Bag of Chips Review

You know how some games have components that look good enough to eat? Sometimes the game components are food-themed, like the oranges in Tidal Blades, or the coconuts in Coconuts, or simply has delicious-looking components, like the berries in Everdell. So when this little beauty of a game slipped into my box headed for my door looking like a real bag of chips, I was intrigued. There is absolutely no way a game that comes in a chip bag is going to be enjoyable at all. Right?

Bag of Chips is a hand management game of predictions. In it, players are predicting the number and type of chips pulled from the bag over four rounds. All players’ victory points will be earned differently, and all players will typically request (or demand) to play another game immediately afterward.

DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS.  -T

To setup, place all the components on the table. The four Board Cards in or near the middle of the table will be used to keep track of rounds and actions per round. The one Recap Card can be placed near this row of Boards along with the Reward chits… which are also chips, but a different kind. The Chips chits/chips/tokens are thrown back in the back and shaken around to randomize while each player is dealt six Objective Cards (shown below). A Dealer is chosen to run the game, and Bag of Chips is off!

Bag of Chips is played over four rounds, with each round requiring players to make dire decisions based on their Objective Cards. During the first round, the Dealer will pull five Chips from the bag. These must NOT be eaten, but rather placed on the Board Cards. Each player then chooses two of their Objective Cards to discard face-down in front of themselves. The second round has the Dealer pulling out four chips. Players then must discard one Objective Card to their pile as before. The Dealer then pulls three chips during the next round while players decide which one of their Objective Cards to place face-up to the left of their discards, with the remaining two cards on the right of the pile. The card to the left implies that the player believes it will not score at the end of the game. On the other side, however, the player is hoping these cards will indeed score at the end of the game. The Dealer pulls one more chip from the bag and places it on the last Board Card. They then pull the final chip of the game and places it on the Board as well.

At this point the game is over and players score their Objective Cards. Should their left-side card score, the player will earn negative points (per the number printed on the card) for predicting incorrectly. Each card that scores on the right-side of the discard pile then earns the player positive points to be added to their final score. Any card on the right-side that does not score is simply ignored during this scoring phase. The player with the most points wins! The others then demand a rematch. That’s not official, just observed by this reviewer.

Components. This game consists of some cards and variously-shaped cardboard chits. Chips. Whatever. That said, the components in the box bag are of good quality, but I am mostly impressed by the bag itself. It looks and feels like a bag of chips you would find in my pantry, but a bit thicker to hold up to constant use. The artwork is there, but very much out of the way. I like the chip tokens themselves as they offer a cheeky little joke: they are shaped like potato/corn/tortilla chips, but have the outer rim resembling a poker chip. Clever. I have no issues with components here, and I do enjoy the aesthetics.

Now, this is most definitely an unexpected hit for me and my play group. There is no way I thought I would want to play this more than once, but gosh darn it, I have enjoyed every play of this and want more. Sure, there is no player interaction, and it is basically a game of luck, but if a player is unable to score points from at least one of the six cards they are dealt, then they may need a math tutor.

Why I make such a harsh, but really just a silly, remark is because each of the Objective Cards feature a way for the player to score points using some strategy. As more and more chips come out, the probability of the players’ cards become more and more apparent. Some cards score points for each chip of a specific type pulled (like a BBQ chip). Some require more of one chip to be pulled than another type in order to score. Still others require a specific type of chip to be the very last one pulled for the game, scoring tons of points. It’s absolutely a gambling game, and a quick one to boot. I think this is part of the reason it is so endearing – it is super light, works the brain just a little bit, and offers feelings of a small town local casino. Not exactly sure WHICH small town, but hopefully you get my drift.

Would I suggest this to any type of gamer? No. This simply will not fly with your hardcore wargamer friends. Nor your cube-pushing, or Mediterranean trading, or political strategist friends. In fact, this is a good little game for those who like to play with lighter and sillier games but also one that has a little bite to it. I know, I just could NOT resist. It’s like I can feel all the eyeballs rolling at once. Weird.

Anyway, we all really enjoy Bag of Chips for what it is: a cute 15 minute filler with a ridiculous theme and that special something that has you wanting to play it more and more. It is easy to teach, easy to understand, incredibly easy to play, and is one of the few push-your-luck games I enjoy. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one kettle-cooked 9 / 12. I may increase my score over time and after playing with lots more people, but for now I am happy with my rating and with my new little filler. Go try Bag of Chips, or come to my place and check it out.