Five in a Row or Trap Two in Culls, an Abstract Strategy Game

This abstract strategy game gives you short turns but weighty choices, as each turn you simply place a piece. Can you corner your opponent?

Culls was originally released in 1999. This new edition from The Op is designed for 2 or 4 players and has a 10-minute game time.

Gameplay

The game mat is placed in the center of the table. Both players take the chips in their player color, place two chips each on empty spaces on the board, and the game begins.

Players take turns placing chips on empty spaces of the board. The first player to get five in a row wins the round. The first player to win three rounds wins the game.

If, when you place a piece on the board, you trap two of your opponent's pieces between two of your own, this is called a cull. You flip one of the two trapped pieces over to its cull side. On his turn, your opponent doesn't get to place a new piece. Instead, he must move his flipped piece to any new empty space on the board.

When playing with four players, you split into two teams, and team members will alternate who places a chip for their team.

Review

Culls has a nice, pleasant game flow. It’s a nice abstract game that you can dip into easily and keeps things simple yet still engaging.

You place a piece and now it’s the next player’s turn. There are no complex placement rules. Nor are there complex movement rules when a cull happens. The trapped player simply has to move his piece.

It’s fun to be placing pieces both with an eye to create five in a row, but also to create a cull. This means players have two different things to strategize about, and it adds to the choices players are making on their turns. It’s hard to account for every possible move an opponent might make, which gives the opportunity for some fun and clever plays.

Culls has been around for a while, from various publishers, but The Op’s edition is quite attractive. It has a nice cloth mat, solid wooden player chips, and it all comes in a convenient bag that makes this a good travel game.

The game is nicely put together and plays enjoyably. It didn’t feel particularly original or as if it was bringing something very new to the five-in-a-row abstract game category, but it still does what it does well, and this was a nice edition.

Pros: Easy to learn rules mixed with a good amount of strategy, great component quality

Cons: Covers a lot of familiar territory

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