Pyramid Review
Easy Come -- Easy Go
Published by Out of the Box Publishing
Designed by Reiner Knizia
Illustrated by John Kovalic
Boxed, full-color rules, dice cup, four specialty six-sided dice, nine prize cards, $12.99
Another year, another marketing cycle, another Out of the Box game, another chance for them to break their winning streak so the reviews don't look like they're biased in the company's favor. Is Easy Come -- Easy Go a loser at last? Eh . . . not really.
The object of the game is to gain three prizes and hold them until the beginning of your next turn. There are nine such fabulous prizes to be won, and players do this with die rolls. The game comes with four special dice -- six-siders, but the one has been replaced with a zero (which counts as an even number in this game). On your turn, you roll all four dice. Looking at the results, you decide which results you'll keep and which you'll reroll. You must keep at least one of the dice that come up each time, but the rest you may continue to pitch.
The results hopefully correspond to the formula on one of the prizes. The fleet of cars, for example, asks that you come up with four of a kind, while the private jet requires exactly 13 on the dice. Some are a little more particular, like the tiaras that need three of a kind and all four dice must show even numbers. Since you're not likely to come up with such a result the first time out (though it's hardly impossible), deciding which dice to keep and with which you'll dispense . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: January 28, 2005
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