Pumafiosi Review

Next up in the Criminal Capers Collection is Pumafiosi. Similar to the rest of the series, the ruleset is very easy to grasp. Players will be given a hand of 3 cards and on their turn they'll play one of them and compare the numbers played. Here's the twist, you want to have the second highest number. If you play the second highest, you'll put one of your tokens on the card and place it somewhere in the lineup from -3 to 10. This will repeat until the draw area is empty. If a player wants to place a card with one that already has one, as long as the card is higher, it can take its place. This causes a domino effect where if the card being forced out is smaller than the next it will keep dropping. Players will receive penalty points for every spot they drop. At the end of the round, each player scores points for the cards in the grid and subtracts from their penalty points to get their scores. This plays for three rounds and whoever has the most points wins.

The Good: The twist to have the second highest card is really interesting. It effectively makes the highest cards in the game completely useless. This is a game that's designed for more players but there's a decent two player dummy mode included where you'll simply draw the top card of the deck and it counts as a card in play.

The Okay: While there is a two player mode in mind, this is definitely meant for more players and it will play its best with higher counts. The tension is minimal with two and one player can potentially dominate the game because the competition and luck factor is minimal with less players.

The Not So Good: For a simple game, it does take a few rounds to get used to what's happening at times. Specifically with the card placement and following the cascading cards. It's a bit of a slow start as well. You'll need to play some turns before the excitement kicks in.

Final Thoughts: Pumafiosi is the weakest of the trilogy. The gameplay is generally pretty good but needing the player count to get the most out of it makes it a tougher sell for someone who primarily plays at two players. I do think it will stay in the collection because it's an excellent filler game for a game night. It's quick to play and easy enough to teach.

Thanks to Bitewing Games for providing a review copy.