Life as a dustbunny can be pretty hard. You’re trying to enjoy under-the-sofa life, but with your fate tied to a fluffball, you’re always living on the edge, unsure of how safe you really are. The fluffballs are always right between the safety of the carpet, and the clutches of the vacuum, and for your sake, you’d better hope the vacuum doesn’t gobble them up. Try to help your fluffball get as close to the bag as you can, and do what you can to make sure your opponent’s do get sucked in!
What Is It?
A take that, race-style game for 2-5 where players play cards to move 6 fluffballs across modular carpet boards toward the vacuum bag tile. Each player is secretly tied to one of the fluffballs, and wants to make sure theirs gets as close to the bag as possible without getting sucked in; only the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fluffballs from the vacuum will score medals in a given round. Landing in the vacuum bag will mean forfeiting any medals earned in previous rounds. Players need to manage their movement cards and play the right ones at the right times to gain bonus actions from carpet spaces. They’ll also want to be sure to utilize their unique player powers, as well as abilities from charm cards to help them keep their own fluffball safe. At the end of the game the player with the most gold medals wins!
Who Is It For?
- Families / Ages 10+
- 2-5 players; works at any count
- Players who don’t mind potentially losing points
- Players who like hidden roles
Components + Quality
The cards are pretty average quality. Very simple artwork, but they’re straightforward as to what they do. The tiles/boards are nice quality, everything is laid out nicely and very clear. I like that the player boards are double sided and the back holds a purpose. Static/Cat/Dog /Medal tokens are all fairly average cardboard tokens. The fluffballs are simple, but cute, and I like that there’s a lot of sticker options for the eyes, and extras in case a few start peeling. The rulebook is laid out nicely, very easy to read through. I do wish it had been the size of the box though instead of smaller, because it sags in the box right now. Finally, the box is quite big, definitely more room than is needed, but everything fits in nicely once bagged up, and the cover is fun and engaging; definitely some fun art across the board. Overall, nice components throughout the game!
PROS
- Cute art
- Great for a wide range of players and ages
- Very smooth game flow
- I liked that the board gave players additional actions, or static tokens, so that there was always a reason to move certain fluffballs along
- A lot of player powers and charm cards makes for high replay value
CONS
- While I see the reason to make it so that you lose all earned medals if you enter the bag in any round, I’m not a big fan of it. It feels very punishing and frustrating to lose points you already earned, especially if you were doing well.
- Luck of the draw for movement cards can play a big part and make it hard for someone to even attempt to get their fluffball to score
Final Thoughts
Overall, I thought this was a really cute game! I like that players are secretly tied to one color and can move all the pieces which adds a layer of strategy and bluffing to an otherwise light game. There’s luck of the draw for movement cards, of course, but planning for just the right moment to play a particular color can definitely benefit you. My biggest peeve of the game is just the potential to lose medals if you land in the vacuum in a round after you already earned them. I just wish there was another option because when you have so few “points,” so to speak, to begin with, it just doesn’t feel great to lose them. But even with that, I thought it had a cute look, a very unique style, and was a neat game!
My Final Ratings:
Overall Game – 6/10
Aesthetics – 7/10
Replay Value – 6/10
Difficulty – 4/10
*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*
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