Lure Review

Lure Box Cover

All my designing days I've longed to make a dice-based fishing game.... So it was with equal parts delight and chagrin that I discovered the very game I wanted to make already exists! So here's Lure, a beautifully produced dice-based auction, gambling, push-your-luck game now published by Allplay.

Reveal fish cards. Secretly choose how many dice you think you can catch them with. Reveal and roll.

It's a simple system, that propels a game of tense decisions and memorable moments. I take it you're not reading this to learn how it plays (that's what the rules are for) so here's my thoughts for what they're worth:

COMPONENTS & PRESENTATION

No complaints here at all. Well, one minor complaint, that the small box doesn't quite hold all the components (especially with the mini expansion in there) so the box lid lifts and doesn't sit flat.

The component quality is excellent. The cards are nice, the dice are gorgeous, the tokens are good. Everything feels beautiful and professional. The art style is also very lovely. Great product.

The player screen colours are maybe not quite right, in relation to the dice, but they act as super helpful and functional guides for how to play (and even set up!) the game. Amazing stuff.

RULES QUALITY

A critical piece of any game as a product is how easy it is to learn the game from the rules included. Thankfully here they did a very good job. I found the rules generally easy to follow, aided by the useful player board references mentioned above.

It is a very simple game, with not many rules, so this was perhaps not the biggest obstacle to overcome.

The iconography for the cards, in terms of their catch requirements, is also very clear and intuitive. Again, thumbs up all round.

GAMEPLAY

As I mentioned in my intro, this game is right in my sweet spot, so naturally I am very fond of it. I love a quirky filler that elicits dramatic emotions, highs and lows, and this delivers in full force.

How greedy will you be? Do you risk it and hope you roll well, or play safe and bank on the other players rolling poorly. You've only got your cowardly self (or the cursed dice) to blame if it all goes wrong.

My friends and I love the shared understanding that if a fish flops out that requires a 15+ roll, well then its single dice d20 time. And then, oh the pain of rolling an 18, sure you'll be the only person to roll the required amount, only to look over at Aaron (it's always Aaron) who has, of course, rolled a 16 - also meeting the requirement and beating you on the lower-number-rolled tiebreaker. Grrr, then the pity Lure token as compensation. Oh, and of course its a boast which promises so much, but will ultimately float away in the ocean along with all the fish you can't catch.

So your main decisions are:

• How many, and which in particular, of the revealed fish are you going to go for. This will influence your dice selection.

• How confident do you feel, and is this the right time to throw a lure token in to increase your odds or improve your payout?

  
  

Perhaps not the deepest decision space, but you throw on top of that the mind games, and the guessing what your opponents might do, and you've got more than enough to think about while keeping the game flowing along smoothly.

It feels great when you roll perfectly (or even when you just get a chance to roll before anyone else because you took a bigger risk - even if you fail). The dice rolls themselves are dramatic and exciting, and of course swing the outcome, but its a short game and you might have better luck in the next game.

It's hilarious when your friend fails on a roll that was surely a guarantee, so it's easier to laugh at yourself when it happens to you (and it will happen to you). What more to say? It's just a fun, fast, funny filler, which is a lot of F's for a game that passes with flying colours. OVERALL - 9/10

I think Lure is a terrific dice chucking good time. I've played 24 times now, mostly at 3 players, and it has become a regular in our rotation. We always get excited when someone pulls it off the shelf, and the quick playtime means it never outstays its welcome. It's a much quicker, more chaotic, and much funnier dice-based fishing game than say Fleet: the Dice Game, which I also like but only play on the app since its so solitary.

I don't have enough games like this, where I get to throw dice with my friends, at the same time no less! Then again, if more short dice games were as good as this, maybe I would. Highly recommend.