Boardgame review: Matryoshka (card game)

Matryoshka is a game where the goal is to score the most points by collecting Matryoshka dolls from small to large (a straight) of the same color and/or dolls of the same size (same number).



Players: 3-5
Age: 8+
Gamelength: ± 20 minutes
Price: ± € 12,- / $ 17,- (varies per country)
Boxsize: 12,3 x 9,7 x 2,3 cm. / 9,1 x 3,8 x 0,9 inches

The games content is 10 sets of 7 cards.


Depending on the amount of players, some complete sets have to be removed from the game.

Each player draws 6 cards from the deck and takes these in their hand without showing them to the other players.
Next, each player chooses 2 cards from their hand and puts them face down in front of them. When every player is ready, these cards will be revealed by flipping them over.

Now is the time to trade the cards in your hand with a card from one of your opponents.
The active player must put a card face up on the table. All the other players must put a card they want tot rade face down on the table. The active player has to look at them and has to decide what card he wants to keep. The opponent of the chosen card will receive the face-up card. Every other opponent takes back his card in his hand.
Every player has to make a trade as an active player this round.


Now all players choose new cards to place in front of them.
The number of cards to show increase each round (there are 4 rounds)

After organizing their cards, every player draws 2 cards from the deck and the above action have to be followed again untill all 4 rounds have been played.

End of the game
After the last trading-round every player has 13 cards in his hands. He has to show and organize 12 cards in front of him and keep 1 card aside.
On the scorecard you can see how many points you have scored. The more connected cards (same size or same color) the more points you score.

Final score: 33 points
Straights: 21 points (2, 3 en 6 cards = 2, 4 and 13 + 2 points)
Same numbers: 12 points (3, 3, 2 and 2 cards = 4, 4, 2 and 2 points)

Personal opinion:
The first time I played Matryoshka I didn’t like it. But one game is never a good reference: maybe I didn’t understand the rules, or we didn’t use the correct rules or I didn’t notice the depth of the game. A few weeks later I played it twice and I liked it a lot. The strategy is to hide the cards you want to collect and show the cards you don’t want, so people might give you the card you need to maximize your score.

The illustrations are beautifull, you just fall in love with the game because of the art. But out of the 10 sets there are 2 sets that look familiar to the others, it’s almost impossible to spot the difference.

The game is best played with 4 or 5. With 3 players there isn’t much to choose from in the trading phase. With 5 you have the problem with recognizing the sets because some look the same.

I bought the game for € 10,- ($ 11,-) which is a fine price, everything a few bucks above is too expensive, to be honest. It’s just 70 cards and € 15,- to $ 20,- is way too much for a card game like this.

The game is easy to play, even though the rules can be a bit confusing at the start, and playing 1 or 2 games in a row give the best experience before moving on to the next board or card game.

Dave
Previous reviews:

Card games:
The Game

Dice games:
Qwixx

Gambling games:
Manilla

Deduction game:
Love Letter

Word game:
Codenames