Read Time:2 Minute, 18 Second
Players: 2-6 (ages 10+)
Playing Time: 15 minutes
If you’ve ever seen an episode of Desperate Housewives, you know that suburbia is a battlefield. And in the card game Escalation!, the goal is suburban survival as players try to one-up their opponents.
Each player starts the game with six cards (numbered 1-13)—and the rest of the deck is placed facedown in the middle of the table. One player begins by playing one or more cards of any value. If he or she has more than one card of the same value (i.e., a pair of 6s), any number of them can be played at the same time. That player then draws from the deck to bring his or her hand back up to six cards, and play moves to the next player.
When it’s your turn, you need to play either a wild (Neighborhood Watch) card or a card (or cards) with a higher value than the card(s) played by the last player. For instance, if your opponent played a 4, you have to play a 5 or higher. Or, if your opponent played a pair of 6s, for a total of 12, you need to play a value of 13 or higher. If you can’t play, you pick up the pile of played cards and place them facedown in front of you. Then the battle begins all over again.
Play continues until there are no cards left in the deck and someone has played all of his or her cards. Players then count the number of cards in the piles in front of them, and the player with the fewest cards is the winner.
Escalation! isn’t necessarily a unique game. Actually, it’s quite similar in style and rules to a bunch of other card games out there. In fact, it reminds me of a simplified version of Pig Pile. But it’s an entertaining game nonetheless—thanks, in a large part, to artist Beth Trott’s hilarious illustrations.
Every player will find his or her favorite card in the deck. My brother-in-law, for instance, hoarded the 4s (the cheerleader), while I loved the 12s (the old lady with a bazooka). And that’s what really makes the game fun: the silly cards—from the angry blonde with a rolling pin to total nuclear destruction.
Escalation! is an amusing game that’s quick and easy to play. So if you’re the hard-core, super-serious type of game player, you’ll probably want to stick to your euchre tournaments. But if you’re looking for a fun and simple game to play while enjoying a few drinks with your fellow suburbanites, Escalation! is the perfect choice.
Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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