Dale Yu: Jeepers, Peeper’s a great game!

Peeper is a Korean game, originally published in 2004 by Joen, that I recently received in the mail.  I had seen the game from a distance at Essen, but I never got a chance to try the game out at the Fair as the tables were always busy!  Once I had returned from Europe, I was able to contact the company and get my grubby little hands on a copy of the game.

Though the company website has been offline for the past few weeks, the cached page of Google allows me to cut and paste in their own description of the game… “JOEN’s best game is PEEPER which won the “month of the game” by the ministry of Culture& Entertainment. Peeper is designed for visually handicapped people for the first time, has a good functionality & game quality. It enables to increase the concept of numbers and perception ability with using 4kinds of number Tiles. The development of spatial cognitive ability and strategic thinking power progress.” Further examination of the website shows that Peeper won the 2006 “Best Korean Game Award” – surely a sign of good things to come!

Does the description above make any sense?  Well, it surely didn’t mean anything to me.  But looking at the picture of the gamebox with the bright orange pieces reminiscent of Easter Island monoliths somehow drew me in.  I just had to have a copy of the game!  When it arrived, I quickly opened it to discover that box only contains 64 tiles and a rulebook.  A cursory glance through the rulebook was initially disappointing.  The translation appears to have been done through Babelfish, and as a result, the rules are quite confusing to me.  This first glance at the rules made the game look like it was merely a simplified version of Great Dalmuti played with orange tiles instead of cards.  My initial impression was so bad that I almost didn’t even try to get the game to the table!

However, thanks to the persistence of Brian and Valerie, we decided to give the game a try.  We had to muddle through the translated rules to figure out the game, and as it turns out, I’m glad that we did!  Peeper is a delightful variant of Tichu/Asshole/Great Dalmuti, and at the current time, it is right up there with Tichu tied for my favorite form of this type of game.  Tichu would be preferred if a partnership game were to be played and Peeper would work better for a cutthroat game.

The game itself consists of 64 tiles – 4 identical sets of numbered tiles 1 to 15 and an “X” tile.  To use Tichu terms, the X tile is sort of a combination of the Dragon and the Phoenix.  It can be used as a “16” tile, but it can also be used as a wild card to pair up with another numbered tile.  There are no suits in Peeper – so the sets of 16 tiles are truly identical except for one of the number 1 tiles which is has red text to set it apart – as this is used to determine the start player.  The tiles have both the number printed on them as well as represented with Braille.  In this way, the game can even be played by the handicapped.

At the start of the game, each player is given an equal number of tiles.  If the tiles are not evenly divisible amongst the players, the remainder of the tiles are simply not used in that game.  The game itself is played like many other climbing games.  Someone (the player who was dealt the Red colored 1 tile) will start of a trick by playing a legal tile or combination of tiles – say a pair of 2’s.  Each player in turn then gets a chance to play a higher valued set of the same type – for instance, a pair of 6’s.  Play continues around the table until all players pass.  When that happens, the player who “won” the trick gets to start the next trick by playing anything that he wants.

The legal plays in Peeper are:
1) Single – this is a single tile.  Again, remember that the X can be used here as a “16” valued tile

2)_Pair – this is a pair of tiles with matching number.  In this case, the X can be paired with any other tile to form a pair… i.e. Playing a “3” and an “X” together forms a pair of threes.  Additionally, a pair of “X”s can be used as a pair of “16”s.

3) Straight – this is a combination of 3 or more tiles in consecutive numerical order (i.e. 6, 7, 8, 9).  Though the rules translation is unclear, we decided that you had to stick with the number of tiles played – so that if someone played a four-tile straight, you could only play other four-tile straights on it.  Again, the X tile can be used here as a wildcard to complete a straight.

4) Running Pairs – this is a combination of three or more pairs in consecutive numerical order (2,2,3,3,4,4).  The X tile can be used in this as well as a wild card.

Thus far, the game sounds a lot like most other climbing games that you’re used to… But after the running pairs, the game diverges a bit from its relatives

5) BOMB1 – The BOMB1 is probably better known to you as a three-of-a-kind.  You are able to play a BOMB1 on any type of lead, and it automatically wins over the Single, Pair, Straight and Running Pairs.  It can, of course, be beaten by a BOMB1 of a higher number value.  Unlike the earlier combinations, the X tile may not be used as a wild card here.

