Trash Pandas: A Push Your Luck Card Game Full of Raccoons

Dig into that trash and build up a stash of your very own! Maybe steal from your opponents along the way.

Gamewright’s cute raccoon-themed card game features set collection, push-your-luck elements, and some take-that mechanics. Does it hold up to their previous card games?

Gameplay

The game has a deck of trash-themed cards, six tokens, and a die. Each side of the die matches one of the six tokens. The deck is shuffled, and each player takes a certain number of cards based on turn order. The rest of the deck is set in the center of the table to act as the trash can.

On your turn you roll the die and take the token that matches the result. You may then choose to resolve your token or roll again. After each roll, after taking another token, you choose whether to stop or roll again. However, if you ever roll a die result for a token you have already taken, you bust. When you bust you draw one card from the trash can, and your turn immediately ends.

If you don’t bust and choose to stop rolling, you resolve each token, taking the action shown on it. If you managed to collect all six tokens, you will get a bonus turn during which you can collect up to three tokens. Tokens can allow you to draw two cards, stash two cards, choose to either draw or stash a card, or to steal a card from another player’s hand. One token has you draw the top card from draw pile and reveal it to all players before adding it to your hand, then each player stashes a matching card and you may draw one card for each card stashed this way. The sixth and final token allows you to use the ability of any one token that you didn't collect this turn. After your turn, all tokens are placed back within reach of all players and the next player starts rolling.

When stashing a card, you place it facedown beside you. When the draw pile runs out of cards, the game ends and players reveal their trash piles. You earn points for having the most of a certain type of trash in your stash pile (having the second or third most can sometimes earn points, too, based on the type of card). Cards also have special abilities, and during the game you can play cards into the discard pile to use their ability.

Review

Gamewright has always done a great job at making light, casual card games and Trash Pandas is no exception. The components are a nice quality, the artwork is bright and colorful, and theming is cute and engaging.

The gameplay hangs together nicely. Choosing which cards to stash and which to use for their abilities is fun and has you trying to guess what cards other players may be trying to stash. Printed on each card is a number representing how many of each type of card are in the deck, which gives you some idea of your chances of collecting the most of a trash type.

The card abilities do add a nice layer to the gameplay. They have abilities such as forcing another player to roll again after they’ve announced their intention to stop, stopping a player from stealing from you and allowing you to steal from them instead, rerolling your die if it would make you bust, or take a card from the discard pile. While there are many interesting choices and actions, it is possible that sheer bad luck will turn the game against you. You can bust on your second roll, and if you do that several times during the game, you're going to find yourself more or less out of the running, which can be frustrating.

Overall, Trash Pandas checks all the boxes we expect from a Gamewright card game. It’s inexpensive, simple to learn, easy to play, and just a great, casual experience.

Pros: Simple to learn, colorful artwork, high component quality

Cons: You can lose the game on sheer bad luck

Disclosure: we received a complimentary review copy of this game.