Alright, this game is better than it has any right to be. At the very least, consider me charmed.
Bag of Chips, designed by Mathieu Aubert and Théo Rivière and published by Blue Orange Games, looks like a literal bag of chips, a plastic/foil pouch with a resealable top. Inside are a variety of plastic chips of different colours, representing flavours. The gameplay deals each player 6 cards, each with a unique scoring condition and a number of points based on how likely or unlikely the goal on the card is going to be satisfied.
Image credit: Kelly Bailey @KABIA66 via BGG
In the first round, 5 chips are pulled from the back and placed on a card. Then, all players must discard 2 goal cards. Then 4 more chips are pulled out and players must discard another goal card. In the penultimate round 3 chips are pulled, then players are told to make a choice. One of their goal cards will count for negative points, while the other two will be positive, should their conditions be met. Then the final 2 chips are drawn, scores are calculated, and whoever has the most and second most points gets a golden chip. First to 4 golden chips is the winner.
Bag of Chip feels like a luck fest. You’re at the mercy and whim of the cards you’re dealt and the chips that come up. Nothing you do will affect which chips are drawn, nor can you affect the others at the table. The only thing you can do is hope that your score is higher than theirs. Ultimately, the only choices you’re making are which goal cards to discard from your hand. I got the similar vibes to Poker. The only choice you’re making is how much to wager and hoping the odds are in your favour. Yes, there’s bluffing, and reading your opponents, but mechanically. Now there are no wagers in Bag of Chips, but you can bluff. Tell your friends that your cards are trash, so they take the lower scoring but safer goals, only for you to achieve your shoot-the-moon goal and win it all.
Image credit: Kelly Bailey @KABIA66 via BGG
Perhaps I’m putting a lot more stock into Bag of Chips that it deserves. I like Push-your-luck games, and Bag of Chips makes my risk senses tingle. The euphoria when I need that last purple chip to come out on the final pull, and then when it did, it made my heart sing! The goal cards are all unique, and you’ll win or lose your game solely on if you were dealt and then chose to keep the right cards. For some, the lack of agency is frustrating. But for myself, I found it relaxing. I enjoyed playing the odds and being delighted when my gambles paid off
Bag of Chips is a small game that could be argued is more of a distraction than a full meal. It’s best enjoyed with cold beverages and salty snacks, perhaps while waiting for the main course to start. I have a hard time imagining Bag of Chips being anyone’s favourite game, or even top game of the year, but it’s one that easily fits in a bag and takes nearly no table space, making it the perfect pub/restaurant game.
