Crash Octopus Review – Flicking, Stacking, and Getting Inked

There’s no getting around it, it sucks having to set up board games. But Crash Octopus shows us it doesn’t have to. Instead this delightful dexterity game lets you start having fun from the second you open the box.

After handing ships and flags to players, you create the octopus clock by placing its head in the centre and surrounding it with its tentacles. Then you cup the rest of the treasure pieces in your hands before dropping them on the octopus’s head.

CRASH!

This randomly spreads the loot around the ocean.

From now on, players take turns using their flags to flick items so that they touch their ship. If successful, they get to stack these items aboard their wooden vessel. When one player gets one of each of the five types onto their ships, they win the game.

However, to make things challenging, you aren’t allowed to flick the closest item of each type.

More importantly, every time someone collects an item the octopus timer moves up one space, eventually causing an octopus attack! During these attacks, everyone gets one chance to drop the ink die onto the head of the octopus.

The ideal scenario here would be to hit another player’s ship and cause them to lose all of their collected items. The more likely scenario is that you miss their ship but get to move the octopus to wherever the die lands. Thereby blocking players from getting easy shots at their ship, or making it easier for someone else to attack their ship.

One last thing, if you ever find yourself in a tight spot, you can use your turn to move your ship by flicking your anchor. This is a great way to reposition after an octopus attack.

Land ho!

With its bold and bright colours and the hilarious theme, Crash Octopus doesn’t rely on you demonstrating mastery of mechanics for enjoyment. Instead, it creates fun by utilising the chaos of being played in a 3D space.

The five different types of loot are all different shapes and sizes. Meaning flicking a wooden chest, and flicking a goblet create two distinct patterns of movement. Then, because you’re constantly changing what you’re flicking, it’s hard to get a good grasp on this flicking mechanic throughout the game.

This doesn’t stop you from using conjecture and bravado though. Crash Octopus always gives you an idea of what could happen but has enough randomness to stop it from being a sure thing.

As such, it’s a game that you need to be able to laugh at yourself. Because it can all go wrong in an instant. For example, once you capture a piece of loot, you then stack it precociously on top of your boat along with everything else you’ve collected. This makes your ship extra vulnerable to octopus attacks and your overpowered shots.

My first couple of plays were filled with these overpowered shots, where I kept knocking loot off of my ship. However, underpowered shots are also a problem to avoid.

Since Crash Octopus doesn’t allow you to hit the closest piece of loot of each type. Shooting a piece close to you and missing, means you can’t target the same piece next turn. But that doesn’t stop it from sitting there taunting you for the rest of the game.

Prepare for trouble (and laughter)

Thankfully, knocking goods off your ship is only something you can do. If other people knock items off your ship, you’re free to put them back on. I love this rule as it stops the game from becoming too mean.

However, that all changes when the octopus attacks. During this time your only goal is to put your opponents behind and get the octopus as far away from you as possible.

However, there’s something funny about the impreciseness of these attacks. While you have control over where you drop the dice, it still feels utterly random as to whether it bounces in the direction you want.

So even when players clearly outline their intentions to attack, there’s no certainty to it. Creating moments of cheering when they pull off the miracle raid, moments of dread when the octopus head moves closer to your ship, or moments of laughter when they more than likely whiff completely.

While some dexterity games like Men at Work excel because of how they create suspenseful atmospheres. Where each passing turn increases the stress until it all falls apart in a bang. Crash Octopus has very little suspense and creates an atmosphere of silly-natured fun. Resulting in a game that you play when you want to laugh instead of think.

Overall, Crash Octopus is simple, fun, and has a wonderfully playful set-up and gameplay. But more than that, it filled my table with laughter, and that’s a sign of a great board game.