Review – Setup

Setup allows players to lay tiles in a short-and-sweet rummy-style game. Get the most points without setting up your opponents for high-scoring turns!

Review 

Setup is essentially Five Crowns + Rummikub with stackable tiles. The goal is to move your pawn around the circle and be the first to reach the finish line. You’ll move your pawn based on how many tiles you can include in your sets. 

Each player will receive 4 tiles and a tile holder. The game is played on a 4×4 grid without the 4 corner squares. Each player can play on any of the 4 middle squares and the 2 squares directly in front of them. When playing tiles, played will create or continue a set already on the board using any/all of the tiles in their hand or the 4 tiles in the shared hand, which all players have access to. 

Setup is an enjoyable game that’s surprisingly quick. There’s not much in the strategic depth department, but each turn provides the players with a puzzle to solve as far as how they can maximize their own points without opening the door for their opponents to score a bunch of points next round. For instance, if there’s a large diamond straight out there, you should probably place a new tile over a number in the middle of that straight, therefore breaking it up. 

Another fun nuance is that if other players use any of the 2 tiles in front of you in any of their sets, you’ll get 1 point per tile of yours that they used. I found it fun to try and place tiles in front of my area that other players will want to use as well so, even when it’s not my turn, I can gain some points. 

The components are solid. They don’t look or feel the absolute best, but they’re not as cheap as I was expecting. The bag holds all the tiles well so players can draw out of it. The tiles themselves are vibrant and fit nicely together, and each player’s colored tile holder works very well. Setup also includes a team mode, which is the most strategic/fair way to play, besides maybe 2-player in which teams compete to not have either partner in last place when the first pawn crosses the finish line. 

Setup will not wow you with strategic depth, and it will occasionally but it is a fun family game that’s surprisingly quick. If you’re looking for a shorter variation of Rummikub, Setup would be an excellent option. 

Bezzerwizzer ApS (Asmodee North America) kindly provided a review copy.