Nmbr 9

There once was a game, back in the day, called Tetris. In this innocuous little game you used shapes to build up a wall and fill gaps you may have left in that wall to enable the elimination of a horizontal line for points. Everyone knows Tetris and I'm not going to spend the rest of the article going any further on it as I've pretty much exhausted the gameplay mechanics and the story is even simple to explain, there isn't one.

However, Tetris is a good comparison for the game I'm taking a look at today, Nmbr 9.
Nmbr 9 is a tile based shape matching game where one to four players take numbers, that all have unique shapes, revealed on a card and attempt to connect them in order to build up and gain more points. 
The other game this reminds me of is Upwords, which is pretty much just Scrabble except you can put letter tiles on top of other letter tiles in order to create new words. 

The setup is very simple; the box contains ten irregularly shaped number tiles numbered zero to nine and a deck of cards representing the ten numbers. The deck itself has two cards of each number. Each number tile is comprised of squares making up that number, for example the zero tile has three squares along the top and bottom and four along each side. 

Gameplay is a little more complex but still simple enough to be grasped by younger gamers. Shuffle the deck of cards and reveal the top card to all players, each player then takes the number shown on the card from the box and places it in front of them. Repeat this process except this time you must connect the number you've just picked from the box to the one you have previously placed, making sure to place it with at least two squares touching on each number tile.

You can also place number tiles on top of the base of number tiles you have created.

When placing number tiles you cannot place solely on another number beneath it, it must be over two numbers, even if this is only by one square, and must not be over hanging over any gaps beneath it. The same number cannot be placed on itself either as it takes away from the challenge a bit. 

When all cards have been revealed its time to score the points. Each player totals up each of their levels; the base level total is multiplied by zero, inevitably scoring you zero, the next level up is multiplied by one, next by two and so on. It is possible to come out with a score of one hundred plus but it does rely a lot on which cards come out first.

With no guarantee of low, less important numbers to start with you can often find yourself having to sacrifice a nine on the base level, but if you place it in the optimal way for what is still left to come you could find a way to score a decent amount.

The one player aspect of Nmbr 9 holds its own. Its the same gameplay so you're really only challenging yourself but its such an intuitively designed game that it feels more cerebral than it first appears. As simple a the whole game is, its got such elegant design and the replay-ability potential it has is fantastic as every game can be different even with the same players. The cards are always revealed in a random order and thus creating different challenges for all involved time after time. I also like the aspects of gravitating towards maximum efficiency and recognition the game almost forces you to employ; you can spend your time creating a perfect square to place all your numbers on in order to ensure effective use of the lower numbers, or you can build up quick after placing three or four numbers in order to get on the board early. Both strategies are based on the current in game situation of course and sometimes you will need to adjust on the fly a bit depending on what numbers are left which leads me to the next aspect, recognition. In Nmbr 9 there are two main things you want to keep your eyes on, the way your opponents are building and what there potential score is, and above all what cards have been revealed. Each player will receive two of each number in each game making it slightly harder to predict what could be coming next but as the game goes on it whittles down to a handful, at which point you might decide to change your plans in order to accommodate whats left to come. 

I think Nmbr 9 is a gem of a game. Its so simple and quick to pick up and results in fun and challenge for all players, especially players that like their pieces set out nice and neat. As i said it works well as a single player game, challenging you every time to find new better ways to place numbers on top of other numbers in the best possible ways. Pick up Nmbr 9 and I assure you, you wont regret it, play it with everyone you know and have as much as you can with it, its the game that just keeps on giving. Head down to your local games and hobbies store to check out Nmbr 9 but in the mean time, keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates.