Designed by: Scott Almes
In Boomerang players make a tour of Australia, collecting sights, samples, and destinations along the journey, by way of cards: each has a number, a letter, and may include plant or animal symbols as well. Players also have a scoresheet each, where you’ll cross off destinations on the map and keep tabs on how well you’re doing.
Over five rounds players will receive 7 cards each and proceed to draft them, playing one in front of them to the table, and passing the rest along. Once all cards have been drafted, everyone scores. Important to note that your first card is played face-down whilst the rest are played face-up, because it allows other players to see what you’re after and – potentially – spoil your plans. Your face-down card is your throw card, and your final card played is your catch card – if your throw card is lower than the catch card, you score its value in points.
Then all the destinations (represented by a letter on the map) are crossed off, and if your are first to complete a region on the map, you get bonus points too. The sum value of all your plant symbols score points, as do the total value of every pair of matching animals. Finally you can, if you wish, score your tourists, who will garner you more points the more you have of a specific type.
After five rounds, scores are totalled and the most points is the winner!
The most you can do is take a card someone wanted. But doing so might not be the best option for you, so the Take-That feel to the game is negligible (exception - playing with just a single opponent!)
There may be the odd lull as you or your opponents try to weigh your benefits versus what you're passing on to opponents.
See fidget factor!
The cards ensure some randomness, and it's relatively breezy
2-4
Players
8+
Years
30-60
Mins
Sam says
I like the card design a lot - and the overlapping, multiple sets (animals v destinations v tourists v plants!) is clever. But beneath the aesthetics it's all a bit rote; taking cards, passing cards, scoring cards. It lacks the fun of dice-chucking or the slightly spicier interplay of the (admittedly more complex) 7 Wonders, the daddy of card-drafting games. I wouldn't veto it, but I certainly wouldn't suggest over a number of other games with considerably more dynamism and, well, fun in them.