[Review] Control Nut!

If you ever have the pleasure of being at the same convention as James
Miller, count yourself a fortunate person. James carries around a
crate of games and is very willing to play and teach them - being in
fact one of the best teachers of games I have ever had the pleasure of
meeting. So, when I heard that he had self-published his own card
game, I was very interested in giving it a try. Trick-taking card
games are a personal favorite of mine, and I was immediately impressed
by the quality of the game, Control Nut! (self-published, 2004 - James
Miller)

Unfortunately, I played Control Nut! in the same time frame as another
similar trick-taking game, Trump, Tricks, Game!. Although the games
have differences, they were close enough that I couldn't help compare
them, and I found Control Nut! the lesser. That doesn't detract from
Control Nut!, as it simply was a little more complicated and difficult
to explain to new players. It IS a good trick-taking game, with some
unique ideas and a bit of chaos thrown in with some "Control" cards. I
enjoy playing it but will only pull it out when I am in the company of
experienced card players, as that provides the best playing experience.

A deck of fifty-two cards is shuffled (four suits: acorns, walnuts,
buckeyes, peanuts - numbered from one to thirteen), and dealt to each
player - (four players, in two pairs of partners). A pile of eight
control cards is shuffled, and four are randomly chosen and shown to
all the players. These four control cards are shuffled and then
auctioned off to the players, one at a time. In an auction, a player
must bid with three cards from their hand - with the value of their bid
being the sum of the three cards. Players must all bid, starting with
the dealer, and must bid a different number from previous bids (but not
necessarily higher). The player who wins the bid takes the control
card, adding it to their hand. They then give the three cards that
they bid to the other players - one to each. This player then starts
the bidding for the next control card, until all four control cards
have been auctioned off.

The player who has won the most control cards (in case of tie - the
player who won the last control card) decides what suit is "trump", and
play begins. The dealer starts the first hand, playing any card from
their hand. Each player must play a card from their hand that is from
the same suit, unless they have none - in which case they can play any
card they like. The only exception to this rule is that a player can
play a control card at any time. The player who has played the highest
valued card of the trump trick wins the "trick" (cards played). If no
trump card was played, then the player who has played the highest
valued card of the suit that was led wins the trick. This player takes
all the cards, placing them face down in front of themselves and leads
off on the next trick.

Play continues until only one partnership can play cards (it's very
possible that people have uneven hand sizes). At this point, the round
is scored. Some cards have stars on them (two stars on the "1" card,
one star on the "3" card, and one star on the "7" card). Each player
multiplies the number of tricks they have won by the number of stars in
the cards they have won. This total is added to any special points
that control cards may add, and each team gets five points for each
control card they have won. Finally, players take any cards they had
left in their hands (if the other team ran out of cards first), divide
it by four, and add that to their total. Another round then begins.
Play continues until one team has exceeded 300 points, at which point
they are the winners!

The eight control cards have a variety of effects:
Trick Control: This card, when played, always wins the trick.
Bonus Control: When this card is won in auction, the person who wins
it must guess how many tricks they will win. If they are right, they
score 50 points.
Score Control: This card is worth twenty extra points to the team that
wins it.
Value Control: This card is played with another card, to increase its
value by "2".
Hand Control: This card allows the player to steal one card from each
opponent's hand randomly.
Order Control: This card allows a player to pass during each trick,
until they decide to start playing again.
Trump Control: This card cancels trump and allows the player to choose
another trump suit, starting next round.
Star Control: The player when winning it in the auction can add it to
their score pile immediately, (which adds 2 stars), or try to play it
in a trick - in which the winner gets it (adding 4 stars).

Some comments on the game...

1.) Components: The cards in Control Nut are of high quality. I'm
especially fond of the layout and artwork. Each card shows a squirrel
in the process of acquiring nuts. Each suit is not only in a different
color, but shows pictures of the specific nuts, as well as the name.
The artwork on the same number cards is the same, except the nut
changes. This is cleverly done to allow players to quickly
differentiate between suits, but adds a uniformity to the game. All
the cards fit well into a small box with a lid.

