There's Fire in the Hole and Mining Claims Up for Grabs in Ya Blew It!

Jump claims, steal gems, and hope your stash doesn’t blow up in your face!

Ya Blew It! is a push-your-luck game of dice rolling and set collection from Wonder Forge. The dynamite-shaped box alone will grab your attention, but how about the rest of the game?

Gameplay

At the start of the game, each player is given an eight-sided dynamite die, a cursed gem card, and a faulty detonator card.

During a round, the current prospector draws cards from the deck and may then choose to attempt to steal the claim or pass (the claim includes all the face-up cards in the center of the table). If you choose to steal, you roll your dynamite die. If it rolls a number that appears on any card in the claim, you immediately take all the cards in the claim and place them in front of you, stacking any gems by color. If you fail to roll a number that appears on any of the cards in the claim, you are out of the round.

If no one has stolen the claim by the time it gets back to the prospector, he may choose to keep the claim for himself. However, he may also choose to add cards to the claim. If there are any players left in the round who have not attempted to steal the claim yet, the round continues, with any players still in the round being given the choice to steal or pass. If there are no other miners still in the round, the prospector may draw cards until he has added one or two more gems to the claim. He then rolls his own dynamite die. If he rolls a number that matches any card in the claim, he must discard all the cards. If he does not roll a number that appears on any of the cards in the claim, he gets to keep the claim. Once the claim is claimed or discarded, the round is over, and going in clockwise order, the next player becomes the prospector.

When a fire in the hole card is drawn, the round immediately pauses and each player rolls their die. Each player must discard any cards in their score pile that shows the number rolled. If you have a safe card, you may place it on one of your stacks of gems of matching color, and the safe card will be discarded instead of any gems in that stack if they match your die result. There are also claim jumper cards, which a prospector can use on his turn immediately after drawing a gem card, in order to place this gem into his score pile at once (the remaining cards in the claim are discarded and the round ends). Finally, each player may discard their faulty detonator card in order to re-roll their die once per game.

The game ends once the final card is drawn from the deck. Players score points based on the number of gems they have in each color (there are wild gems which can count as any color at the end of the game). Some gem cards have more than one gem on them. Players lose points for the number of gems they have in the color shown on their cursed gem card. The player with the most points wins.

Review

Ya Blew It! is a fun mixture of push your luck, dice rolling, and blend of theme and components. Each round the prospector and the miners have their own unique risks and rewards to weigh. The miners only get one shot at stealing, so they have to choose their chance carefully. But if you wait too long, another miner might steal the claim first or the prospector may choose to end the round, while the prospector has to choose when to keep drawing and when to bow out. This leads to great moments of player interaction and attempting to read your opponents.

The scoring system is also clever. The color of the gems in a claim can affect your decision, and at times you have to claim cursed gems in order to create bigger sets of other colors. This can add an extra layer to player decisions.

Aesthetically the game is a lot of fun, from the dynamite dice to the dynamite shaped game box. Some players will find storing the game a bit frustrating due to its unusual shape, but it is visually appealing.

If you enjoy push-your-luck games, Ya Blew It! is a fun one, with accessible rules that keep it family friendly, and interesting player choices scattered throughout.

Pros: Good player choice and interaction, solid scoring system

Cons: Box can make it difficult to store

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