Game: OrganATTACK!
Publisher: Self-published via Kickstarter
Designer: Nick Seluk
Main Game Mechanisms: Hand Management, Take That
Number of Players: 2 to 5 (6 with expansion)
Game Time: 20 to 40 minutes

Description: OrganATTACK! is a card game where each player has a set of organs and the goal is to get rid of everyone else’s while protecting yours. This is primarily accomplished by playing afflictions on organs (such as Pancreatitis or even Hot Coffee) and these are specific to one or a couple organs. 2 afflictions and the organ has had enough and is discarded. You can also play wild cards (like Malpractice) that can be put onto any organ and count toward the afflictions needed to discard it.

There are also defensive cards (like Immunity Boost) that can block an opponent’s play, protect you for a couple rounds, or even heal afflictions from your organs. The deck is rounded out by miscellaneous other cards that can help or hamper you, mess with opponents, throw chaos into the mix, and many other effects including instant cards you can play even on other people’s turns. Last organ standing wins!

Review: I had to play this two separate times with different amounts of other players before I felt confident enough giving a review. My first time playing was with just 2 players (myself included) and since several of the cards in the deck either prevent the opponent from acting for 2 rounds or protect you for 2 rounds, it ended up being one-sided a lot of the time. I played it again this past weekend with 3 players and even just that 1 extra person made it a lot more fun. The rulebook states that 4-5 players is the optimal number for fun and I would agree!

Overall, the game is easy to pick up and, aside from a few unclear aspects of some cards (that aren’t covered in the short and succinct rulebook), is good, lighthearted fun. It has all the normal back and forth of multiplayer competitive games but art from The Awkward Yeti combined with a wide assortment of conditions and hilarious flavor text combine to make an enjoyable experience. There’s also a lot of hidden humor if you have a medical background or knowledge (my mother, a retired nurse, got a kick out of a lot of the cards).

Buy, Try, Deny: For groups that regularly have 3-6 players and are okay with lighthearted fun and a bit of “take that,” I would recommend this game. The art and flavor text are funny and on point and once you have played it a few times to get used to some of the mechanics the rulebook doesn’t cover in detail it becomes a pretty quick play as afflictions and tactical cards are played and countered rapidly.