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Players: 2-4 (ages 8+)
Playing Time: 15 minutes
All the pieces to Swipe come inside a durable blue plastic box: 10 dice, 50 chips, and four decoder cards. That’s it. Simple to set up. Simple to play. And, most importantly, the simple rules are on the decoder cards that everyone keeps close at hand.
Each player starts with two dice and two chips. Your turn begins with a roll of the dice. Depending on the outcome, you might get to “swipe” a chip or die from another player, or “win” a chip or die from the (table) center, where all the extra chips and dice reside.
Lucky players might roll a Super Swipe, meaning you get to swipe one die from each opponent (if they have any to spare—rules say they must keep one at all times). Also, the super swiper gets to take an extra turn. Such a deal.
“Swipe” has several dictionary meanings, but here it means “steal.” You’re trying to steal (legally, sort of) your opponents’ dice and chips. The more dice you have, the more you roll and the more chips you can collect. The player with the most chips at game’s end wins.
My wife, son, and I played two games. The action was fast-paced and fun. Mom won both games—she has a habit of doing that—but we were neck-and-neck most of the time. In a game like this, it’s easy to turn the tables and come racing back for a surprise win—which I almost did.
The game’s best feature: the decoder cards. They’re colorful, they’re easy to read, and they contain all the rules. Everyone gets one; it’s a stroke of genius. The worst feature: the chips. They’re very small, about the diameter and thickness of a dime. Mom found them hard to pick up. Me? I just slid them across the table.
My family enjoyed playing Swipe. We liked the ease of play, the rules laid out for us, and the speed. Best of all, in the end, there’s a clear winner with no arguments.
