What if I told you that Go-Fish could be fun? What if I added a memory element? Wait! Come Back! Hear me out. In Trio, designed by Kaya Miyano and published by Happy Camper (in Canada) takes the core conceit of Go-Fish, but manages to create some actually engaging and fun moments.
The set-up is simple. Deal everyone an equal number of cards, plus 8 or so, out to the centre of the table, face down. On your turn, you can ask any player to show their highest or lowest card, or, flip over a card from the centre. Then, you do it again. If the two revealed cards match, you get a third action. If no match, the cards go back to their owner’s hand. If all three revealed cards are a match, you claim them and keep them face up in front of you as a trio.
In the simple game, a trio of trios wins the game, or, claiming the trio of 7’s always spells victory. In the spicy variant, each trio has a spiritual partner, such as the 2’s and the 5’s. Claiming both of those trios is how you claim victory. Or, again, the trio of 7’s on its own wins the game.
That’s very much it. Trio plays from 3 to 6 players, and takes less than 5 minutes per round. The memory aspect scared me at first, as I am a dummy. But the memory aspect almost turned out to almost be a moot point. The information is sort of ever-changing and flowing. Because you can only ask someone’s highest or lowest card, as soon as that trio gets claimed, you can reset that information in your brain. You don’t need to remember where all 36 cards are, you only really need to remember 4 or 6 or 8, depending on the number of players.
I’m awful at counting cards, it’s the reason we lose so many games of The Crew. Once a hand or trick has been played, I void the information from my brain immediately. Trio was gentle with my head, which I very much appreciated. The 8 cards on the table are easy enough to track, and the excitement when someone else reveals the key information you need is exhilarating. Similarly, that moment of doubt when you reach for the centre cards, and suddenly doubt yourself which card was the right one. And when someone fails that test, you’re free to swoop in and claim the trio for yourself.
The golden 7 cards are wildly appealing. Getting dealt one or when someone is forced to reveal one, it’s enough to give your heart butterflies. And when you get the enough information to collect that trio, every second that passes until your next turn is tense. And the elation that comes when it’s finally your turn again, and you reveal all three 7’s, it’s utterly magical.
On one hand, I find super light or simple games difficult to review, because there’s not usually much to pull apart and discuss. On the other hand, these are the kinds of games that leave a positive impression because they’re just fast, fun, and accessible, so I want to highlight them here on my blog. Trio is the kind of game that you’ll bring to a family gathering, and by the end of the night, half the table will be looking to buy their own copy. Similar to SCOUT, there’s a ‘theme’, or rather, a motif, but it doesn’t really matter, not does it influence or inform any of the rules. It’s just window dressing on a really fun game.
If you had told me that one of the first games I recommend in 2025 would be a mixture of Go-Fish and Memory, I would have called you crazy. I can’t think of a single other game that has a memory component that I would even be willing to play again. Yet here stands Trio with a wholehearted recommendation from me because it really is just that much fun to play.
