Straw (card game)

Straw

Designer(s)	Richard James
Publisher(s)	Alderac Entertainment Group, Evertide Games
Players	2 to 6 players
Age range	7 & up
Setup time	<5 minutes
Playing time	~30 minutes
Skill(s) required	Hand Management

Straw (a.k.a. "Straw: The Game that Broke the Camel's Back") is an Arabian-nights-themed card game designed by Richard James (of Evertide Games) and published by Alderac Entertainment Group in 2008, with artwork by Octographics.^[1] The game is packaged with a rule book in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, but the cards themselves use numbers and symbols instead of just text.^[2]

Players draw from a common draw deck and maintain a hand of 4 cards representing items of varying weight. At a rate of 1 card per turn, players place cards onto the camel until the camel's back breaks from carrying too much weight, restoring a new card to their hand from the deck afterward. The person who breaks the camel's back scores 0 and all other players score the weight in their hand.^[2] Hand management is the key mechanic in this multi-round survival-style game.^[3]

Releases

• Evertide Games Edition (2006)^[1]
• Alderac Entertainment Group Edition (2008)^[1]

Reception

• Featured in a Full Frontal Nerdity webcomic (2007)^[4]
• Major Fun Award (2006)^[5]
• Video Review:
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Fhm7vbBU4
• Text Reviews:
  • Game Paradise: http://www.gameparadisestore.com/wordpress/?p=742
  • Drake's Flames: http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2010/07/card-game-review-straw.html
  • Board Game Geek:
    • http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/644354/straw-great-filler-with-surprising-depth
    • http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/539766/family-review-straw-enjoy-breaking-the-camels-bac
    • http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/105571/straw-a-review-by-john-brader

External links

• Official Sites:
  • http://www.alderac.com/straw/
  • http://www.evertidegames.com/straw/
• Rulebooks (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish):
  • http://www.alderac.com/straw/files/2011/01/straw_rulebook.pdf
• Board Game Geek Listing:
  • http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22497/straw

References

1. Straw (2006), Board Game Geek, retrieved 2011-10-25
2. Straw (PDF), Alderac Entertainment Group, 2008-01-01, retrieved 2016-04-14
3. Straw: A lighter game by AEG, Game Paradise, 2011-06-29, retrieved 2016-04-14
4. Aaron Williams (2007-12-05), Full Frontal Nerdity by Aaron Williams, Full Frontal Nerdity, retrieved 2016-04-14
5. Straw, Major Fun, 2006-04-03, retrieved 2011-10-06