SNAP Review – Sunny Day Sardines

“Sunny Days, sweeping the Clouds Away!”

Andrew, pay attention! Wrong title, wrong topic. Look. Sardines.

I’m sorry. We’re not here to talk about the Streets, we’re here to talk about the newest cannery around, the Sunny Day Sardines Cannery!

Game

This is a SNAP Review for Sunny Day Sardines, a new quick, casual game from 25th Century Games. Complete the most orders and become employee of the month!

Art

Let’s talk about the art in this game.

Sunny Day Sardines doesn’t have a whole lot of special, amazing art in it. It’s just fish.

There are two kinds of cards, order cards and fish cards. It’s immediately obvious what kind of card each one is, and the only thing that’s even a little confusing is the multi-colored orders, but even those are pretty easy to understand.

Fish aren’t exactly the most interesting thing to look at, so we’re not bowled over by incredible super realistic art or anything, but it fits the theme perfectly and it couldn’t be more clear.

Plus, the whole game comes in this adorable sardine tin. It ties together super well.

Mechanics

How do we play Sunny Day Sardines?

Honestly, the gameplay is just about as straightforward as the art. Everyone starts with two sardine cards in their hand, and on a player’s turn, they can either take two fish worth of sardine cards

– that’s two cards with one fish each, or one card with two fish on it –

Or, instead of taking fish, they can fill an order by discarding the required fishes and taking the order card. That’s it!

The only other rule is that you can’t have more than six cards in your hand at the end of your turn.

Keep going around until the last order card is flipped face-up (from the order deck). Then you finish the round, so everybody has the same number of turns, and tally up your points. It couldn’t be easier!

Expectations

What did we expect from this cute little game?

We had no idea what to expect. We were lucky enough to have a copy sent to us before almost anyone was talking about it, so we had no sense of the gameplay at all, we just knew it was small.

The rules don’t even take up both sides of these three cards, so we figured it’d be pretty easy and straightforward.

I wasn’t too excited about the theme, but it’s just a framework for set collection, so I’m fine with that. Set collection is fun.

Surprises

What surprised us about Sunny Day Sardines?

I wasn’t really surprised that the game was going to play fast (and it did). I didn’t think it was going to be a brain burner. But even light games like this can bog down at higher player counts – but this one didn’t at all. And that was great – even when we played it at its full four players.

There’s so little to do on any given turn – you’re either going to take two fish or fill an order – that you can’t be prone to analysis paralysis. Especially at higher player counts, where three players go between your turns, you can’t reliably plan out your turn, so you’re always reacting to the current condition instead.

While we can see that being frustrating for younger gamers, who are used to being able to plan, and then their plan gets ruined – the reality is, it makes the game flow faster.

Recommended?

Speaking of your youngest gamers, there is no reading in this game at all. There’s a small amount of numeracy – counting and recognizing numbers up to six – but that’s it.

The game doesn’t even have an age (recommendation) on it – I think it says “don’t let kids under 3 touch this” kind of thing, but that’s normal – and that’s perfectly fine! This game can go all the way down to any age level that can keep their attention on the table.

The tiny box [it’s a tin] and the really fast play make this a great game to travel with. You can pull it out and play it whenever!

I think you could even add a fifth player without changing the gameplay at all.

Sunny Day Sardines is BRAND NEW! It was just released this week and it’s under $15 on Amazon. We’ll include a link below.

So what should we rate Sunny Day Sardines from 25th Century Games?

It’s a simple, quick filler game that scratches a little bit of that set collection itch. It’s not deep, but that’s OK for that casual family setting, where you want a game that takes 15 minutes. We’re going to give Sunny Day Sardines 3½ fish out of 5.

And that’s Sunny Day Sardines IN A SNAP.

Get the game direct from 25th Century Games, on Amazon, or from your local game store.

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The Family Gamers received a copy of Sunny Day Sardines from 25th Century Games for this review.

This post contains affiliate links, which do not change your price, but help support The Family Gamers.

SNAP review music is Avalanche, provided courtesy of You Bred Raptors?