Stats:
No. of players: 1-4
Amount of time to play: 20-30 min
Age requirements: 8+
Set-up time: minimal

In Ubongo you race against time and the other players to finish your puzzle first and gain gems worth VPs.

Ubongo Rules Description:

Ubongo lasts nine rounds. Each round, you get a new puzzle board that has a white shape on it. One player rolls the die which indicates which Tertris-like puzzle pieces you must use to fill the white space on your player board.

After everyone has their pieces you flip the sand timer and try to solve the puzzle. Once you are finished you yell, “Ubongo”. The first player to finish takes the blue gem from the round tracker and the amber gem goes to the second place finisher. Then any players that finish before the time ran out, including the first and second place finishers, randomly pull a gem from the bag. (This review is of the 2015 reprint and scoring differs in older versions.)

Gems come in four colors, red, blue, green and amber. At the end of the game they are worth four, three, two and one VP respectively.

The game ends after nine rounds and you total the VPs in gems you’ve earned. The player with the most VPs wins.

Quick Review of Ubongo:

Ubongo is a fun, family-friendly puzzle game that is accessible to most anyone. Young and old, gamer or non-gamer can all enjoy this game.

The components are really nice. The bright colors and art are fun and evoke the right attitude for this game. The rules are simple to teach, learn and follow.

I really like the puzzle building, Tertris-like aspect of this game. My brain just works that way and I enjoy figuring out these solutions. The player boards are two sided with one side using three puzzle pieces and the other side requiring four. This lets you increase the difficulty or handicap certain players.

The box says 8+ but you can play this with younger kids. Just remove the timer. It is super accessible. And can help kids learn problem-solving and develop a knack for spatial relationships.

My wife is competitive and was not wild about the random drawing of rewards. There is ten of each gem in the bag and players winning first place often should win. But there is a chance a slower player gets lucky and pulls a bunch of red gems and squeaks out the win. If you want you can just make the victory condition the most number of gems.

If you are looking for a fun gateway game that is light, plays quick and is easy to the Ubongo fits the bill. If you have kids this game is fun for the entire family. You can even play it solo against the clock.

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