It’s game night. You’ve had a long day and don’t fancy playing a 2 hour board game. You want something quick, fun and exciting. Welcome to the world of Dobble – the fast paced observation card game.
Dobble is a card game that the whole family can play. It is suitable for 2-8 players, aged 6+ and has a playing time of 5-15 minutes. It is a game of observation and speed, very similar to Snap, but much more challenging and certainly more fun.
Dobble is a card game but rather than using standard size rectangle cards it uses circular cards. It has 55 circular cards to be exact. The cards come in their own handy little travel tin so that it can be taken and played anywhere. It has five mini-games in one tin, but they are all variations on the same theme. Are you observant and fast enough to be victorious?
Dobble is a strange name, isn’t it? It is a play on the word Double – which gives you an idea what the game is about. Like Snap, it is a game of observation. In Snap, you play by laying down cards with an image or number on them and players must match two to win the cards. Dobble is similar, but different. Every card has a variety of images on them, but every two cards have ONE symbol in common, all you must do is be the first to find and match them to win the card. There are 57 symbols in total, and you must be fast enough to spot the matching pair.
Each Dobble card features eight different colourful images on it, in various sizes. If you look at any two cards, they will have one, and only one, matching image on them. Players must be eagle-eyed enough to spot the two matching images on the card and the draw card and call it before anyone else. It is a game of speed and observation which tests your visual perception, pattern recognition, and reflexes.
There are five mini games to play all based around observation; Fill the Well, The Towering Inferno, Hot Potato, Catch Them All, and The Poisoned Gift.
Overall, I found Dobble to be a good and interesting game. It is lots of fun and quick to play! Essentially a game of Snap it is a much more enjoyable and challenging improvement. It is one of the very few games that can be played by adults and children at the same time, without either age group being at a disadvantage and no adaptations needing to be made to level the playing field.
It is a very quick game to play. The playing time can be as long as you want it to be – a round of Dobble only takes around five minutes, depending on the variation of the game you are playing. It just depends on how many rounds you decide to play, one just won’t be enough! Play 3, 5 or 10 rounds – it’s your choice! But no matter many you decide to play, you will love them all.
I played it as a family game (2 adults and 2 kids), the kids have played it between themselves, and I also played it just between adults. It works well for everybody. It didn’t matter in what combination I played it in, it was excellent fun each time. I thoroughly enjoyed playing it, as did the rest of the household, although we did find that it was most enjoyable when more players were involved.
With five variations of the game to play, the consensus in our house for the best version to play and definitely our favourite was Fill the Well, just because it is fast, fun and furiously competitive. The aim of Fill the Well is to be the first player to get rid of all your cards. That said, we have enjoyed ALL five games.
Dobble is supplied in a nice and compact tin with a secure lid. This makes it an ideal travel game for taking and playing almost anywhere. It will fit nicely in your bag and is easy to throw in the glove box of the car. It is a great size for taking camping, to the beach or even on a train journey. All you need is a flat surface to play on and a few spare minutes to play and enjoy the fun.
This is a simple game to play, and it is easily learned in less than 30 seconds. It is lots of fun for children, teenagers and adults of all ages, with the added bonus that everyone can play equally as well together. Dobble is a game that encourages concentration, observation skills and speed.
A compact game that is BIG on fun and can be played anywhere!
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £13.99
Available to buy from Amazon here.
