Desperados (1980)

About this game

Desperados is a partnership game where players in teams of two must work together to get the most points. In Reiner Knizia's first published game, there are nine mine-opening cards and nine mine-closing cards. To score any points you've got to play gold, silver or copper cards onto the corresponding open mine and then close it. Trouble is, your opponents can close your mine before you want or even try to steal it with bandit cards -- a tough gauntlet to run, but here and there a few points trickle through and into the scoring column. On your turn you either play a card OR draw a card -- not both -- making this rapid-fire card game move at its own special pace, which is very quickly indeed. It was designed primarily for partnership play, and appreciated best by players with good partnership skills. For players who do not want a partnership experience, there are variations for 2 or 3 players. Originally published as Digging by Hexagames in 1990 (Later by Avalanche Press with new pictures on the cards and a trivial rules tweak). Released as Desperados in 2009 by Eagle-Gryphon Games.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 4.
• Rules load. At 1.5/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 8 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.