Twin It! A Speed Matching Game With Three Different Ways to Play

Cooperative, competitive, or teams. Why choose only one when you can have all three?

Gamewright’s game of finding matches and racing against other players features three different game modes and some truly zany patterns.

Gameplay

Twin It! consists of a deck of 135 double-sided mini cards. Each side shows a different, elaborate pattern or design. There are three different modes you can play: competitive, team, and cooperative.

In competitive mode, players shuffle the cards and deal them out as evenly as possible to each player. You take the cards dealt to you, and set them in front of yourself for your draw pile. Players take turns drawing the top card from their draw pile, flipping it over, and placing it in the center of the table.

At any time, when a player spots two matching patterns, she may slap each card to claim the set, taking the two cards, stacking them, and putting them in front of herself. Matching cards can be in the center of the table or on top of someone’s draw pile. Some patterns will appear three times in the deck, so you can also claim a set belonging to another player. If at any time you make a mistake, and slap two cards that do not match, you lose one set you already have and must place it at the bottom of your draw pile. The first player to claim five sets wins the game.

Team mode is played in much the same way, with players forming two teams. However, when claiming a set, one player on your team has to lay his hand on one of the matching cards and a second player on your team has to touch the second card.

In cooperative mode, players use the 60-second sand timer included in the game. All the cards are placed in the center of the table, the timer is started, and players race to spread out the cards, flip them over as they wish, and search for as many matches as they can find, working together to do so. The number you find once the timer runs out, determines your team’s score.

Review

Twin It! has some truly unique artwork and unusual patterns that instantly make it stand out from similar games. Several cards have misleading similarities which makes mistakes more likely, particularly as the game continues, and more and more cards come out onto the table.

All three modes are enjoyable in their own way. There’s a nice sense of always being on edge, and ready to race another player for a set in the competitive mode. But trying to get another player to help you claim a set in team mode is challenging, while cooperative mode is surprisingly tricky when up against the sixty second timer.

The game is inherently a matching game that doesn’t bring many new elements to the genre, but everything is put together in an extremely elegant and satisfying fashion. Twin It! can be played and enjoyed by adult groups, kid groups, and families, and the cards are small enough that it’s quite portable if you take them out of the game tin and put them in a small bag. It is a shame there is no carrying pouch included, since it’s an ideal game for it.

If you enjoy games where you must race against your opponents, looking for pairs, or memory elements (as remembering what’s already on the table, enables you to act faster when a new card is drawn), then Twin It! is a lovely fit. It’s flexible, and easily adaptable to a wide range of gaming groups, with the different game modes adding a little extra variety.

Pros: All the modes are fun to play, unique art, wide age range

Cons: Not too original for a matching game, no carrying pouch

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