I’m so excited to tell you about TEN! This push your luck + auction card game has been a complete treat to play and is one I see us sharing with family and friends a LOT going forward.
This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.
Gameplay Overview of TEN
Your goal of TEN is to get the most points from building number sequences in each color by collecting and buying number and wild cards.
On your turn, you’ll flip cards over from the deck one at a time until you wish to stop and collect or you bust.
Cards are numbered 1-9. If the number of cards you have flipped over ever exceeds 10, you bust and can collect nothing. However, when currency cards are flipped out, those subtract from the total number that is showing. So if you have a 3 and a 4 card showing, you have 7 points on the table. If you then flip over a 2 currency card, you subtract 2 from your total, leaving you with 5.
Currency cards can also work against you. If you ever have enough currency cards on the table to exceed -10 points, then you bust as well.
A player can choose to stop their turn at any time and collect either the color number cards or the currency cards, but never both. If you choose to collect the numbers, you’ll add them into your sequences in front of you. If you collect currency, you’ll take that amount of currency tokens.
When players bust, the number cards they flipped over join the Market. These cards are able to be purchased with currency tokens on future turns where players do not bust, take number cards, and then may choose to purchase one card from the market.
When a wild card is flipped over an auction begins. All players may place a single bid on the wild card, if they are exceeded by the next players bid, they do not get another chance. Players may spend their currency tokens and any of the cards in front of them (one point per card) to make their bid.
End of Game
The game continues until all cards have been revealed from the deck. Each player earns 1 point for each card in their longest sequence from each color.
The player with the most points wins.
What Do We Think of TEN?
We absolutely LOVED TEN!
TEN is an excellent card game. It shows once again that sometimes the best games are truly the simple ones!
TEN is a light card game and is the exact style I love to have in my collection. It is quick to teach and share with new players. It’s exciting — providing laugh out loud moments. The push your luck combined with the auction element works excellently to create both fun tension and great player interaction.
The push your luck element of the game works on many levels. Not only is it fun for the active player, but the inactive players too. If it’s not your turn, you’re hoping the current player busts so you can collect any currency they had showing on the table. We love how this kept everyone focused and invested on each turn.
Having the currency cards subtract from your total is also a great way to give the active player an extra push to keep going while also making it enticing to stop and collect the currency for later. Sometimes you’re presented with two really good options: great cards to collect for your sequences or a lot of currency to collect for later. Each time I play I always feel like my choices are important and going to impact my ability to succeed later. The game feels in my hands.
TEN Has Well Mitigated Luck
The luck of the draw with the cards is also really well mitigated by the auction. I love that all of the wild cards immediately go up for a once around auction. (Shout out to the once around! We might start implementing this in more of our games so the action phase goes quickly. No more out bidding each other by 1 until everyone’s interest in the game dies.)
While there is only ever a single 7, 8, and 9 card in each color, players know that they’ll always have a chance at the wild cards. This is where your strategy of when to take currency really begins to come into play. Your best shot to get high cards may be through the auction. Players will have to think that through when deciding whether or not to collect currency on their turns. Then you still want to think it through when bidding in the auction! You don’t want to leave yourself penniless in case another card shows up that you need even more — or perhaps you want to make sure you have enough currency to buy a card from the market.
So much to think through! Yet the game is so welcoming to play.
TEN out of 10 on the Design
I really love the look of this game too! The graphic design is quite interesting and we love how thoughtfully each element was incorporated.
The cards all line up in sequence to create a really interesting pattern which looks stunning when all laid out. The wild cards also show break up the pattern in interesting ways. If it’s a wild within that suit, it goes just a little bit better, but if it is a wild that can be placed in any suit, it really begins to break up the sequential pattern.
The only thing I don’t like about the game….is the name! I worry that the name isn’t interesting enough for folks to want to pick up and check out.
Luckily you’re reading this and will know better!
Summary
TEN is sure to be a hit with any home that loves a good ol’ classic card game. TEN expertly combines the push-your-luck and auction mechanic to provide players with fun and interesting choices and a game that keeps them invested until the very end.
We think TEN is fun at all player counts but is best with 3-5 so as to provide more interesting auctions. Good thing, because this is a game you’re going to want to share with your friends!
To bring home a copy of TEN for your home click here.
Find this and all our favorite board games on our Amazon Storefront.
A special thank you to our friends at AEG for sending us a copy of TEN for review. As always, our thoughts and opinions are our own.
Game Info:
Title: TEN
1-5 Players ages 10+
Designer: Molly Johnson, Shawn Stankewich, Robert Melvin
Artist: Shawn Stankewich
Publisher: AEG, Flatout Games
If You Liked This Post You May Also Like:
Verdant Review
5 Great Card Games You Should Own
Wild Space – A Tactical Card Game Review
