Become a Fashionista in Make it Happen

A game of fashion design from designer Jaime Miller, Make It Happen puts 2-12 players in command of the runway during New York’s Fashion Week.

Gameplay

Make It Happen is a fast-paced card game for 2-12 players. Players will compete on one of two teams, each with their own deck of identical cards. These cards will have various patterns on them, and each will have its own star value and a limited number of available cards, depending on that star value. Each team will also choose three of five models to clothe and send onto the runway. 

Teams will draw six cards into their hand (cards are shared among each team) and can perform one of three actions. The titular Make It Happen allows players to use cards from their hands to fulfill the requirements of dressing a model in a particular garment. For example, one model may need only one card of any pattern type to have a hat, four cards of the same pattern for a shirt, and two cards of a pattern for pants. So, team one may have four cards of the same pattern and can finish the shirt of the model in question during a round and therefore choose the Make It Happen action. 

The second action choice is This is Garbage, in which players may choose to discard as many cards from their hand of six as they wish and draw back up to the hand limit. The final action is Hot or Not, in which a team can choose to take a pattern card from their hands and place it face-down on one of the two center boards titled Hot and Not. These cards can affect final scoring. 

Play continues until a team has finished constructing outfits for all three of their models as outlined. Players will then unveil the Hot and Not piles, removing any patterns that overlap on both the Hot and Not boards. Any remaining pattern cards will reward an extra bonus point per ensemble piece that uses the pattern from the Hot board, and will cost teams a point per ensemble if it’s from the Not board. The teams will add up the total of stars for each part of the model’s ensemble, as well as the star value of the model card itself. Using the previous model as an example, a team uses a pattern with a star value of one for the hat, a star value of two for the shirt, and a star value of three for the pants. The model also has a star value of one, so the total would be 7 points. Any models that do not have all pieces of an ensemble complete cannot be scored because they did not walk the metaphorical runway. The team with the highest point total wins!

Review

Make It Happen is a simple game where the more players involved, the more fun it becomes. In lower player counts, it can be a bit more tactical but also slower and not as engaging. However, with teams of 4-6 members each, players are frantically deciding which cards to keep, which to discard, and when to do it from round to round. Some players are keeping tabs on their opponents while others desperately try to dress their models with the correct number of cards. They’re also wanting to make sure that it’s not just star level one patterns that are used, because it’s unlikely one team can be done before the other team has completed models due to the luck and chance of drawing cards from a huge pile. 

There is not much depth to Make It Happen, but this is made up for by its flashy pattern choices and the slight strategy of which star value pattern cards to hold onto and where to play them. It’s a great entry game for players wanting to learn deck-building basics in the boisterous guise of an easy, palette-cleansing party game on longer game nights. 

Pros: Easy to pick up and play, Great pattern art

Cons: Not very engaging or fun at low player counts