Something Fishy

In writing about board games, I've often mentioned the usefulness of having a short "filler" game -- the game that can be played with a flexible number of players in 15-30 minutes, while waiting for people to arrive at game night (or for bribing them not to leave just yet). Aiming squarely at that target is "Sushi Go!", a fast-paced card game about pigging out at a sushi restaurant.

The game plays out over three rounds, in each of which all the players are dealt a hand of seven cards. The core mechanic will be familiar to many, especially those who have played 7 Wonders. Players simultaneously choose one card from their hand to play, then pass the remaining cards to the next player. Over 7 turns, those original hands dwindle down to a single card, and then scoring is updated.

The cards themselves represent various types of sushi, arranged in several set collection mechanics. Some cards are individually worth points. Other cards are grouped in a sort of "double or nothing" mechanic -- you score if you can get a set of two or three, but you score nothing at all if you don't get there. Still other cards pile up in "pyramid math," worth 1 point for the first card, a total of 3 for two, 6 for three, and so on. In all, there are maybe half a dozen different things going on with the cards, enough to inject some variety, but not too many to make the game too complicated.

But perhaps some complexity would have been welcome. The strategy of the game seems to simply be "don't do what the player to your left or right is doing; choose your cards accordingly." Admittedly, that's about all there is to the strategy in 7 Wonders too, but there feels like a little something more to that game, probably a result of the historical theme and the way you acquire resources to "build" cards. Sushi Go!, appropriately enough, just feels like a conveyor belt whizzing by, from which you pluck the choicest morsel you can at any moment.

The game does hit its intended target -- you can teach and play it in a total of about 10 to 15 minutes. But it's hard for a game that takes only 10-15 minutes to really satisfy. The Resistance pulls it off thanks to the social dynamics at play. Snorta gets there because making animal noises is funny. Sushi Go! is really just a bit too lightweight for my tastes. Given any more time, I'd sooner just play 7 Wonders. Given only the 15 minutes, too few people for The Resistance or Snorta, and too many for a game like Lost Cities or Odin's Ravens, I'd sooner just sit and, you know, have a conversation with friends. But then, if those friends really like sushi, maybe you'd want to give this a go. I'd call it a C.