Sushi Go Party!

Perhaps you’ve heard of Sushi Go by Phil Walker-Harding, and are wondering how Sushi Go Party differs. Both are by Gamewright, both are card-drafting set collection games, and both are set in a sushi restaurant, where players are ‘grabbing’ dishes as they pass on a conveyor belt. Sushi Go Party, however, offers quite a bit more to chew on of the two – it’s definitely a step up with regards to variety in gameplay and strategy. It can also play up to eight players.

Each player starts with a hand of cards; simultaneously, they will all pick one card from that hand and reveal it face-up in front of them to keep. Then they’ll pass their hand to the player on their left. Now they pick a card from this new hand, reveal, and then pass that hand on once again, and so on until there are no more cards left. Once all cards have been played, then players add up their sets. The game lasts three rounds, with the combined score of each round being considered to determine an overall winner.

You’ll be aiming to collect sets of different sushi dishes, all of which are worth variable points. Some, like the Sashimi, are worth nothing on their own – but collect three of them and they’re worth 10 points. Others, like the Maki rolls, reward you for having the most of them come the end of the round, so while you’ll pick a card that’s great for you, you’ll also have to consider which cards you’re potentially gifting to your neighbour, or later on, their neighbour! There are also desserts, like the Green Tea Ice Cream, which are collected throughout, but only scored at the end-game.

In Sushi Go there are only eight different types of cards, but in Sushi Go Party there are 22 different cards, meaning you can pick a selection of which ones to play with (the rulebook suggests certain ‘menus’, or you can just decide your own variety). Often, this will result in an entirely different game each time, as players have to work out the value of dishes over others!

There is also a lovely score track to mark everyone’s progress, and it is, of course, a conveyor belt. We really applaud the theme of the sushi restaurant; it fits the mechanics of the game so well. It’s easy to compare Sushi Go Party to Antoine Bauza’s 7 Wonders (another card-drafting, set collection game themed around constructing ancient cities). However, of the two, we feel that Sushi Go Party is more likely to be a hit with a younger audience or a more casual crowd, with its bright, cheery colours and smiling, cartoony anthropomorphic food.

Player Count: 2-8
Time: 20 Minutes
Age: 8+