SCOUT Review – The Best Game You’re Not Allowed to Organize

It hasn’t even been a year since I was bowled over by the small-box sensation The Crew: Mission Deep Sea. Yet here we are, at the beginning of another glowing review for the even smaller-boxed sensation: SCOUT.

How to play

You start with a hand of cards split vertically with the top half having one number, and the bottom another. From this point on, your cards are stuck! You can flip your entire hand upside down once, but after that, you can’t rearrange or reorient any cards for the rest of the round.

Then you take turns performing one of three actions:

• Put on a show by placing a series of cards from your hand into the middle of the table. These cards must be next to each other in your hand, and be stronger than what’s already on show.
• Scout a card from a show, by adding it to your hand, in any position and orientation. The player whose show you scouted from gains a one-point token.
• Or once per round, you can scout and show.

SCOUT is a game of one-up-manship, where you’re constantly trying to put on the best show. To determine this, first look at the number of cards in the show, more cards beat fewer. Then duplicate cards (i.e. triples) beat a run of cards (i.e. 3, 4, 5). Finally, high cards beat lower cards.

For each show you one-up, you get all of the cards from the previous show as points.

The round is over when the first player runs out of cards, or if any player puts on an unbeatable show. Add up all your points earned, then minus a point for each card remaining in your hand.

Play a round for each player, whoever has the most points at the end wins.

First impressions vs last impressions

SCOUT is a simple game, to the point that it left me wondering if I missed something after my first play. You’re just pulling combinations from your hand after all. Yet, as I continued to play and my table became more experienced with how to win, SCOUT went from: this is awful, to this is awfully clever.

Ultimately, your goal is to be the one who completes the round. Either by running out of cards, or by blowing everyone out of the water with an unstoppable show. However, these two ways of ending the round come with their own risks.

For example, trying to run out of cards, you want to put on a show every turn. Therefore, you’ll be spending more cards, reducing your hand size, and the likelihood you can beat someone who puts on a powerful performance.

Meanwhile, if you want to put on the grand show, then you want to be scouting cards into your hand building up to something impressive. Although, it might take you too long and someone else could end the round. Then you’re left with a massive hand of cards, which turn into negative points.

So there’s this brilliant tightrope walking at play, where you’re wondering which angle you want to take on the round. Though even when you think you’ve got a hang of this balance, you might be forced to put on a show to save from someone winning with a show.

Climbing the ladder

Outside of this overarching strategy, there is a significant amount of pattern recognition and forward-thinking going on. Because your hand doesn’t move around, you can create long-term options and complex sets of moves within it.

For example, you might have a run of cards in the middle of two pairs of six. As you play the run, and those cards leave your hand, the surrounding cards now make quadruple six. It’s like playing Candy Crush or Bubble Shooter the way you can combo into a combo.

There are few more satisfying feelings in board games when you successfully pull this off, and watch your opponents dumbfounded by playing powerful combinations, one turn after the next.

But with the way you play SCOUT, this happens more frequently than not.

The flip side of someone else pulling out a powerful show, is then your decision to beat it. When you weigh up playing your good show now, or later when it’s stronger. This is a tough choice to make, but also really fun as it can define how you do in the round.

Combine the delightful combing and the dreaded decision-making, with the short playtime, low cost, and limited amount of rules. Then on top of that, add in enough strategic choices and randomness to make every game feel fresh. Suddenly, you’ve got yourself one heck of a fun and addictive board game, and one I can’t wait to get back on the table.