Muffin Time by joll05

Muffin Time, designed by TomSka and published by Big Potato Games, is a party game with a very simple premise: get 10 cards in your hand by the start of your turn. That might sound quite easy, until you read what some of these cards can do. Every card is unique, and they all have some effect on the game, which can range from stealing cards from another player, to resetting the whole game.

Despite its simple design, Muffin Time is an extremely fun game, and one which can be enjoyed by board game fans and others alike.

Gameplay

The goal of the game is to start your turn with exactly 10 cards in your hand. Everyone starts with 3 cards, and then take it in turns playing. On your turn you can choose to draw a card from the draw pile, or play an action card from your hand. These cards will do something to you or the other players. For example, it could make you draw some cards, make another player discard cards, or have you steal cards from the other players (and sometimes a combination of multiple of these). A lot of these cards also affect specific players, such as “Cat allergy” which makes any cat owners discard cards, or “Little baby”, which targets the youngest player around the table. There are also mini-games that add a bit more fun into the mix, such as seeing who can stand up the fastest, or making another player talk in a baby voice for one round.

On your turn you can also play a trap card. These get played face-down in front of you, and when someone triggers the condition listed on them you reveal what effects they must endure. Some of these are based on the game, like drawing 10 cards as soon as you go down to 0, and some are based on things your opponents might do in real life, like stealing someone's cards if they laugh (that one usually gets activated pretty quickly).

But if you don't like the outcome of a card that's been played you can always play a counter card. Most of these cards will stop the effects of a card, and some also add some extra effects of their own.

When you get 10 cards in your hand you shout “Muffin Time!”, and if you still have 10 cards in your hand by the start of your turn, you win! But don't think you've got an easy victory in your hands, as you better believe your opponents are going to be going after you as soon as the words leave your mouth.

My opinion

Muffin Time is usually extremely fun, mostly because of the chaos that almost always ensues when playing. Even if it looks like one player is clearly in the lead, it could turn around at any second. You might think that you've got an unstoppable combo, only for another player to counter it and stop your entire plan.

One of the problems with the game is that it's often quite unpredictable how long a game will last. Since there is nothing forcing the game to stop at any point, it can take anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours to play. So if you're in a rush, maybe it's not the best game to pick.

But the traps are what makes the game go from good to great. Once you've played a couple times, the second someone lays one you're going to be questioning your every move. And it can often lead to a fun reveal when you thought you were doing something innocent like eating some snacks or browsing the internet between turns, only for someone to hit you with one of their trap cards.

Summary

Muffin Time is a game that I would recommend to anyone who wants a fun party game to play with friends, relatives, or anyone else. The rules are devilishly simple and can be explained in just a few minutes, which makes it perfect for people who aren't into board games. If you're looking for a board game to really sink your teeth into, this is probably not what you're looking for. But if what you want is a game that is guaranteed to get some laughs round the table, I cannot recommend Muffin Time enough.