Nerdful Things – Rick and Morty: Total Rickall Card Game Review
I have wanted this game for ages – I mean, a game based on one of the most memorable and adored episodes of Rick and Morty, who wouldn’t want that? Anatomy Park is next on my list. But for now, here are my thoughts on Total Rickall.
First impressions
The box looked a lot bigger in the pictures. Much like Exploding Kittens. The box art is exquisite, however. And, as the old adage goes, big things come in small packages. The cards are of great quality with great artwork and a nice glossy finish.
The instructions are not brilliant. I found it easier just watching a video on Youtube to get to grips with the set up and after the first couple of rounds it became second nature.
Set-up
Setting up is a lot simpler than the instructions make out. Basically, you shuffle all of the cards (you get a set of character cards which are larger than the action cards and identity cards) and you place identity cards face-down on the table in rows of a maximum of three. You place double the number if players and then place a character card face-up on top of each identity card.
So, just like the show, you see the characters but are clueless as to whether they are parasites or real.
Each player is dealt three action cards and gameplay starts with the player who has the ‘First Player This Round’ token and it gets passed to the next player on the left at the end of each round.
Gameplay
Each round, each player places an action card face-down on the table. Once all the cards are down, they are flipped over to reveal their respective actions. Action cards vary from shooting a particular coloured character card (red, blue or green), having a sneaky peek at an identity card under a character or on the top of the identity draw deck, forcing another player to shoot a character and so on.
The instructions recommend, and I do too, that you get to grips with the game by playing cooperatively. Seren and I played this together for four games and it was great fun. Play continues with you playing the best possible action cards that you can to try and work out which characters are parasites and which are not. In our first game, we almost made it to the end of the character pile but we ended up shooting Mr Poopybutthole whose identity was real and his card dictates that if you kill him the game ends immediately. He’s sorry we had no bad memories of him. Until this one, of course. With the exception of Mr Poopybutthole, you get three lives in which to try and win and gameplay is over once you shoot the third and final real character.
At the end of each round, unless an action card in the current round states otherwise, a new identity card is placed face-down and a character card is placed face-up on top of it. And so it goes until you either lose by shooting three real characters (or Mr Poopybutthole if he wasn’t a parasite) or you win by having no more character cards left to draw and thus eliminating all of the parasites.
Verdict
Overall, the game is a lot of fun. The amusing references from the show as well as the references we made ourselves were a good laugh and the teamwork element is really enjoyable. Once we played a couple of rounds, we picked up the pace and the fast-paced nature of the game means you can get a good few rounds in an evening. We haven’t tried the competitive (advanced) gameplay as yet but I can only imagine the carnage and fun the advanced elements will bring.
If you ignore the instructions or just try and get stuck in it’ll come to you in no time but I checked this video out to get a feel for it so I’d recommend you check it out if you can’t be bothered to read the instructions or find them confusing.
Overall, I loved playing this game and it’s a hit with Seren and I’m sure Talia will love it too. An evening of this, Zombie Dice, Get Bit! and other quick and easy games is sure to happen soon and be a recurring thing for family game nights. This is a must for any Rick and Morty fans and even non-fans – you don’t need to know the show nor enjoy it to be able to play (although being a fan adds to the fun).
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—The Trying Scotsman has a ‘Don’t Be A Dick’ policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
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