Ghost Blitz
I originally ran into this game at Ye Olde Origins Game Faire (where it was Ghost Blitz) but it sold out before I could grab a copy so I hopped on to Ye Olde Amazon and picked it up for the Games Library. When I opened my Ghost Blitz package I found this: Geistes Blitz. Someone at Amazon must have been dual lingual German/English and thought, “Same thing, here ya go!” It does have a set of English directions and since I too can read German, I just added it to the Games Library and thought nothing more on the situation.
Ghost Blitz Game
In Ghost Blitz, five wooden items sit on the table waiting to be caught: a white ghost, a green bottle, a cute grey mouse, a blue book, and a comfortable red chair. Each card in the deck shows pictures of two objects, with one or both objects coloured the wrong way. „Ghost Blitz“ is a game for all ages and for all occasions! Can be played alone or with friends, on the road or on a party – now “Ghost Blitz” is always there when you need it! The game rules are very simple and are great for kids as well! “Ghost Blitz” is a reaction game.
Pro-tip: Not everyone speaks German so when the people packing up the Library are stuck looking for Ghost Blitz (because I hadn’t changed the Games Library roster to read Geistes Blitz) and can’t find it, they *will* get cranky.
So. The Game with the Ghost (which is the same game whether yours says “Ghost Blitz” or “Geistes Blitz”). It’s a fairly simple game for 2 to 8 players that involves 5 different colored objects and a stack of cards depicting 2 of those objects. Apparently your Ghost/Gheist (the singular form – Geistes being the possessive construct letting you know that the game is the Blitz belonging to the Ghost…versus the Blitz belonging to the Chair or the Blitz belonging to the Bottle- I suppose) took a bunch of pictures and screwed up the color palate. Most of the cards will have 2 objects that aren’t the same color as the actual objects out on the table and the players must figure out which of the 5 objects isn’t pictured in shape or color and grab it. The person with the object gets the card and the person with the most cards at the end is the winner.
However!
Occasionally there are cards that have an object that is the right color and in that case, you would grab the object that is depicted as it actually is. This is harder than it looks and gives the game a little added depth. Also, it hurts my brain a lot.
Things I liked:
- This is a super fun and simple game with that added twist of the cards that have the actual object on it just to throw you off.
- It’s a quick game and doesn’t take a lot of explanation so the younger crowd can easily get into it.
- It plays a lot of people 8, which is nice because often times there are 5 people wanting to play a 4 player game.
Things I didn’t like:
- Those cards with the actual object…it’s not that I dislike them but it is surprisingly hard to flip your brain from NOT the thing to IS the thing.
- Every game I have played so far has ended up pretty lopsided because in every game there has been that one person who is really good at quick matching. The fun can peter out really fast if you are looking at your 4 cards versus that one person’s 30.
- While this is a fun game, it’s also kind of a one trick pony game. Good for a bit of fun but not a lot of staying power.
This is the story of a ghost named Balduin who loves taking pictures of the items he haunts, but who cannot get the colors right.
Ghost Blitzis a speed grabbing game. There are five objects that rest in the middle of the play area: a red chair, a blue book, a green bottle, a grey mouse, and a white ghost (Balduin himself). A deck of 60 cards tells you what object to grab. Each card contains a picture of two of the items.
Complication #1: at least one item in the picture is the wrong color. Players try to grab the item that is the correct color. First to grab the right item gets the card. Grabbing the wrong item incurs a penalty (more on that in a minute).
Complication #2: some cards (many cards actually) don’t have anything that is correct. When this occurs, players must grab the one item that is NOT pictured and whose color is not on the card. The first player to grab the correct item gets the card. A wrong choice incurs a penalty.
The penalty for a wrong choice is to give one of your cards to the winning player. If you don’t have any cards it means you are losing and you have to shamefully mutter, “I don’t have any cards to give you…”
Ghost Blitz
The game comes with an optional complication called Ghost Shout. In this case, any time the book appears on the card, players have to shout the name of the correct item. Grabbing when you should shout is considered a failure and incurs a penalty.
Perusing the rules takes all of 2 minutes and then you are too busy shouting and grabbing and laughing to notice the time slipping away. The pieces are solid and colorful and cute (although sometimes hard on your fingers). Major Fun.
For 2-8 players, ages 8+
Ghost Blitz 5 To 12
Ghost Blitz was designed by Jacques Zeimet and © 2010 by Zoch. It is available in the U.S. from Lionrampantimports.