Review – Jungo

Jungo is a new game from Happy Camper, publisher of short, snappy card games like Trio and Combo. They have a great track record so far — let’s see if Jungo continues that trend!

Review

In Jungo, players compete to be the first to empty their hand of cards. A so-called “ladder climbing” game, it involves players playing increasingly strong sets of cards, a la Tichu or Scout.

The deck consists of cards in values 1-8, plus a number of cards with two values (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8). To begin, all players receive a hand of cards, and they must keep them in the order they were dealt. On a player’s turn, they play one or more adjacent cards from their hand of the same value (e.g. two 4s, three 1s, etc.). Each turn, the cards played must be better than the current best cards, which can either mean:

• The same number of cards, but of a higher value (e.g., two 7s beats two 4s), or
• A larger set of cards (e.g. three 2s beats two 8s)

Again, the played cards must be next to each other in the player’s hand.

When a player plays a set of cards, they choose what to do with the previous set, either discarding it or adding it to their own hand. If they take the cards, they can decide where each card goes in their hand — this is helpful for setting up future plays.

If a player cannot, or chooses not to play a set of cards, they can instead draw the top card of the deck. Then, they can either:

• Discard the drawn card,
• Add it to their hand, or
• Play it, possibly along with other cards from their hand as a set

A two-value card can be played as either value, and the value can change each time the card is played.

If a player’s cards remain for an entire round (that is, if no one is able to beat their set), then on that player’s next turn, they discard those cards and play another card/set to start a new ladder climb.

Whoever manages to empty their hand first wins! Games of Jungo are very quick, so if players wish, they can play multiple rounds back-to-back, and the first person to win two (or three, or however many players decide on) wins the game.

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Jungo fits right into the Happy Camper catalog. It’s simple, snappy, and most importantly, fun. I have only played a few ladder climbing games (I don’t think there are that many out there?), but Jungo is definitely the easiest to get into.

This game has an interesting dynamic where players want to get rid of their cards, but in order to make sets that will let them do that, they’ll often need to pick up more cards. It’s a funny push-and-pull, and it totally makes the experience. If a player is down to their last couple of cards, but those cards are just scattered values rather than matched sets, it may be hard to play them. The way for the player to strengthen their hand, then, is to draw more cards, which moves them further from winning. It’s weird and clever.

The production of Jungo is pretty minimal, since it’s just a deck of cards, but I really like the artwork. There is something adorable about the stylized, rectangle-headed monkeys. With rules that are short and clear, a compact box, and a great overall aesthetic, it’s a nice production from Happy Camper.

Bottom line, I enjoy Jungo, and I can see it doing very well. It’s one of those games like Sushi Go, Trio, or Flip 7, where it’s so accessible (while still being fun) that it’s hard to imagine anyone not liking it. Rounds last just 10-15 minutes, so it could be an end-of-night game or an entire game night in and of itself. If you enjoy snappy card games that the whole family can enjoy together, give this one a try.

A review copy was provided by Happy Camper.