Stats:
No. of players: 2-4
Amount of time to play: 20-60 minutes
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: minimal

Carnival Rules Description:

Carnival is a set collection game that uses dice for action allocation and has some “take that” too. If you can complete four of the five rides on your midway first you win.

In Carnival you start with five cards and a wild. You roll the three dice and then may allocate two of them to actions. Actions include: (1) drawing a card from the deck, (2) drawing a card from the discard pile, (3) stealing a random card from another player, (4) trading a card with another player, (5) trading a card from your midway or (6) stealing a card from someone’s midway. If you roll triples you may take that action three times.

You may then start building rides on your midway which consist of cards. Banners, seats, lights and materials make a ride but you cannot repeat any one of those elements. Also to start building a ride you must lay at least 2 cards (one of which may be a wild).

If you complete a ride without using a wild your ride is locked in and can no longer be stolen from. You also gain a ticket but cannot have more than three (see below for what tickets do). But if you use a wild, players can still mess with your ride by rolling a 5 or 6 and you don’t gain a ticket.

After adding to existing rides or starting new ones you draw back up to three cards.

You also start Carnival with three tickets. These tickets may be used to change the value of one die by one, block another player’s action or re-roll all your dice.

The first player to finish four of their five rides wins the game.

A Quick Review of Carnival:

Carnival plays quick, is easy to teach and fun to play. While not too heavy, Carnival is not as light some people think. You’ll have to use your tickets wisely and know when to lay your sets and wilds. Luck is still involved and can heavily influence the game. So if you do not like games that rely on luck you might not like Carnival.

I played a prototype of Carnival at the WBC and enjoyed it very much. I think it is most fun as a four player team game (2 vs 2). This helps mitigate some of the luck as you and your partner can trade and steal from each other to your advantage.

It also limits the tickets to three per team. Tickets can be powerful and being able to use them to complete natural sets and get them right back can keep someone in the lead. I like having less and having to be more selective as to when to use them. Just be mindful that less tickets also makes Carnival more reliant on luck.

The art work and components for Carnival are fantastic! They fit the theme perfectly. The rule book has a few issues but Dice Hate Me Games has been very active in clearing a couple rulings up. I wish the box was a tad bit bigger so I could fit all the dice and tickets better.

I kickstarted this game and am glad I did. You can play Carnival with most anyone. The rules say 13+, but I think some 8 or 9 year olds could play this and kids 10 and up definitely could.

With its unique mix of mechanics, ease of play and fun factor, Carnival is worth checking out.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 2 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6