Welcome to my review of Simplicity! I gathered up my most competitive friends (and that one guy who always forgets the rules) to see if this little game holds up to the hype. Did we get hooked or just end up flipping the table? Spoiler: nobody broke any furniture, but there were plenty of laughs, a few groans, and some surprise comebacks. Let’s see if this easy-to-learn game is worth a spot on your shelf—or the bottom of your closet.
How It Plays
Setting up
First, chuck the board in the middle of the table and give everyone their colourful pieces. Shuffle the deck of building cards. Deal four cards to each player. Place the rest as a draw pile. That’s it! If my gran can set it up, you can too.
Gameplay
On your turn, play a card from your hand to build in the matching spot on the board. If someone else wanted that spot, too bad! They’ll have to try again. After building, draw a new card so you always have four. The board fills up fast, so you need to stay sharp and maybe, just maybe, sabotage your mate’s plans (it’s encouraged, trust me).
Winning the game
The game ends when there are no more building spots left. Everyone counts up the points shown on their buildings. Highest score wins, and gets to call themselves the mayor of Simplicity. I like to give the winner a tiny crown, but that bit’s optional.
Want to know more? Read our extensive strategy guide for Simplicity.
How Simple Is Simplicity? Rules and Setup in a Snap
Let me tell you something right out of the gate: the name ‘Simplicity’ is no joke. This game has some of the easiest rules I’ve seen since my grandma taught me Go Fish at the family BBQ. Seriously, unboxing Simplicity feels like opening up a bag of chips—fast, easy, and oddly satisfying. The rulebook is about as thin as my patience for Monopoly, and you can read it in less time than it takes to boil an egg. No, not a hard-boiled one—like a soft, wobbly three-minute egg.
Setup takes about as long as it does for my friend Joe to find the bathroom at my place. (He always forgets which door it is, even though he’s been here ten times.) You lay out the board, hand out player pieces and cards, and that’s about it. There’s no mountain of tokens, no cardboard chits that try to escape under the table, and no shuffling through a foot-high deck of cards. Everything has its place, and it’s obvious where things go. Even the one person in our group who gets confused by IKEA furniture built it up without sweating. That’s a win.
I do want to say, even though the game is simple, it doesn’t feel dumbed-down. You don’t spend ages arguing about some weird rule that’s buried on page twelve. Simplicity keeps you playing, not sighing. Any group, even first-timers, can get up and running fast.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: with rules this easy, is there much player interaction and strategy? Well, buckle up, because we’re about to get all social and schemey in the next section!
Getting Sneaky: Player Interaction & Crafty Strategies in Simplicity
Let me just say: If you bring Simplicity to your game night, don’t trust your friends. Seriously. This game looks innocent. It even sounds innocent. But there’s a lot of cutthroat action hiding under that sweet name! When I sat down with my crew to play, things started nicely—lots of polite smiles, some small talk about work, you know, pretending we’re grownups. Five minutes in, I realized Simplicity brings out everyone’s inner trickster.
The way players interact is sneaky but fun. You pick paths and build up your little town, but the table gets tense as soon as two people aim for the same resources. There’s a delicious amount of blocking—someone (naming no names, but I mean Dave) will swoop in and take what you need, just to mess with you. I won’t say I didn’t do the same back. You can’t win Simplicity by playing nice! There’s a bit of bluffing too. Try acting like you don’t care about a certain color and then snap it up last second. Classic Jamie move, by the way.
Strategically, you need to pay attention to what others want and sometimes throw a wrench in their plans. It’s not chess, but there’s more thinking than you’d expect for a game with such cheerful art. You need to balance your own growth with keeping your rivals in check—it’s that sweet spot where everyone laughs and grumbles at the same time.
If you’re wondering how long these sneaky showdowns last—and whether you’ll want a rematch—get ready, because next I’m talking about Game length and replay value. You won’t want to miss it!
How Long is a Game of Simplicity and Will You Want to Play Again?
If you’re like me, you love a board game that doesn’t take as long as assembling IKEA furniture. Simplicity nails it with a game length that lands right in the goldilocks zone—short enough to squeeze in after work, long enough to settle bragging rights. In our group, the average game took about 25 minutes. That’s the time it takes to eat a sandwich (if you’re hungry and not distracted by watching cats on YouTube).
But do you play once and toss it back in the box? Nope. Simplicity’s got replay value coming out of its ears. We found ourselves lining up for rematches and arguing over who gets to go first. Even my friend Dave, who still thinks Connect Four is peak strategy, was begging for another round. Part of the replay magic is the ever-changing landscape on the board. Every game plays out a bit differently because of the shifting layout. The decisions stay fresh, and so do the rivalries—trust me, my neighbor still isn’t talking to me after I snagged that final tile.
Simplicity isn’t a game you’ll master right away, but it won’t make you feel like you’ve seen all it has to offer after just two plays. I’ve played it with different groups, and each had its own flavor of chaos. Bonus: Your group won’t get bored fast and suggest “just watching Netflix instead.”
Of course, even the best replay value can be spoiled by bad luck—so let’s get into how Simplicity handles the eternal fight between luck and skill. Will it be tears of joy, or tears of dice rolls?
Luck and Skill: Who’s Really Winning at Simplicity?
Alright, let me spill the beans: when I first cracked open Simplicity, I figured it would be all about smart moves and genius-level plotting. Turns out, this game likes to keep you on your toes with a spicy mix of skill and just enough luck to mess with your best-laid plans. If you’re the type who plans ten moves in advance (guilty as charged), you might groan when your perfect combo gets wrecked by a sneaky draw or surprise twist.
But, here’s the good news: skill still matters a lot. You’ve got to watch what the other players are doing, read the table, and sometimes even pretend you have no clue. Bluffing works, and so does careful timing. The most competitive member of my group (who once flipped a table over Monopoly) managed a win after two losses, proving you can bounce back if you learn from your mistakes.
Still, every now and then someone who claims they have “no strategy” ends up ahead, and the rest of us just stare at our cards in disbelief. Simplicity keeps things fair, but it won’t let you steamroll everyone with just math or tactics. If you hate games where luck ever tips the scales, you might grumble a little.
Do I recommend Simplicity? Yes, if you’re okay mixing brains with a bit of chaos. Just keep your lucky socks handy, just in case!
Conclusion
Simplicity gives you fast, easy fun with friends or family. We laughed, made sneaky moves, and sometimes yelled (lovingly) at each other. The rules won’t melt your brain, and setup is a breeze. Luck does peek in sometimes, so if you hate losing to random chance, you might grumble. But if you want a game that’s quick, replayable, and keeps everyone involved, Simplicity nails it. This wraps up my review—now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some grudges to settle over one last round!
