Want to be a Lock-Picker? You May Want to Pass…

Triplock

“Triplock”

Designed by Josh & Adam Carlson, published by Chip Theory Games

The Quick Summary: Welcome to the world of pick-locking where you will compete with another player or against the game! While flipping and moving tokens, you will need to remember where everything is so  you can sort them out in the right order to complete what is required by your cards. Doesn’t sound too hard, unless your opponent or the game decides to move everything around.

The Awesome:

  • Very high material quality, like everything from Chip Theory Games.

The Good:

  • Fast game (15-30 minutes).
  • Can be played solo.
  • There are many different characters that each bring a different skill or advantage.

The Bad:

  • Rulebook is very hard to understand. Had to read it twice and watch two videos to get the feel of how the game works. The rulebook would benefit from pictures or schematics to better understand the flow of the game.
  • Basically a memory-based puzzle, which is bad for me, but can be good for you.

The Ugly:

  • The pick-locking theme feels like it was just tacked on a game mechanic. You never feel like you are actually pick-locking a lock.

Keep it or leave it? For me it’s a big leave it. I received my Kickstarter copy, played with it, and put it on sale five days later. I recognize that for some people this will be an awesome game. The game mechanic and flow will attract many players, but for me it was a big failure.

Review by Sébastien