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Quick Look: Bullrings

 Publisher: Binary Cocoa
Year Published: 2019

No. of Players: 2 – 4

Ages: 8+

Playing Time: 8 – 15 minutes.

Find more info HERE.

From the Publisher:

Disclaimer: The publisher provided the copy of Bullrings. The opinions expressed in the review are completely my own.

Review

Binary Cocoa has pretty much established itself as a go-to hub for gamers on the go ; at least it has in my experience. While my previous reviews of Straight 4 and Frog Chess exemplify their catalog of portable gaming (I still invite you to check out their Shadow Brume crowdfund even though it’s not quite so small, because it did capture my eye), it would seem that with yet another game in my hands, Binary Cocoa has no intention of abandoning their penchant for pocket-sized fun. As such, today I will be covering Bullrings.

As is the case with many of their other offerings, Bullrings offers gameplay on a foldable neoprene mat. It supports up to four players in a battle of wits to see who can stack all of their 6 pieces into one single tower through moving them on to each other. Seems pretty simple, right?

The first barrier to winning would be that your pieces are all strategically placed by your opponents at the commence of the game, likely in such a way as to inconvenience, impede, or otherwise obstruct you. 

The second obstacle would be that of movement being limited to a number of spaces equal to the number depicted on top of each stack, with one being one, two being two, and three being three movements per turn, depending on which stack or piece you elect to move. This may seem trivial, and in most games, it would seem prudent to always maximize the ability to move, but in Bullrings, this may actually be counter productive, as to form a stack you must land exactly on one of your pieces, and the map layout may prevent you from doing so if you must move 3 spaces (you can’t reduce movement).

The board layout is somewhat circular in its design, with paths only able to be traveled between dots in a straight line — no turning mid-move is allowed, so sometimes you need to take the long way to get where you intend to go over several turns. Landing on top of one of your own pieces lets you place it on top of the piece(s) you landed on, and the movement value is replaced with whatever is on top, and while you can move through opponents’ pieces, you can never land on them directly. So due consideration is needed to prime your master plan for victory.

Now, true to past form, Bullrings is not complicated at all to learn, and should only take a minute or two to convey to new players. But this, again, makes for seamless and easy fun for up to 4 people. As stated earlier with Straight 4 and Frog Chess, this is a game especially and ideally suited for either those who work with kids or those who need fast, easy, and portable fun that can be used in places such as coffee shops.

As with Frog Chess, I did like the game. There is a minor  inconvenience with the neoprene mat in that you may need to stretch its folds prior to playing to ensure that it is an even playing surface. The fact that pieces are stacked means that they can in theory topple over if on an uneven portion of the gaming mat, though this never officially happened in practice for us. But, this is most likely due to us making sure things were level prior to playing. 

Bullrings does even have an advantage over Frog Chess in being 4 players instead of being limited to just 3. However, we do seem to enjoy Frog Chess a bit more. While equally simple, Frog Chess seems to have a universal appeal and thrill with its uniquely crafted frogs that jump over each other. Bullrings, while sporting extremely competent design and components, feels a bit more mechanical than thematic, if that makes sense. It is certainly playable, but seems to be slightly more bereft of fun when compared directly to Frog Chess, again, most likely due to the implementation of the theme. However, Bullrings is no less cerebral, still requiring you to think in advance of making your move if you want to win ; being random or haphazard will usually cost you a victory in both games. 

Still, for what it is worth Bullrings is worth the money, especially for the audience it caters to. It provides a great alternative to standard games such as checkers and still motivates brain cells among developing minds such that they will still desire to play it when looking for things to do. As such, it still receives a recommendation from our table, and we hope you will check it out!

After reading Jazz’s review, if this sounds like a game for you at the time of this posting
Bullrings is available for purchase for only $25. Check it out and get it HERE.

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