Game Preview: Gubs

By W. Eric Martin
October 26, 2007

Publisher: Cole Medeiros Games
Designers: Alex & Cole Medeiros
Artwork: Darin Quan
Players: 2-6
Playing Time: 15-30 minutes
Release Date: October 2007

Game designers Alex and Cole Medeiros are hitting the market the way that many first times do, with a small card game. The game is called Gubs, after the little creatures who decorate the cards, creatures that Cole Medeiros has been drawing for more than a decade, creatures that you need to capture in order to win the game.

The Gubs deck consists of gubs, traps, hazards, barricades, events, and a few other odds and ends. Your goal is to have the most gubs under your control when the game ends, and all the other cards provide tools in order to make this happen.

Game turns have an optional draw phase, a play phase in which you can play as many cards as you wish, and a discard phase. The heart of the game is the play phase as you can combine the cards for multiple effects.

"A player could play a card to destroy an opponent gub’s Barricade, use a Lure card to take the gub onto his side, play a Barricade on it to protect it from most hazards, then still continue to play cards, if he wishes,” says Cole. “Some cards can be used as counters during an opponent’s turn. The many ways that the effects of cards interact can make for interesting bouts of tug of war over the gubs which are currently in play, and this is where most of the fun comes from.” A number of cards have multiple uses, which further expand the combination possibilities.

The draw phase is optional as the deck includes events which take effect as soon as they’re drawn, and they’re not always good. The deck also includes three letter cards (G, U, B), and when the final letter card is drawn, the game ends immediately. This creates tension as the players in the lead might want to keep drawing to speed towards the game end, yet they’ll be more at risk of drawing events than other players who are fighting for the gubs currently on the table.

“There is a certain amount of screwage,” says Cole, “The strategy isn’t complex, but there are many interesting ways to combine cards, and the luck factor can turn the tables completely, perhaps even putting the leader in last place at the draw of a card—but did he manage his hand well enough to recover his lost gubs?”

Gubs will be for sale primarily on eBay to start with, although you can also check out the Gubs website for more on the game and where to find it.

Pictures - Click the picture for a larger version
	The cover
	A scattering of cards
	Playing in the garden? Much better than weeding it

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