POTATO INFERNO! (2021)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	ARTIST	PUBLISHER
2-8	20 mins	Haiden Trost	Haiden Trost	TigerBox Games

METHOD

A small box card game that sees players raise the temperature to beyond boiling point as they compete to knock each other out and be the last spud standing (cooking?!).

POINTS OF INTEREST

POTATO INFERNO was one of the first games I crowdfunded. Back in those early days as I stepped into the world of Kickstarter (and later BackerKit and GameFound), I stuck mainly to small box card games with low cost to equal low risk. While browsing the platform, this game drew me in with it’s cute art and simple play mechanics.

The game is a take on hot potato, that idea of not wanting to deal with something and passing it on to someone else. Here it is a potato that is getting hotter and hotter as everyone increases it’s heat level.

Each card you play will usually add to the existing temperature. This is fine to begin as nothing bad really happens until you close in on 100. If your next card would force it over that line, you are eliminated.

But this is more than just getting things close to 100 in an effort to screw other players. There are other cards in the deck that you’ll want to have ready in hand should things get too hot. Condiments like ketchup and sour cream can reduce the temperature. Or pehaps you have a topping like fresh chives that keeps the temperature where it is and lets you draw more cards instead. And if you’re feeling particularly nasty, then cutlery has you covered with effects that target your opponents.

And that’s the whole game. Simple as can be. It’s this simplicity that helps the game shine. Turns are fast because the card actions are simple; are you heating things up, or cooling them down. Yet simplicity doesn’t mean you should just pee into the wind and hope for the best. With a host of those cards that don’t increase the heat level, you’ll want to build you hand full of those condements, toppings, and cutlery so that you’re ready for when the time comes and the heat goes way up. There are a varied number of heat increases across the potato cards. While some really quite low like 1 and 2, there are others that can shoot the temperature up by 50. Heck, one card immediately shoots the temperture to 100!!! Imagine being the guy who plays that on their first turn of the game and you’re next (obviously, I don’t need to imagine, because I did it 😁).

Controlling things as it near the peak is also something you have to think about. You’ll want to have some good cards in your hand as you close in on 100; cards that will help you out when the flames start to burn. And be careful if you’re the one to turn up the heat for giggles, because if you make a beeline for the scorching century, you might be the one who gets knocked out of the kitchen if everyone else is safe.

But it’s not just fast paced gameplay and simple rules that make this game fun to table. The artwork is the kind that will bring laughs every time a new card is drawn. The designer and artist are one and the same, and he has given each potato an easily recognisable geek culture makeover, complete with pun-tastic names. From Tony Starch and Kilo Rind to The Termi-tater and Spuddy The Elf, there are references to a whole bunch of classic movies and tv shows from across the last four or five decades.

It all comes together to create a short party game with just a single deck of cards, one that works great at the start of the games evening to get things going. It plays up to eight, which is also great, and the higher the player count, the higher the chaos.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

Unfortunately there are a handful of things that force it to be just good, and not great.

Player elimination is an archaic mechanism nowadays and it’s POTATO INFERNO’S biggest negative. While at lower counts, it doesn’t cast too much of a cloud over a playthrough, when you push past five or six players, being eliminated can be tough. I will say that this is rare, because the temperature doesn’t reset when you’re knocked out, and the game round doesn’t begin again at zero (each player must prevent themselves from crossing the threshold which often leads to a domino effect of elimination). But there are a few cards that bring the temperature way down, one even taking it to zero. And if that happens right after you’ve been knocked out, you might as well go and nuke a jacket potato in the microwave and chill for a bit.

Adding some extra unnecessary game length to proceedings is that the game has the option to be played over mulitple rounds. It comes with little wooden potatos to track your victories, a little like the heart tokens in LOVE LETTER. But some rounds can drag on and if everyone in an eight player game wins a single round each before someone finally gets their second token, and end game victory, then you could be heading into heavy Euro length of gaming. For that reason, we just play one round as the game, which keeps it short and sweet.

The biggest problem I’ve found with the game is tracking the temperature. All it takes is for someone to get distracted (maybe drinks arrive at the table or someone knocks on the door) and you’d have to go through the pile of cards to recalculate the heat level.

We’ve taken to using score dials or D10’s so that every one knows where we’re at. This eliminates the many calls of “what level are we at?”. It’s a small thing, but it clogs up the flow of what should be a speedy game.

EXTRA CONTENT?

The Kickstarter copy I received came with the SWEET SURPRISE expansion. This adds a bunch of cards that can eliminate players on the basis of above the table events (The player next to you is taller? You’re outta there!). With player elimination being the main negative to this game, it seems an odd choice to add a module that kicks players to the curb for random real world actions. We’ve fully avoided adding this in.

Meanwhile the DEMONOTIZED SPUD TUBER expansion adds more cards based around YouTube content creators (I think; I didn’t add this expansion to my pledge and there isn’t much in the way of content online for it).

For what the game is, nothing else is needed above the base game.

FOR 2-PLAYERS?

It works okay at 2-player, but it just becomes a quick back and forth. It really shines at the higher player counts as your cards can have repercussions further onround the table and chaos unfolds.

– – CONCLUSION – – POTATO INFERNO does exactly what it sets out to do. It’s a small box card game that is very simple to teach while encouraging chaos and fun over strategy and tactics. The cards are great, from their clear design and rib tickling art. Despite it’s rough edges (mainly the player elimination) it’s a fun game that has a low bar to entry.

Review #0215