Build the Best Theme Park in Good Games Publishing FunFair – Review

What Does it Take to Build the Best Theme Park in Town? An Exciting Mix of Attractions? The Best Staff? Or Building Super Attractions? Let’s Find out in this review of FunFair!

SETUP

Step 1: Decide which side of the board to use and place it on the table. Both sides play the same game, but one side is best for players sitting opposite each other, while the other side suits players sitting beside each other.

Step 2: Put the Current Step marker on the board at the City step to mark the start of the round.

Step 3: Give each player:

• • A yellow Gate card placed face-up in front of you. This stays on the table to start your theme park.
  • A purple Showcase card dealt out at random and placed face-down above your Gate card. You may look at this card at any time, but keep it secret from other players.
  • A Reference card. You may look at this at any time.
  • 30 coins.

Step 4: Place half of the remaining coins at each end of the board, to give all players easy access.

Step 5: Shuffle the red Park cards. Place them face-down on the board in the matching spot to form the Park deck.

Step 6: Shuffle the blue Blueprint cards. Place them face-down on the board in the matching spot to form the Blueprint deck.

Step 7: Shuffle the light blue City cards. Count out two cards face-down, then place the Blueprint Closure card on top with the “Closing Soon” side face-up. Count out four more City cards facedown on top of that. Place this seven-card pile in the matching spot on the board to form the City deck. Put the remaining City cards back in the game box without looking at them

Step 8: Deal five Park cards to each player as their starting hand. If a player receives no attraction cards (that is, cards marked with the word “Attraction” below the card name), they may reveal their cards and discard them to draw a new hand of five Park cards, repeating until they have at least one attraction card. Shuffle all the discarded cards into the Park deck when everyone is done.

Step 9: Reveal cards from the Park deck to fill the six spots on the board, forming the Market.

Step 10: Shuffle the green Award cards and place them facedown on the board in the matching spot to form the Awards deck. Reveal the top card as the Award for this game.

Step 11: Give the Starting Player marker to the person who most recently rode a roller coaster

HOW TO PLAY

You have six rounds to build the best theme park. Each round has four steps:

City step

The current starting player reveals the top card from the City deck, and each player follows its instructions completely, one at a time, in turn order.

The City card remains active for the whole round. It is not officially discarded until the end of the round, but for convenience, you can place it face-up on top of the discard pile immediately.

The City deck is the timer for the six rounds of the game. When the final City card is played, the current round is the final one.

Park step

Beginning with the current starting player, you take at least three actions each round, one action at a time, in turn with the other players.

All of the Park actions together form the Park step. Each action is not a separate Park step by itself.

In turn order, each player takes their turn for Park action 1, then each player completes Park action 2, then Park action 3. Once a player has built their Showcase super attraction, they can also take a Park action 4 each round.

When it’s your turn for an action, you have four choices:

• Build
• Take
• Loose Change
• Demolish

You may choose the same action more than once in a round.

Guests step

All players work out their income at the same time.

Gold stars in your park show how many people want to visit your park. People become guests once they have paid at the gate and been let inside to visit your park. They may also spend extra on things like souvenirs and snacks.

To determine your income:

1. 1. Count your stars – To work out your star total, add up the numbers shown in the gold stars on all cards in your park. This includes attractions, upgrades, and staff members — and don’t forget your gate! Gain 1 coin for each star in your star total.
   2. Check your tickets – Some of your staff members may have a ticket symbol, a reminder that they earn extra income in the Guests step. Gain coins according to the abilities of your staff members.
   3. Entertain investors – Each round that your Showcase super attraction is not yet built, you can show off your exciting plans to investors.

Gain 5 coins to place on your Showcase card.

The total grows each round. You can use these coins to reduce the amount you need to pay from your own money when you build your super attraction. After four rounds of investment, you could even build the super attraction for free!

Cleanup step

Do these things, in this order:

•  Discard all the cards in the Market and refill it.
• Discard cards from your hand so you are within the hand limit of 5 cards. Blueprint and Showcase cards are not part of your hand — they’re kept face-down on the table.
• Move the Starting Player marker left, to the next player.

If there are any cards remaining in the City deck, the next round is ready to begin. If the City deck is empty, the game is over and it’s time to score.

