Toil & Troublez is Perfect Fall Family Fare
If you’re looking for something seasonal to spice up your family game nights this fall, then Toil & Troublez might just be the perfect fall family fare for you. This is a brand new card game from the clever folks at Grandpa Beck’s Games, and we’ve decided to name it our Game of the Month for October 2023.
Disclosure: A copy of Toil & Troublez was provided to us by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions remain entirely our own. Links may lead to affiliate partners such as Grandpa Beck’s Games or Amazon.
But wait, isn’t it November already? Yes that’s true, but I’m going to try to figure out how to backdate this article to October 31st - back when we announced October’s Game of the Month on Instagram. I understand that this may cause you great confusion talking about a vaguely Halloweeny game while Christmas music is already playing on the radio, but, I assure you, we can get through this together. And I promise I’ll be much more Christmasy from here on out.
I call Toil & Troublez vaguely Halloweeny because it obviously takes its name from the famous spell of the witches in Macbeth, but other than that it’s not exactly spooky or anything. It has more of a nature-y, wicca vibe - with frogs and mushrooms and crystals and whatnot. But it also features wizards and a spooky witch holding poison, so I think it still makes good sense as a fall and October game.
This is a set collecting game, as well as a press-your-luck game - which I’ve grown to love over the years. Long ago I think I even wrote that press-your-luck was not my favorite element in games, but I’ve long since changed my tune on that. I think the risk and reward, as well as the luck, can actually be the great equalizer in family games. And believe me when I say that this game does indeed offer an equal playing field.
Out of roughly 8 playthroughs, I have won Toil & Troublez a grand total of 1 time. And my 7-year-old daughter has won every single other time. I can’t think of a single other game in our collection with this lopsided of a ratio. And obviously luck alone can’t explain that kind of a record away. She’s legitimately better at the strategy of when to press her luck and it shows. And I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love finding family games where my kids can truly kick my butt.
How to Play Toil & Troublez
As my wife pointed out, one of the great things about Toil & Troublez is that it involves zero setup time. You simply shuffle all of the cards and place them into the middle of the table. She probably pointed this out because we had just played Harry Potter: Defense Against the Dark Arts, which involves much more setup, but the point definitely still stands. You can get Toil & Troublez going quickly, and you can play with up to 6 people to boot.
On your turn you simply draw the top card from the deck, and place it on the table in 1 of 3 rows - if you’re able to of course. You see, this is where the press-your-luck comes in. When you choose to stop drawing cards, you are allowed to take an entire row of cards to add to your collection, but if you draw a card with no legal place to put it, then your turn is over and you get nothing.
There are a few rules you have to follow when placing cards in the 3 rows on the table. First of all, the numbered cards (or talisman cards) must be placed in numerical order. You can skip numbers, but in the future you aren’t allowed to slip numbers that were skipped in between. And only one of each number or talisman can be placed in each row.
Another rule is that you are never allowed to place cards of the same color next to each other. So you can “bust” on your turn if you draw a number that won’t fit anywhere, or if it’s a color with no legal placements. This is what gets me in trouble a lot. I think I get too greedy trying to build as big of a row as possible.
The final major rule is that each row can also only contain one of each special card - summons, poisons, and vanishes. Summons allow you to steal a card from an opponent, vanishes allow you to call out a number that everyone else must discard from their collection, and poisons force you to discard one of your cards.
If you willingly stop your turn before you “bust”, you get to choose one of the three rows to add to your collection. That’s right - the whole row! (And then everyone else playing gets to choose one single card from the table as well.) And that’s when you get to start trying to make sets with your cards.
It takes 4 copies of 1 single number to make a set, or you can also build a set if you have a 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 card. At the end of the game sets are worth 10 points, and extra leftover cards are 1 point each. My daughter not only beats me almost every time, but also often wins by wide margins like 43 to 14.
You can play Toil & Troublez with up to 6 people, which adds the extra excitement and strategy of paying attention to who is winning (and who you want to steal cards from) - but I’m happy to report that it’s still very fun for us to play with just 2 or 3 people as well. It’s also probably my daughter’s current favorite game. And I can’t blame her, considering how dominant of a performance over her dad she’s had so far.
I’m always extremely happy in general when we enjoy a new game from Grandpa Beck’s Games, because they’re a company that’s easy to root for. It’s a family-operated business that specializes in card games that just happen to be perfect for family gatherings.
And, I have to admit, I very much enjoy the small touches - like the inclusion of a themed family recipe from Grandma Beck in every game. Isn’t that sweet? But of course all of that wouldn’t mean much if we didn’t love playing their games a lot too!
Don’t forget, if you use code DADSUGGESTS on Grandpa Beck’s website, you can always take off 15% from your entire purchase. Hopefully that occasionally comes in useful for all of you card-playing families out there.
What’s your favorite press-your-luck game? Have you tried Toil & Troublez yet? Let us know in the comments!
