One, Singular Sensation  

Just One is a collaborative party game that has been exploding in popularity since its release in 2018. It is a game that is both painfully simple yet completely engaging, making it an excellent choice for groups of all ages and skill levels. 

The objective of the game is for players to guess a word, but with a unique twist – the players must work together to provide clues for the guesser, but with the sneaky little caveat that any duplicate clues will be canceled out. The game comes with a deck of cards, each with five different words printed on them. The guesser randomly chooses a card, and then one of the five words. Everyone else then writes a clue down on their dry-erase board. Once everyone has written down their word, then share with each other, erasing any duplicates. Players then take turns revealing their clues to the guesser. There are certain types of words that you cannot use but options are otherwise endless.  

Tea for Two 

The mechanisms are simple and easy to understand, making it accessible for everyone. However, the game still provides a challenge as players must think creatively to come up with unique and effective clues. Do you go for the obvious answer hoping that everyone else chooses to go obscure or do you think outside the box. 

One of the best things about Just One is how versatile it is. It can be played with as few as three players, but it can also accommodate larger groups with ease. In fact, the more players there are, the more challenging and fun the game becomes. And although the box only provides white boards and pens for up to seven, you can go much larger with just some paper and pens. 

The components of the game are good quality too, with sturdy dry-erase boards and markers included. The cards are also durable and have a good variety of words to choose from, with different difficulty levels. The fact that the game uses dry-erase boards means that players don’t have to worry about using up paper or keeping track of score sheets. The boards can be wiped clean and used again and again, making it much more environmentally friendly. That said, if you play the game a lot then be prepared to invest in more dry erase pens, which are cheap enough from most online shops.  

Three Steps to Heaven 

The great thing about Just One is just how easy it is to learn. The rules are straightforward and can be explained in just a few minutes. This makes it a great game to play with people who are not familiar with board games or who may be intimidated by more complex rules. It really allows gameplay across multiple generations.  

One downside is that it may become repetitive after multiple plays, as there are a limited number of cards included. However, the game can be easily modified by simply creating your own.  

Overall, Just One is an excellent party game that is easy to learn, promotes collaboration and creativity, and is sure to provide hours of entertainment for groups of all ages. It’s simple mechanics and emphasis on teamwork make it a great choice for families, friends, and any group event you can imagine.

If you’re looking for a fun and engaging game that will bring people together and keep them entertained, then this one is definitely worth checking out.

This blog was written by Dan Street-Phillips

Who’s your favourite super-hero? For me, it’s got to be Rhino Hero! This plucky little caped crusader is back and this time he’s going up against his friends!  

If you haven’t played the OG Rhino Hero, it’s basically a tower building game based on the age-old house-of-cards mechanism. Using floor cards and wall cards, the idea is to go up, up, up as high as you can. You place a wall card and then try to balance one of your own floor cards on top. And the floor card you place shows where the next player must place their own wall card on their turn (as well as a few bonus actions on some!). Rhino Hero hops up the levels surprisingly sprightly for a, well, rhino! There’s only one tower and the winner is the builder who places all their roof cards first. Although, if any player razes the building to the ground, whoever has the fewest roof cards left at that point wins!  

Supercharged!  

In Super Battle, the underling tower building mechanism remains the foundation. Still adding wall cards and still placing floors that go up, up, up! You also still get three floors each (and the rest forms the 3 card pool and the draw plie). But this time, the walls are either tall or short, and you get your own character (Big.E, Giraffe Boy, Batguin, and of course Rhino Hero). Oh and there are some crazy spider-monkeys hanging about the place just waiting to cause havoc. If you place a floor that shows one of those cheeky chaps, you’ve also got to balance one by it’s only-slightly-curvy-tail!  

Now, when the floor looks like it is going to stay standing, the player rolls a die which dictates which floor they are going to. And when a character reaches the same story as another character, a battle commences! The arriving player is the “attacker” and the existing character must defend their position. Each player rolls a die and the highest number wins. The loser has to drop down to the levels below. But if it meets another player then another battle ensues! Oh and if the tower topples, whoever was highest at the time wins!  

Final thoughts  

This is a great family, dexterity game. HABA are a good bet when it comes to enjoyment, quality, and engaging kids in play that bigger kids also find fun. 

It’s got a few more elements to it than the streamlined, elegantly simple original which is great for slightly older children. The battles are silly and harmless, but they are entirely luck based. Players have no agency over whether they go up or down (same as when placing characters after adding floors). And by that I mean there’s no strategy to keeping yourself in the lead. It all turns on the roll of a die. But that could also be a good thing because it means nobody gets “the blame” for sending their opponent’s character down the tower. Feelings can’t get hurt when ”the dice did it!”.  

It’s interesting that the Attacker die is slightly weighted in that player’s favour, but they’re both still unpredictable when it comes to the results!  

After multiple plays, our cards are still robust – the creases and edges aren’t overly fluffed or worn. Plus, thanks to a gigantic box, we can fit our original copy into the Super Battle box for space saving. 

We really enjoy both the OG and this new supercharged version. In fact, I don’t think we have had a situation where anybody we have played it with hasn’t enjoyed Super Battling! Even after the kiddos go to bed, we have started a game with just us big kids, and the results have been hilarious!  

Personally, I think our son is in it for the fall. He loves building up the tower as high as possible only to then “accidentally” cause it to tumble like, yep, you guessed it, a house of cards! But that’s cool with me because ultimately this game is all about having fun together! 

This blog was written by Favouritefoe

Editors note: This post was originally published on April 21st 2023. Updated on 9th May 2024 to improve the information available.