HelvetiqBandido | Card Game | Ages 6+ | 1 - 4 Players

(All the games I mention here are Reiner Knizia games. He's an ex-banker with a PHD in mathematics, made his money by 30 and dedicated himself to game design. He's reknowned in the gaming world for his genius designs. Simple rules, involved but not brain-burning play, social and high funfactor.)I prefer to give 3 star ratings even if it's a five star product because it's where the wiser heads go to get their product info and fair and balanced appraisals, but for that I would need flaws to knock off stars. The only nitpick is that the box could have been even smaller, but it's already small just not as small as Kariba or the purer card games (Art Robbery has a bunch of tokens).As a light and fluffy social game of groans and laughs, Art Robbery is excellent. It's not brainless and there are some meaningful tactics but also plenty of chaos of the best kind rather than the random kind (like the good but random feeling Sakura, which I don't recommend but kids love). The Knizian twist to the scoring is rather like High Society, but unlike High Society it's not an auction game (which I'm not much into) and there is no play angst/pain (which I'm also not much into).It's been a quite brilliant introduction to modern board gaming for families I've played with, and who can see the 'family bliss' factor and feel that pleasant social buzz that is such a good substitute for alcohol. Having said that, the game-play (and rulesbook) is sufficiently light I think that this is one of the few games that could go with alcohol (boardgames are usually incompatible with boozing) at least after the first game.Social games (Catan, Ticket to Ride, Monopoly etc) are very sensitive to player numbers. This game is not much good at 3 players, but it's alright if you've nothing else to do. It should be played with 4 or 5; 4 for more meaningful tactics, 5 for more chaos or when introducing. Remember to nail the rules, and re-read them after your first game.

I love it, it's a great little coop game for groups, couples or families. The box is super tiny and cute, will definitely buy more games from the brand. There's a lot of game in a very small box (Unlike some games which have huge boxes without much content in them **cough** Alhambra**cough** ).The game is quick, but I would say faster the 15min they claim on the box. We mostly play between 20 - 30min. It's easy to learn, so good for playing with people who don't often play board-games.It's good to have big table or play on the floor since the game spreads out considerably and you can't always predict in which direction.It's actually quite hard to beat the game too. We haven't won yet

Very enjoyable small box game for my children (age 7 & 9) and I. Simple to learn and easy to get out and play with decent quality cards and quick to learn rules. Do mind that it does need quite a bit of space. Regardless, we recommend this game - fun, quick and entertaining.

We love the Helvetiq games and now have a few in the collection. The size of the games and boxes is perfect to pop in a bag to take out to pubs, restaurants, visit friends and take on holiday.We love that these games appeal to both children and adults. There are few games you play with a 5 year old and would happily take to the pub without the kids.There are definitely other, better Helvetiq games than this one, but even so it’s very different to anything I’ve played before and is a welcome addition to the collection. Our 5 year old loves it and I’m sure it will get lots of play.

Nice to have a game where you all play together with a common aim (stop ban-di-do), rather than have a game where you play against each other. Much easier for younger kids to join in, and not than get upset because they have lost to their older sibling. As we all win or lose together.Good game + handy to keep in a bag for trips.

This is such a fun little game. It requires a mix of luck and strategy and does not take long to play. Some games are over in seconds but mostly they last a bit longer and end up in bandido escaping. If a game lasts longer you will need quite a bit of space to fit all the cards, we usually play on the carpet. It's a good game to play solo too.The only negative is I wish the cards were slightly better quality. Some of ours are now bent from playing and we've had the game less than 2 months, although to be fair we've played this game a lot.

fun enjoyable game for everyone, managed to win through a couple of times but also failed miserably as well

IT'S like a 5 min game you can't play for long