Published in 2023, Belladone Bluff is a small box card game designed by Konstantinos Karagiannis with art by Martin Maigret. It plays 2-4 players in a playtime of roughly 15 to 30 minutes, by publisher Lubee Edition, a Belgian publisher.
In this game, players will play cards to three different medical preparations (rows), with the card values ranging from -6 to +6 as well as special cards, across five color suits, each preparation being complete upon a player having placed a 7th ingredient card a preparation.
Once completed, each preparation is resolved for its total value, whether that ends up being positive (a cure) or negative (a poison). The player who completed the preparation either gains or loses points based on the end value. Special cards can be used to do things like, alternating the positive and negative values in cards, allow players to peek at face-down cards, force players to pay in a specific preparation, or even giving a preparation to another player.
The game ends when the deck of cards runs out and one final preparation has been completed, the game ends and the player with the most points wins.
This game was launched on Board Game Arena on December 4th, with a tutorial, so if you don’t know how to play, it is quick and easy to learn. The tutorial was done by Nekonyancer and is a well done and informative tutorial. It gives you a solid foundation for playing the game.
As some some BGA tutorials, you can occasionally get misaligned with the tutorial itself by not clicking things at the proper time, so just be careful to read the instructions that are given for the tutorial. I have warnings and these problems more in Nekonyancers tutorials than others, but that could be one of two reasons. One, because they produce a significant number of tutorials for BGA and it’s just a numbers thing. Or two, because they are not as heavy handed with ‘pushing’ the player through the tutorial and giving the player more directions to click and activate things, whereas other tutorials will ‘do it for you’.
I have been enjoying this game. It’s light, easy to learn, and fairly quick to play. It is definitely a take-that style of game, which I can find fun in small doses. This game does it well. There are a handful of small rules that you lean when playing the game, that make the playing more strategic:
- Being able to play multiple cards of the same color to a preparation in one play
- Each slot in a preparation alternates face up or face down cards – the specials only trigger if they are face up.
- The card backs show what color is on the front of the card, providing some information.
- And, the last card of a preparation, must be the same color as the previous card.
These specifics in regards to how the different cards play with each other, players are able to hide or reveal information, creates an interesting interaction and interplay between the cards and the players that is fun, engaging, and smart.
I’m rating this one an 7 / 10 on Board Game Geek. Its fun, but I do find that I reach a limit to my enjoyment of take that games after a time, which is the only thing that decreases my rating.
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