The river has flooded! Can your capybaras help save these cute little critters? Use your line of capybara friends to get them across, and be sure to keep like-critters close together – they are best friends after all! Let’s get moving and help these critters!
What Is It?
⚙️Drafting – Players have one card in hand, and will draft one each turn before playing a one
⚙️Chaining – Players will play a card each turn as either a capybara, face down to extend their available line, or a critter card, on top of an open capybara to create connected chains of critters. The longest chain of each critter, and each background, will score at the end of the game.
⚙️Resource Management – Players have 3 stars they can spend on the active abilities in the game, which will let them take extra turns, slip cards, swap cards, and more. They can earn a used star back when they play a card as a capybara as well, if they have spent them already
Who Is It For?
- 1 to 4 Players – Solo was easy to manage, not much upkeep, which I liked, but it was hard to win! It is much more puzzley. It scales well at 2-4, so I think I prefer the multiplayer game
- Ages 8 & Up – Small ruleset, very approachable
- Fans of drafting, chaining, and various abilities that change game to game
PROS
🟢Aesthetics – Adorable artwork, good graphic design
🟢Components – Cards and tokens are nice quality
🟢Small and portable
🟢Smooth + quick turns
🟢Bit of variety in abilities is nice
CONS
🔴Not a lot of choice each turn, and some turns feel rather “dead” since there are times where you must play a capybara even if you really want to try and expand your chains
🔴Solo is a bit lengthy because you have to be pickier with your choices since it is very easy for the bot to score
🔴Replay value – I don’t feel the game is super different play to play
Final Thoughts
This is super cute! I love the artwork, and the theme is cute in trying to save the little critters. Unfortunately, I felt that the gameplay wasn’t super interesting. I wished I had a little more choice turn to turn – maybe starting with more capybaras in the line, or an extra card in hand would help? I just wanted my decisions to feel more meaningful, and I often felt they weren’t because I wasn’t continuously expanding my chain when I had to play a capybara.
I thought solo was smooth, though very tricky since you really have to pay attention to what cards the bot will draft and score. I preferred the multiplayer game since everyone was on a level playing field, and I enjoyed everyone having a favorite critter to try and collect!
I’d recommend this to players who like a light card game with some drafting and chaining, who aren’t looking for a ton of strategy. It’s good for kids/families or those in need of a solid filler. Plus, it’s great if you love cute artwork!
Additional Information:
Designer – Dylan Coyle
Artist – Andrei Ebreo
Publisher – Charming Games Collective
Kickstarter
*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*
If you like what I do, consider supporting me.
dylan
Thanks for the review! 🍊
Did you see that there are options for 10 or 12 capys for 3 and 2 players?
Also, I posted the first draft of the Trickybara rules on Charming.Games for advanced players. Even if you don’t get to review them, I think they’ll help you enjoy the deck more. Lots more strategy!!🍊
Steph
Yes, I saw the options for expanding the capy count, but it would play the same way, right? You would still have to use a turn to play a card as a capy? Just want to be sure that is right.
I’ll be sure to check out Trickybara too! 🙂