Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Boast or Nothing is a trick-taking game (like Hearts or Pinochle or Spades) for 3 to 5 players. Each player is a contestant in the final round of the World Championship of Boasting.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
Boast or Nothing is a trick-taking game (like Hearts or Pinochle or Spades) for 3 to 5 players. Each player is a contestant in the final round of the World Championship of Boasting. Everyone boasted and bragged their tails off to get here, but now it’s the big time. We're down to the last few contestants, and you're one of them! Win, and you'll enjoy free drinks in any bar for the rest of your life from the defeated. Lose, and it's back to the boasting minor league for you. Let's get to the contest! If you want to win this battle, you have to raise your popularity higher from audience. You can get a popularity with 7 cards of boasting on each rounds. After the set up according to Reference Sheet for different number of players, they get their own marker and Player Sheet. Then arrange randomly the Color Rank Tokens into a stack. Shuffle and deal 7 cards to each player, remaining cards are opened on the center of table. The player who most recently had an adult beverage starts to play a card, and round is begun. Other players have to play a card of first player’s color. Or they can play pass. If a player cannot play the appropriate color, they may play any card in their hand. Every player plays one of their cards, it’s time to determine the highest value to get this ‘Trick’. The player who played best card takes this Trick and becomes a new player to start next round. The Value of card is determined according to Color Rank Tokens, and they can be changed dramatically! At the end of each round, players will be assigned Popularity points based on the tricks they’ve taken. But the judges of this Championship are drunk already! You get one point when you get a trick exactly matches with judge’s wonky criterion. BUT! If you take zero tricks, regardless of the number of players, you will move forward 2 spaces on the Scoreboard. Because you’re too cool for school; and you know it, the audience knows it, and the judges definitely know it. Take your two points, Fonz. The game ends when one player reaches the Championship space on the Scoreboard!