2.) Rules: The rules, which are two sides of a *** of paper, are
fairly thorough, but aren't written in the clearest of ways. I had to
email Mr. Miller to clear up a few points - everything just was piled
on the page. It wasn't impossible, mind you, just a little more
difficult than normal. When teaching the game, I found that fans of
trick-taking games, such as Hearts, picked up on the rules much more
easily than others. In fact, with some players, I had to avoid the
auction altogether and play through a couple of practice hands, just so
that they would understand what "Trump" meant, etc. Control Nut isn't
a difficult game to learn, per se, but it isn't too simple and is more
involved than others.

3.) Chaos: I've seen some complaints that the control cards add a bit
of chaos to the game. This cannot be denied; they certainly do change
the game to where a player can never really be sure what the other
players have. This is slightly mitigated by the fact that the player
does know SOME of the cards - the cards used to pay for the auctions.
Unlike other trick-taking games, in which a player has complete
knowledge and control at all times, Control Nut! has more of a random
feel.

4.) Control Cards: The different feel of Control Nut is most certainly
caused but the Control cards. Some of them I really like, others I
feel are either not worth as much or are too difficult to do. For
example, the Trick Control (which we call the "rook") is a great card,
and having it really can help you win a critical trick. The Bonus
Control, on the other hand, is too difficult to be worth much. I've
played many hands of Control Nut, and have NEVER seen anyone correctly
guess the number of tricks they are going to take. Still, the control
cards do add a new level to the game and keep it refreshing. One never
knows what combination of four control cards will show up in a game,
and it keeps things interesting and entertaining.

5.) Bidding: I must say that I really, really enjoy the bidding
mechanic in Control Nut! The control cards are powerful enough that
players can't merely let the other side take them all. Besides, the
player who takes the most control cards determines trump suit, which is
a huge advantage! However, all of this is mitigated by the fact that a
player must lose three of their cards (and probably good ones, to win
the auction) to the other players. They can give one to their partner
(and thus communicate with them slightly) but must give the other two
to the opposing team. So, while I may have two control cards in my
hand, I will have had to have lost six cards to get to that point,
evening out the playing field. Are some control cards worth more than
others? I certainly think so - the last one is often especially useful
(because in many games players tend to win one control card each).
Bidding isn't too tense - mostly because it happens quickly, but it
does add a new level to a trick-taking game. It does take away from
the elegance a little, but I still like it.

6.) Scoring: Taking cards with stars is critical. It's very important
that a player get at least two or three cards, and then a decent amount
of tricks, so that the multiplication works best in their favor. I'm
not sure how this turns out in the long run. The "1", "3", and "7" are
the only cards with stars on them, and thus become point cards. Is
this much different than simply giving them a point value? Is
multiplying by the number of tricks that much different? I don't see
how it plays too much differently, but it's not that big of a deal -
and it does make the game more interesting.

7.) Fun Factor: I really enjoy trick-taking games - the thrill of
winning point cards, having the highest trump card, surprising the
other team, working with your teammate - all of these things really
keep me interested and having fun. Throwing an auction and special,
powerful cards in the mix certainly keeps it high on my list to play.
I like powerful cards, I like chaos, and I like Control Nut! Yet many
times I would prefer to play another trick-taking game, mostly for the
sheer simplicity - something I cannot say about Control Nut.

This game is an amazing first effort from James, not only are the rules
well designed and playtested, the components are also very nicely done
- it looks very professional. The game itself is fun, interesting, and
offers an array of choices. My only caveat is that it might prove to
be a little too much for those who simply like to play a solid,
no-frills trick-taking game. I enjoy it a lot and want to play it
often. But most of my other trick-taking games are easier to find
opponents for, and so Control Nut! often sits on the shelf. It's not a
bad game, (quite good, actually!) but won't fit everyone's tastes.

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.tomvasel.com

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