|
MixUp is a connect-4 type game with a twist.
Players: 2
Playing Time: 10-15 minutes
Difficulty: 1 (of 10)
The Components
 MixUp contains a gameboard and a set of 56 tiles.
Gameboard: The gameboard is composed of hard plastic, which is attractively mottled white and gray. It's hollow inside, and thus doubles as storage for the tiles. After you slide the back cover off (dumping out the tiles), you then insert the back cover into the board perpendicular, to hold the board up at an angle, which is very clever.
The board conists of 7 slots which you'll drop tiles into, and watch them slide toward the bottom of their slots.
Tiles: There are 54 game tiles, plus two goal tiles (one showing shapes and one colors). They're all made out of what I'd guess to be bakelite, a nice, hefty plastic with a good feel to it. Each game tile has embedded on it a colored shape. The colors are blue, red, and green, which are all bright and stand out, while the shapes are moons, water drops, and lightning.
Rulebook: A small rulesheet printed full color on glossy cardstock.
Overall the components for MixUp are impressive and attractive. I was surprised that Out of the Box could produce this quality of components, and am likewise impressed by their price.
I've thus given MixUp a full "5" out of "5" for Style.
The Gameplay
The object of MixUp is for one player to line up four of the same color in a row (or in a 2x2 box) while the other player tries to line up four of the same shape in a row (or in a 2x2 box). The catch is that each piece has both a shape and a color on it.
Setup: The board is set up, and all the tiles are laid out. One player takes the shape goal and the other the color goal.
Play starts out with the color player dropping a tile into one of the slots, then the shape player dropping a piece with a different shape into one of the slots.
Continuing Play: Play then continues with the players alternating dropping tiles into the board. Because the board features inclined slots, of course each new tile slides down to the top of its slot.
Winning the Game: The game ends when one player gets 4 of a color/shape (depending on his goal) either in a row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) or in a 2x2 box. That player wins.
Relationships to Other Games
As already described, MixUp is a Connect 4 game, with a twist. Out of the Box also released a similar game at the same time called CoverUp (where the twist is that some pieces can cover others).
Maureen Hiron designs casual, family games. I've reviewed one other game of hers called Chekov, which was ironically a connect-3 type game with a twist. (You rolled dice to figure out which spaces you got to check off.)
The Game Design
MixUp is a light abstract intended for casual, family play. It's got a little bit of tactics in it, and definitely more than Connect 4 itself. The most casual players will try and luck into a win, but more serious players can effectively set themselves up to have two simultaneous wins available to them, so that they can't be blocked.
I expect that MixUp will be great for kids and families, and adults and parents will find it perfectly enjoyable and interesting too.
I've given it an average Style rating of "3" out of "5".
Conclusion
MixUp is a casual abstract for play by kids and families. It's like Connect 4, except each piece can simultaneously help both players, and thus it requires some extra thought. It's got some meaningful tactics, is a fair entry into its category, and is very beautifully produced.
|
