Nook: A Fun and Fast-Paced Matching Game with a Ducky Twist

Who will be the best interior decorator to design the perfect, coziest nook? Beware of the ducks though! They might just allow another player to steal your designing thunder.

Published by Coin Flip Games, Nook is a 10-minute card game, designed for 2-5 players.

Gameplay

The deck is shuffled and each player is delt a certain number of cards to form their hands. Each card shows one of three colors, one of three wallpaper patterns, and one of three décor items. Some cards also show a duck. The top card of the draw deck is revealed to form the idea pile.

On your turn, you must play one card from your hand onto the top of the idea pile. At least one element on your card must match one element of the card currently on top of the idea pile. If two elements match, you must also discard a card face-down into a separate discard pile. If you have no legal card to play, you must instead draw a card into your hand. If you incorrectly play a card, you must take it back, draw a card, and end your turn.

However, you must play quickly! Another player can steal your turn by playing a card that matches all three elements of the card currently on top of the draw pile. Alternatively, you can also steal a turn by playing a card that has absolutely no matches with the current card and also features a duck.

The first player to have no cards left in his hand wins the round. When starting a new round, players are dealt extra cards for each round they have won. The first player to win three rounds wins the game.

Photo provided by the publisher

Review

Nook is pretty adorable. The artwork is beautiful and the cards that feature the duck peeking out are cute. It’s quite a light card game; you’re making matches, but there’s also a little bit of a speed element as players want to play quickly so that other players don’t have a chance to steal their turns. So you are trying to think and process patterns quickly.

The speed element is done well. Some of the features are just similar enough, especially the background patterns, that you do legitimately make the occasional mistake, forcing players to draw extra cards. It’s also fun when you have a duck card in hand and are waiting expectantly for the right opportunity to play it and steal a turn.

It’s quite compact, coming in a small box, and the rules are fast to read and even faster to teach, making this a solid game to take when you travel or to play at a restaurant.

Nook isn’t revolutionary. It’s unlikely to become anyone’s favorite game of all time. But it’s fun, well-designed, has excellent components, and is cozy (befitting of its title!). It’s an enjoyable, small card game, and accomplishes what it sets out to do.

Pros: Excellent components and artwork, portable, nice blend of matching and speed

Cons: It is not likely to surprise anyone

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