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12 Gangsters
1 ×£14.00£7.00
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LB –
Hubby and I sat down to play a game of Alphabet Stoop last night. All the pieces were neatly packaged and it didn’t take long to pop the little packages out of the frame. That would be a fun assignment for kids while you look at the instruction booklet. Enough plastic zip bags were provided that we were able to organize and separate the color pieces nicely. The artwork and weightiness of the cards and playing pieces create a sturdy game experience. The game is clearly rated Age 6+ and I’m sure that is not only for spelling purposes but because there are many small pieces.Following directions, and according to the number of players (2 of us), we laid out the Stoops in the suggested formation. We each chose a baggie with a color coordinated delivery person and packages. There are several playing pieces. Some are wild cards (any letter), some are ‘free actions’, and some award bonuses. Some are placed on Stoops and some are added along the way.The actual directions are at times lacking or confusing as to what is really intended. For example, if you want to build on a word that is already in place there is an allowance for taking other pieces to build a word. But it doesn’t specify whether that is restricted to the Stoop you are on at the time, or if any Stoop is open to having a package stolen. And, if you take from another Stoop to play it where you are located, is it OK to leave jumbled letters on the other Stoop or do you have to create a word before you take a package?Another question we have is about the manner in which the pieces tucked into the delivery person card are used. There are consonants on both sides, so are we locked-in to using them as they are displayed on the delivery person card? Once they are used to build a word, do we immediately refill the empty placeholder? We ended up moving our card from Stoop to Stoop (one action point each time) and keeping the letter packages in front of us (and flipping as we needed) like we would in a game of Scrabble.One other question … there are two delivery persons as well as several delivery trucks. When are the trucks used? Do we use both delivery persons once we choose a color?Ultimately, it’s an game that depends on the level of challenge and competitiveness that each player is looking for. I think it would be more enjoyable with clear answers to the questions I posted. We may have to make up our own rules for those and see if it keeps our interest.I am open definitely open to changing my Star rating if I find answers! I see that some reviews mention videos of this game being played. I will look for those and see if my questions have answers. I just want to be honest and review this game ‘As Received’ with only the information provided.
Slippery Jim –
This game reminds me a little of this bananagrams variant my family likes to play, where you make words from letters revealed in the center, combined with already existing words in front of other people. That game is extremely cutthroat, with vital play occurring in real time.This game is like a tamer, simpler version of that. You move your letter carrier about, dropping off consonants (“packages”) to form words or new anagrams of existing words at different locations, along with vowels and wilds.It moves more sedately, being turn-based, and words only grow to 5 or 7 letters long. You also have just the letters your postal worker is trundling about with, so you don’t have to keep too many possibilities in mind.This has proved a pleasant game to play with family, and particularly with fairly young children who can read and write, but maybe aren’t at a terribly advanced level.The components are all nice pieces of cardboard, with pleasant understated art on them.I really like how small and portable the box is.
N Williams –
I enjoy word games so I was looking forward to this. When the package arrived and I saw how nice the components were, I got excited to play all over again. However, after reading through the instructions, I was so disheartened. I love tabletop games and have read many, many rulebooks, including for games which are vastly more complex than this, and I was able to understand those directions just fine. Not these, though.In the directions for Alphabet Stoop, I sometimes found the wording unclear or ambiguous, and other times important information seems to have been left out entirely. I thought perhaps it was just me being too literal, and therefore unable to follow the line of someone else’s thought, so I was actually sort of relieved when I checked back, and found that other people reported having similar problems.It’s not just me failing to understand something which is transparent to everyone else; there really are some important shortcomings to the rulebook. The instructions are brief, printed in a small font on a long strip of paper, but I think the company would have done better to produce an actual booklet, and then they would have had the space to include fuller explanations and/or illustrated examples. Even so, some things were just poorly worded, and that’s not an issue of space, but of clarity.I finally did an online search and wound up watching four or five videos from different YouTube sources, figuring that this would fill in some of the blanks. Unfortunately, the one from the company was more like an ad, promoting the game as fun, rather than explaining the details of how to play, but others were more helpful. I had the impression that some people were essentially presenting their best guess, or they made some assumptions based on what made sense to them, because they were doing things not laid out in the printed instructions.In the end, I would say that this *seems* like a nifty little game in theory, but I can’t be totally confident that I’m playing correctly, and that outweighs the fun, thematic elements and the well-made components. If you’re a big fan of word games and would like something different than the popular word-grid options, this may be of interest to you, provided that you don’t mind needing to implement some house rules to supplement the directions as given.The issue with the unclear instructions is so fundamental that I should probably rate the game at 2 stars, but I think I found a way to make it work, so I’ll say 3.
Stephanie Tiner –
This is a fun game where you are a postal delivery man, and the goal is to deliver all of your packages to the stoops and form words. I thought this would be a good game for my kids, especially to make spelling fun for my child who struggles some with spelling, and for the most part it was. We all played it together and it was really fun, once we figured out how to play it. The instructions are a little confusing, for me the adult, and my children really didn’t understand how to play based off of the instructions. Thankfully we were able to find help from a couple whop had played it before and once we did it was a really fun game. I think it is a great idea and all in all a great game.
