Set Homemade Traps to Stop the Bandits in Home Alone Game

Will you use your wiles to set traps around the house to protect your family’s belongings? Or take on the role of the thieves, breaking in and looking for valuable loot?

Based on the 1990 film, Home Alone Game is an asymmetrical card game for two to four players that is all about trying to read your opponent — and homemade traps, of course.

Gameplay

In Home Alone Game, one player takes on the role of Kevin who is laying down homemade traps to protect his house, while the other players are the thieves trying to break into Kevin's home to steal $2,000 worth of loot cards. Players are recommended to play a two player game first, before trying it with three or four. The following explanation is for a two player game.

Kevin has a deck of cards, as well as a deck of loot cards. The thief has his own deck of cards. The house is represented by three tiles: the front door tile, the downstairs window tile, and the upstairs window tile. Each round takes place over five phases.

During the first phase, each player draws up to six cards (decks are never reshuffled). Next is the loot phase. Kevin draws three loot cards and shows them to the thief. Different loot cards are worth different amounts of money. Kevin then secretly places one card facedown above each house tile.

Next, Kevin may play up to three cards facedown into each of the locations. He can choose to play a different number of cards at different locations, and may choose to skip a location entirely if he so chooses. Nor is he required to play all the cards from his hand. Some cards are traps, while others are decoys, played to bluff the thief.

It is now the bandit phase. The thief chooses one of the three locations to break in. Each location has a cost to break in, which involves discarding one or more cards from his hand and/or the top of his deck.

Next, one at a time, the cards at that location are revealed. Decoys are ignored, but if it is a trap the thief must play one or more cards that match the icons shown on the card (or alternatively pay a penalty by discarding additional cards). The thief can choose to retreat from a tile if they feel it is too difficult and may then choose to pay the cost to break into another tile. The thief also has special action cards in his deck that gives him special one-time abilities.

If the thief completes all of Kevin's cards at a tile, he collects the loot card at the end. Any cards still on the table at the end of the round are discarded and the next round begins. If the thief hits his target of $2,000 worth of loot, he wins the game; if the loot deck runs out or the thief run out of cards, Kevin wins.

A three to four player game is similar, only the thieves must collect slightly more money and each thief player draws fewer cards. The thieves may show each other their hands and thief players break into the house one at a time. If a thief manages to disarm a trap before retreating from his tile, another thief player can break into that same tile and continue where the other thief left off, without needing to pay the break in cost for the same tile.

Review

Home Alone Game is a nice head-to-head experience, particularly when playing with two players. There are some interesting bluffing and risk/reward mechanics, and both roles are enjoyable with different challenges.

There is a stress not only on bluffing and trying to guess how your opponent thinks, but also in hand management, since the thieves lose if they go through their deck too quickly. It's also important for Kevin not to run out of trap cards.

Playing with two players is best, as the gameplay feels a lot more "cat and mouse" while trying to outwit the other person. The game is also fast enough that both players can try both roles, which is the most enjoyable experience.

The game has a very unique aesthetic, featuring Christmas sweater inspired artwork, which fits nicely with the theme. The game will definitely be more charming for fans of the film — for those who don’t like or know Home Alone, you will get less out of the game itself, but there is still something to enjoy in the quick gameplay, and the satisfaction when you pull off a clever bluff (or see through one).

Pros: Unique aesthetic, solid two player experience, good length

Cons: You miss some of the fun if you are not a fan of the movie

Disclosure: we received a complimentary review copy of this game.