The Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season is upon us, which means one thing – it’s time for board games, comfy chairs, and lots and lots of tea. One of the most popular and longstanding board game franchises is now available to play on your smartphone – and it’s the very definition of the word ‘addictive’. If you’re unfamiliar, the object of Holiday Bowl Blitz is for players to eliminate as many of their opponents’ players as they can before they’re out of moves. The game is famous for its quick pace and frenetic humour, making it the perfect light game to play on a long flight or at the end of a long day.
If you’ve never played the game or are not familiar with it, here’s a quick rundown of how to play.
Set Up
The first thing you’ll need to do is set up the game on your phone. While it is possible to play the game without having the physical board, the experience is almost certainly not one you’ll enjoy. The game comes with a handy-dandy guide that will walk you through the setup process, so there’s no need to worry about misplacing any tiles or accidentally clicking on the wrong icon when given the option to select a player. Once you’ve followed the instructions and set up the game, you’ll be able to play immediately.
Moves
Each round of the game takes place on a ‘move’ board. The game’s creator, Games Workshop, divides the board into a matrix of four rows by four columns. Each space on the board is connected to a light bulb, which switches on and off according to the number of opposing players positioned in that space. So, in the diagram below, if Bob, Jill, and Sally are opposing players, the top left bulb would be switched on, while the bottom right bulb would be switched off. If, however, Jane were to join the game, the top right bulb would switch on and the other three would switch off.
The rule of thumb is that you should always try to switch on a light bulb rather than turn one off. The reason for this is that when a light bulb is switched on, it stays on throughout the game, regardless of the number of players. Turning off a light bulb requires the player to click on the space once more to make it active once again. As a result, it is typically less efficient to turn off a light bulb than to switch it on. For this reason, it is usually best to simply turn on the spaces you need and leave them on, even if this results in some lights remaining on for longer than is necessary. This will, however, add some visual appeal to the board and make the game that little bit more interesting to watch.
Scoring
At the end of the game, you’ll need to calculate the amount of points that each player scored. To do this, simply add up the number of bulbs that are switched on at the end of the game. The first player to reach 15 points wins!
So, if you’d like to try out the game, just follow the instructions below and see how many points you can rack up in no time.
Interface
Unfortunately, as previously stated, the game is quite board game-intensive and requires a fairly large amount of screen real-estate. Because of this, it is not optimized for use on small mobile devices such as phones or tablets. For this reason, you’ll need access to a larger screen, such as a laptop or desktop computer. If you’re playing the game on a mobile device, you’ll find that moving around the screen to click on spaces becomes quite slow and unresponsive. This is not the case when playing on a larger screen, where moving the cursor around is much faster and more reliable.
Overall
As the name might suggest, this game is just what it says on the tin. Play it once and you’ll be hooked. The fast pace and light-hearted humour makes it ideal for those who love a bit of mindless relaxation on long flights or layovers, especially over the holiday season. Just remember – play responsibly and don’t let it affect your holidays in any way.