SunnyDi –
We’re word game buffs and I thought this would be a fun and unique word game. The game contents are well made and seem to be high quality. There’s little individual zippered plastic bags for all the pieces, which is nice. I gave it 2 stars as the instructions are lacking. We watched a video on how to play and read several game forums. It seems others had the same questions. Which of your 3 characters moves first? Can you move another character if one still has letters in it? Can two or more characters be on the same stoop, at the same time? Either yours or another player’s? Instruction say “take newspapers and magazines as needed”. From the other houses? From other already formed words? When do you place the stamps? When do you get the mail letters after your first turn? So many other questions not answered in the instructions, video or forums. Without detailed instructions, it just seems like a game for young kids learning how to spell. If that’s what you’re using it for, then this is your game. But, it’s too confusing to be much fun for adults.
Jennifer Graves –
It’s a pretty good take on the old “Scrabble”. It definitely adds in more flare and it’s more rewarding to try and find word in your “packages” to fit the card.If you’re a lover of the original Scrabble, or words with friends, then this may be a good game for you to pick up.
K.Dean –
The gameplay is decent, but not phenomenal. You spend your turns moving your package people between different locations. You package people are loaded up with consonants, and the locations are loaded up with vowels. You can use an action to drop off a package to make a word. Rounding out the game is a natural game end, which is always a nice touch; either get to 9 points (measured in packages delivered and stamps gained) or deliver all of your packages. Do either of these and you win instantly. This isn’t a super complicated game, but it never pretends to be. It’s a tactical word game. And, with limited actions each turn, and movement between cards, there are plenty of delicious spot stealing in the game.Components, artwork, and graphic design are also really good. I’m personally a fan of this “comic strip” style aesthetic. It’s nice, but doesn’t get in the way of the game. Components are made from thick cardboard.Let’s move on to the rulebook, which definitely affects the initial impressions of the game. Here’s the main problem. The rulebook says each time you place a package it must make a word. But, in 3 different content videos, one including the game designer, it appears that you only have to have a complete word by the end of the turn. Which would mean that you could use all 3 of your actions to place a word, and as long as the end result is a word, the groupings of letters when you place the first and second package don’t have to be words. That makes a lot more sense, because the other way really stymies gameplay for this simple of a game. But, that’s not what the rulebook says. In addition, there are a lot of other, less critical, questions that have been answered by the designer and publisher on Board Game Geek. That wouldn’t be as big of a problem, IF this was a complicated Euro Game. However, this is a light word game, with just 4 small pages of rules. Don’t get me wrong, I love the length of the rulebook, but a few clarifying changes to the rulebook would have made it clearer, without adding any length. I shouldn’t have to spend more time watching videos to understand a small, 4 page rulebook, than I did actually reading the rulebook itself. It should be the other way around.Overall, we’re keeping it. If you can get past the problems with the rulebook, it’s a decent filler game that should be an easy teach. You should be able to have a conversation, and it still beats scrabble.
FearNoT –
When I saw this game, I knew I had to add it to my game collection. It plays out relatively quickly. I thought it would take a bit longer, and honestly, I would’ve liked it more if it did. While I enjoyed the game, I had to drop it down to four stars because I feel as though there could’ve been a bit more included in the instructions and gameplay. The instructions are easy to understand for the most part, but something I’m realizing with a lot of recently published games by new companies is that they lack a bit of pizzaz and direction. There always seems to be something that leaves you wondering what you’re supposed to do in one way or another.Overall, it is a cute game for kids and can be a great way to help them practice their letters and spelling.
Allan P –
I back a lot of games on crowdfunding but Alphabet Stoop never crossed my radar during it’s campaign. Being a fan of word games I ordered it since the concept sounded fun. It is…..but for younger gamers.The game comes in a small box and makes it great for portability. The components are nice quality with the player boards double layered to hold your letter tiles. The different destinations are all on standard card stock and the art is cute and fits the games subject perfectly. The manual is only four pages long and that is one of the issues. The instructions aren’t super clear and we had to watch some videos that gave a bit more information. I also checked Board Game Geek’s site to see if we were missing something and it turns out that the company has answered other questions there as well. For a simple game, it took more work to figure out how to actually play.I played with my wife. We are both big fans of word games and word puzzles. Unfortunately, it sort of fell flat for us. The game is very simple (once you know how) and I think that is where the problem lies. It feels too simple. Not that it isn’t a good game, it just didn’t really draw us in as much as I had hoped. The concept is good though and I think that this game would be great for younger players as it helps build spelling skills in a fun way, is easy to set up and doesn’t take so long that they would lose interest. It may also be good for a filler game for more advanced gamers looking to have a quick, easy to get to the table game between more in depth games.Overall, while the concept is good and the production quality is as well, it wasn’t a hit for us. If they updated the manual to better explain everything I would give 4 stars. At $25, I think it’s a great price for those looking to get younger gamers to the table (and learning at the same time!).
Veronica Bartles –
We love word games in our family, so this was a fun one for us. We tried it out with two players, and it was pretty fun, but the game went really quickly and there wasn’t much of a challenge because with only 2 players, there was ample space for us both to play our tiles without much chance of blocking each other or really much need for strategy. It would probably be a lot more fun with more people playing, so maybe next time we’ll wait until the whole family is home!!