Use the Current Step marker by sliding it along the step tracker on the board as the round progresses.

SCORING AT GAME END

Total the scores for each player on the scorepad provided

• Attraction size  – Score each attraction separately for the total number of icons included in its ribbon, counting all upgrades, including built-in upgrades, and the main attraction icon itself. Count every icon on its ribbon, then look up the corresponding score for that size. Staff members and the gate score nothing for size – only attractions and their upgrades are counted
• Blueprints – Reveal your blueprints and show that you have completed them. If your park matches the required “Complete All Items” top section, score the points shown. If you fail to match the requirements, subtract 10 points instead. If your park matches the required section, you can then also match and score the “Bonus Target” bottom section. There is no penalty for an incomplete bonus section
• Coins – Score 1 point for every 2 coins you’ve earned.
• Staff Members – Staff members all have their points value marked on them. If you have any Theme Performer staff, calculate their score according to their ability, scoring for each matching theme icon you have in your park
• Award –  If your park matches the Award requirement, score the Award points. If more than one player matches the Award, each of those players scores the full points.

First Thoughts

When I received the message that I had the opportunity to review, FunFair, I must admit… I danced a little. I thought of all the fun I had with Unfair & couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it.

I actually didn’t release this originally, but I thought FunFair was a sequel to Unfair & not, what looks to be a family-friendly version of it. So I was worried, as could this be the Funnest Fair we’ve ever been to or completely UnFun? We are about to find out!

Gameplay

My BFF (New Neighbours) went back to work on Monday, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t fit in one more epic game night before reality reared its ugly head.

They had brought Unfair on Kickstarter, so they were super shocked & excited to see a new version of a game they already loved. After a quick read through the rules we begin, we noticed like Unfair, the rules for FunFare are very well explained & seem quite simple. You buy rides, hire staff, upgrade the park & make money. Simple right?

But no, it is anything but simple.

It a balancing act, that is both nerve-racking & exhilarating. It is six rounds of spending all your money to better your funfair & hope that the money you spends, brings in more visitors…. to make more money to spend & this vicious circle continues. Yet, watching your FunFair grow & take shape is exciting; especially when the comboing starts happening. It really is exhilarating when all your planning starts taking shape.

I know I’ve brought up Unfair a lot during this review, & I’m not one that will normally compare games. But with these 2 games, it will be hard for people to not compare as the art, the publisher & the theme are so similar. But where FunFair differs from Unfair is the use of event cards. The event cards in Unfair seem to allow you to really screw over other parks or give you an unfair advantage. I know I’m a bit of a boy scout, but I prefer FunFair over Unfair for that reason, not to mention, the more structured rounds & the faster & more family-friendly gameplay.

PS- I actually do love Unfair as well, especially with a certain group of friends. As we are all hardcore gamers that like messing with one another. So by no means am I saying Unfair isn’t an amazing game, because it is. Just that I love that they throw out some of the more hardcore elements of it to make something special in FunFair

Art

Mr.Cuddington’s Lina Cossette & David Forest did the art for this game & I can see why Good Games Publishing hired them for both this & Unfair. This has to be one of my favorite looking games ever. The vibrate colors & life they are able to bring into every single face & building is amazing. I actually felt bad at times putting the cards on top of one another & hiding the art.

FunFairs are meant to instill joy, happiness & fun. It is meant to make us feel like kids again & the art makes you feel all those things & more. It takes a special hand to allow those feelings to flow from a playing card & Mr.Cuddington did that in spades. It is hard to not look at these cards & just feel happy or youthful again!

Final Thoughts

I was worried that this would be a stripped-down version of Unfair & technically it is. Yet, it is stripped down in all the right ways. They have taken a great game for hardcore gamers & turned it into something that will be a family favorit…. Actually no, I think it will be a favorite for all.

The ever-changing challenging gameplay, the excitement of watching your FunFair change, grow & evolve. The amazing art that leaps of the table & being taken back to the joy & love of Funfairs. I personally loved this game & know Good Games Publishing had a massive hit with Unfair, yet I think they have a bigger hit on their hands with FunFair! FunFair is a DezDoes must-have for everyone’s collection.

FunFair was released in Australia on the 17th of November 2020 & will be available globally on the 27th of January 2021