playnext.fm

Organised Fun

Episode 177 - Pick N Mix

·35 min·3 clips
A random card makes players swap medium bags, handing Jane an unexpected win and leaving everyone in disbelief.
The episode begins with hosts Phil, Jack, Jane, and guest Harry introducing themselves and the show's theme of gamers versus haters. Harry shares his board gaming background, including annual retreats and games like Haunted House and Wingspan, leading into light banter about video games like League of Legends. Phil proposes adapting Bhutan's happiness virtues to board games, sparking a debate on whether winning is essential for happiness. The hosts then focus on Pick and Mix, a game they designed and won the 2023 Chance Encounters Bristol Game Jam competition with. They describe the game's mechanics: players roll dice for money to buy sweets from a shop, fill small, medium, and large bags, and draw cards that add random effects like stealing sweets or swapping prices. During gameplay, they highlight moments like Jack's strategy of taking yellow cubes and a card that forces players to pass medium bags, unexpectedly making Jane win. The hosts read feedback from Big Potato Games, which praises the theme and mix of luck and strategy but criticizes cards that slow the game and stealing as too mean. They defend stealing as essential for interaction and debate potential improvements, such as custom dice or themed tokens. Finally, they score Pick and Mix in categories: fun (all give 4 or 5), replayability (scores range from 3 to 5), aesthetic (4s and 5s with suggestions for better components), and gameplay (all 5s for simplicity), resulting in a total frag score of 18.75. The episode concludes with the hosts declaring it a win and sharing social media details.

As heard by us

A lively review where dice, sweets, and visible rival goals turn a group-built game into a real contest.

Pick and Mix gets an energetic single-episode review as the panel plays through a game many of them had a hand in making. The tension comes from simple pieces used well: dice rolls, what each number can buy, and the timing of filling small and medium sweet bags.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You get a homemade board game, a dwindling sweet supply, and a very real chance of strategic theft.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
Listen to the show on
Apple PodcastsSpotify
Play clips from this episodeMore from Organised Fun