6) BOMB2 – This is a 4-of-a-kind.  It can be played on any type of lead, and it automatically wins over the Single, Pair, Straight, Running Pairs, and BOMB1.  The X tile may not be used as a wild card here either.

After the two “bombs”, there are two other plays which are unique to Peeper

7) MINE – If someone plays a single, and the next player has a pair to match it, they can instantly play that pair to form a BOMB1 and automatically win the trick.  The MINE can only be beaten by a RETURN… i.e. Player A plays a “6”.  Player B has a pair of 6’s in his hand, he can play them to form a MINE.  Though the translation is unclear, it looks like you have to be the next person in turn order in order to complete the MINE play.  The X tile may not be used here.

8) RETURN – If someone has successfully played a MINE, they win the trick automatically unless the next player is able to create a RETURN – by having the fourth tile of the same rank.  If this happens, that player automatically wins the trick. 

The game continues until one player is able to rid himself of all his tiles.  At that point, all of the other players score penalty points (-1 point per tile remaining).  The tiles are then shuffled and redealt and another round is played.  At the end of a set number of rounds, the player with the least number of penalty points wins.  The game can also be played until someone crosses a threshold of penalty points, and at that time, the player with the least wins.

That is a quick overview of how to play the game.  Though it initially sounded a lot like a re-tread, the game has a lot of differences that help set it apart.  Of course, I’m not 100% sure that we’re playing with the “correct” rules yet because of the quality of the translation, but I must admit that we all liked the game that we ended up playing with the pieces!  And speaking of the pieces (tiles), they do seem to add a bit to the game.  There’s something about the tactile nature of the tiles and the clicky sound they make on the table that somehow makes this more pleasing than a regular old card game.  The same can be said about my MahJongg set…

One big advantage of the game is that it adds a lot more fluidity in play.  Because of the low threshold for a “bomb” – simply a three of a kind – there are a lot of times in the game where the lead can change. In addition to the bombs, the MINE and RETURN plays also help to make sure that the gameplay is unpredictable.  As a result, you always felt involved in a hand.  There was rarely a time when it felt like one player was going to be able to run away to a quick victory.  Additionally, the presence of the X tiles helps keep everyone’s options open.  Though you can’t use the X tiles for bombs, it still gives you a lot of different ways to organize your tiles for play.

I also very much like the simple scoring system.  First, it’s a snap to teach to newbies (unlike Tichu’s convoluted scoring system).  Second, I like the way that it encourages all players to play tiles earlier in order to have smaller hands.  This also contributes to Peeper having a different feel than Tichu.  In Tichu, it often seems like players initially slim down their hands, and then wait until they get an opening where they can then go out with consecutive plays.  In Peeper, this doesn’t seem to happen as much as 1) there are so many more ways to lose the lead in Peeper and 2) the scoring system better rewards those who can play more tiles.

Another big advantage of Peeper is that it can handle up to 6 players easily.  While I’ve only played it with six once thus far, I have played it a lot with 5.  And it works really well at that number.  The other advantage of playing with 5 or 6 is that 4 tiles are always left out of play.  This helps cut down on the card counting and adds a bit more unpredictability to the mix.

Finally, because the game is a bit easier to grasp, the game has proven to work out great for my kids.  They are able to compete with adults without any rules changes at all.  Admittedly, they don’t win all the time or even a proportional amount – but they are still able to win an occasional hand or two.  I still keep trying to figure out how to teach the kids that they don’t necessarily want to play their three-of-a-kinds on the first single that comes along, but they always seem to enjoy it, so I’ll let it slide for now.  In the end, any game that I can play with a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old that I find interesting myself is a winner in my book!

Interested in trying it?  Though it has been offline at times in the past month, there is a site where you can play Peeper online! I would highly recommend giving it a try as it’s a nice change from other ladder games.  (And if it comes back online, I can play it a bit more to try to answer my rules questions in a trial-and-error fashion!)

Until your next appointment,
The Gaming Doctor

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