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Thus, if you're curious to learn more about this far-more-involved-than-normal roll-and-write dice game, you can now see it in action, learn all the rules, experience a complete solo game, watch me cheat, and hear me attempt to relate the gameplay in this design to Warsch's card game The Mind, which was itself nominated for the 2018 Spiel des Jahres. My short take on the relation? Both designs allow players to feel like something really special is happening during gameplay, even though that specialness could be chalked up to chance and coincidence. Are you doing surprising and wonderful things during the game, or is it just a trick? Could both explanations be true?
The gist of Ganz schön clever is that everyone takes on the role of active player once each round. As the active player, you roll all six dice, then draft one die and mark something on your player sheet, set aside any dice lower than this chosen die, then do this up to two more times, after which all of the passive players choose one of the dice that you didn't use during your turn. As you mark things on your sheet, you may get re-roll bonuses, extra die bonuses, and other bonuses that allow you to mark off additional things on your sheet. Bing-bing! Extra ball! Continued play! Do well, and you'll mark off far more than anyone else, then score and score again thanks to the fox bonuses that give you an incentive to do well in all categories.
One interesting thing to note about this game comes via this tweet from the designer:
By the way: Maybe it's not that obvious but Imhotept was my inspiration for Ganz Schön Clever.
— Wolfgang Warsch (@WolfgangWarsch) May 14, 2018
Hmm, that connection isn't clear to me following seven playings of Ganz schön clever on a review copy from Schmidt Spiele, but perhaps Warsch can expand upon that note at some point.
The gameplay is somewhat tricky in that you can easily miss what might be the best thing to do. I have several annotations in my video overview about better choices that I could have made during play! What's more, the interrelatedness of the design — with each colored area leading to scoring elsewhere — sparks ideas of what could come next in the roll-and-write game category. Perhaps you win dice that only you can use on future rolls or you open separate areas on your scoresheet that you can explore. Lots to think about in terms of game design possibilities, not to mention in terms of the game itself. If it wins the Kennerspiel, then maybe we'll see some of those ideas come into reality in an expansion or spin-off game. Heck, given the state of the current game market, we might see them anyway!
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