Cookie Addict is a small box tile laying game for two players by publisher Lubee Edition. The designer is Pierrick Lugen and artists Alexandre Brull and Martin Maigret.
In this game, players are either the fox or the racoon that have escaped their enclosures at the zoo. They are competing to collect the most cookies while avoiding the zookeepers.
Players construct a 6 x 6 grid of tiles that had different amounts of cookies, decoys, and special tiles. Orient the tiles so that they are all facing the same direction, as this helps identify where each players places their character pawn.
The fox will play first, placing their marker next to one of the rows of tiles, on the right side of the play area. The row they indicate with their marker is the current active row.
Next the raccoon will place their marker, underneath a column at the bottom of the board, the marker indicating the column they want to activate.
Why is it important that the fox place on the right and the racoon place on the bottom? This placement will result in a single square in the grid being activated in both the row and column each turn. That square is the square that player activated. Once a square is activated, the player that activated it collects the reward or loses cookies if it was a negative, then flips the tile over to the dark side, as the zookeepers continue to search zones.
So, look at the image below. It is the Fox’s turn to go next. The Fox is somewhat limited, because their previous turn left them in the bottom row – so they cannot stay there as the tile is already flipped – and the top two tiles have been flipped. Their option is to play in row 3 (counting down from the top) and lose one cookie, row 4 and lose two cookies, or row 5 and gain a cookie and a decoy.
The main strategy of this game is to collect the most cookies while trying to kept your opponent from winning. Cookies are victory points, while decoys allow you to move the zookeeper marker. The zookeeper is currently in row 1 / column 5. The zookeeper marker blocks a space, but can be moved if you have collected any decoys.
The game keeps going until one of the two players no longer have a valid move for their marker, or one player manages to trap the other into taking the ‘instant capture’ tile, which is the top right tile in the image above with the zookeeper truck on it and the skull.
The tutorial for this one was created by gideon142 and is an okay tutorial. It teaches the concepts of the game well enough that it allows you to get playing. However, the directions given for where and how to place your token so that the tutorial progresses weren’t always great. There was one point when the creator told the player to place their marker so that it intersects with the top left tile, but it meant the top right tile. When I couldn’t place the marker to execute the move as the written instructions provided, I was able to look at the visuals in the tutorial to see where the confusion was. Long story short, it’s enough to get you into an actual game.
Cookie Addict is a fun little two player game. It is an abstract strategy game, which I’m mentioned that I’m kind of hit or miss on. One of the things that I like about this game is that the grid set-up is going to be different each time. Players will create the grid with a combination of cookie tiles, lost cookie times, and a random selection of special tiles, so games are going to feel different and not have a solved element or a definitive right answer in how to respond to another player’s actions.
The theme and the art is absolutely adorable. I love the ideal of playing the role of an escaped racoon or fox just out there trying to get themselves some sweet treats and avoiding the zookeeper.
I think the addition of the zookeeper tokens and the decoys to facilitate moving the zookeeper is great. It gives players a way to manipulate and block their opponents into making specific moves. But you don’t just get the ability out of nowhere, you have to go to a location that gives you decoys, which also usually gives you less cookies, as you’re getting a different type of resource.
I found the ‘Auto Lose’ Zookeeper truck trap to be pretty brutal, that even if you are ahead in points and your opponent manages to trap you into that spot, you just automatically lose the game. If I owned a physical copy, I think that is one tile that wouldn’t be put into play unless the players were both equally good a the game, but there are more than enough special tiles to play with, so it’s all good.
I enjoyed this one and it was fun. Probably not one I’d own, but will stay in my favorites on the website and willing to play it on Board Game Arena with others.
I’m rating this one a 7/10 on Board Game Geek.
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