quirky card game for two to four players.
Players ‘fish cards – two per turn, selecting one and tossing the other back into the ocean. Some cards give you points, some do not.
Some cards have single-use powers that can help a player or hinder an opponent, and that is a key element in selecting what to keep. Now, the ‘get your neighbour’ aspect won’t sit well with some game groups, but The Meeple Guild is happy to foil the plans of opponents any chance we get.
Fish all 18 cards and add up the points. Yes, it’s that simple.
It’s suggested the game takes 15 minutes, and that would need to mean slow-playing a few turns to extend a game that far. It’s lightning quick with only 18 cards.
Now this isn’t a game with enough going on that it would be worth playing a single game for an hour, but it does leave one wishing there was just a bit more – or at least a few more cards with maybe different effects to make the experience just a smidge more dramatic.
Given the game is from buttonshygames.com expansions are almost a sure thing. Most of their games get expansions – usually sooner than later in fact. That appears the case here too.
Two expansions; Shallow Regrets: The Fisher & the Frod and Shallow Regrets: Lingering Remorse already have been added to the database at Board Game Geek albeit with no indication has to how many cards each will be, their effect on the core game, or a release date past n expectation it will be in 2025.
Assuming the expansions are solid, they will likely boost interest in the core game a tick, making it at present at least a game to consider, and once it grows a bit, make it an easy ‘sure grab it for some fun’.
About Author
Calvin Daniels
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
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