Preview: Get In, Get Loot, and Get Out in Burglar's Blitz

Is that TV valuable enough to occupy precious space in your loot bag? Or should you continue your search? Choose wisely, as you never know when the cops might arrive!

Currently on Kickstarter, Burglar’s Blitz is a quick 15-30 minute push-your-luck game designed for 2-6 players.

Gameplay

The main deck is shuffled, and then six cards are placed face-down beneath the safe card. The police card is set aside, and the round is now ready to begin.

On their turn, a player chooses one of three options: draw the top card of the deck and decide whether to take it for their loot bag or discard it; take the top card of the discard pile; or resolve the effect of an action card they collected on a previous turn.

Each player can only hold a limited number of cards in their loot bag. Once it's full, they immediately flee the scene and are out of the round.

Some cards in the deck are item cards, worth 1-20 points. Others are action cards, which have a range of abilities. The key allows a player to collect all six cards from under the safe at the end of the round if they haven’t been busted. The swipe card allows a player to steal a card from another player’s loot bag. If and when the burglar alarm card is drawn, the police card is shuffled into the remaining deck. If and when the police card is drawn from the deck, any players who haven’t yet fled are busted and lose all their cards — unless they have the getaway driver card.

Once everyone has fled or the police card has been drawn, the round ends. Players tally the points from the cards in their loot bag. The player with the safe key also adds the point values of the cards under the safe card. After four rounds, the game ends, and the player with the most points wins.

Review

Burglar’s Blitz is a light push-your-luck game featuring simple rules and fast turns. You can play through it quickly while still making fun choices.

Turns move quickly — you draw a card, you discard it. Scores are often close, so choosing when to ditch a card and hold out for something more valuable is important. Players also draw action cards that enable them to steal from each other, which can incentivize a player to fill their loot bag quickly and escape before losing their more valuable items.

The uncertainty of what is in the deck also adds to the game's suspense. Six cards are placed under the safe at the start of each game, meaning there could be very valuable items there, or just a collection of junk. It’s also possible that the burglar alarm is among them, preventing the police from ever being shuffled into the deck. Conversely, the police might end up being shuffled in on the very first turn.

We appreciated the variation that enhanced the flow of each round. Before the police were in the deck, we were often more discerning about which cards we chose to keep, but as soon as they were shuffled in, each card draw became significantly more suspenseful.

This is a light, fun game, and we quite enjoyed it. It’s a good fit when you’re looking for something short and sweet, and the push-your-luck element works well. The card design is a bit visually cluttered, but this was only a minor nitpick. Overall, we had a great time with this one. Check it out on Kickstarter.

Pros: Fast turns, safe mechanic adds an element of uncertainty, well-implemented push-your-luck

Cons: Slightly cluttered card design

Disclosure: This is a paid preview of an unpublished prototype of this game, which is subject to change prior to publication.