That Old Wallpaper Review – Peeling Back the Layers of Nostalgia

Disclaimer: That Old Wallpaper was provided for free by AEG (Alderac Entertainment Group), although the writing and opinions of this article are my own.

That Old Wallpaper creates the nostalgic feeling of redecorating your childhood home. When before you put on new wallpaper, you must peel back layer after layer of what was already there. Revealing decades of wall fashion faux pas.

Thankfully, the patterns within That Old Wallpaper aren’t close to the nightmarish depictions in Justin and Colin’s How Not To Decorate. But maybe that depends on how well you do.

You start the game with a hand of five cards, from a deck of cards numbered 1 to 10. Then each turn, patterned wallpaper cards are placed face up. Every player then chooses one of their numbered cards to play.

After everyone is ready, the cards are revealed and sorted from highest to lowest. With the highest placed under the wallpaper card closest to the deck, and the lowest under the card furthest away.

If your number is unique, then you get the matching wallpaper card. Place it in front of you and start your new wallpaper, or add it to your existing wallpaper. Try to match as many patterns as you can.

Otherwise, you must go to the Perfect Recall queue. Whoever’s at the front of this queue gets the wallpaper card, before heading to the back of the line. Meanwhile, the other players get nothing but a consolation Hazy Memory which converts to points at the end of the game.

After 18 turns, it’s time to score.

Each colour pattern has a big and small version, you count matches for these patterns but only score the version with the fewest matches. Some special cards such as mementos and red dot cards give you additional points as well. After the points are counted, the player with the most points wins.

Where are the mind games?

That Old Wallpaper uses the same core mechanic as Campy Creatures. Everyone has the same hand of cards and plays them simultaneously. Then the strength of those cards determines what happens next.

Given that I love Campy Creatures, it was surprising to find that same love missing from That Old Wallpaper. Now don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed That Old Wallpaper, but it left me feeling like it was a good game, not a great one.

And it all comes down to the uncertainty you feel while using this core mechanic.

See, in That Old Wallpaper you only ever get a vague feeling of what cards to play. This is because it’s so difficult to get a read other players are going to do. You have no idea what’s valuable to them, so you don’t know what numbers to play yourself.

As such, there’s no room for mind games. Or adjusting your card choice based on what others could potentially play. So instead can only play the cards in relation to where they are in the line.

But sometimes that feels as random as rolling a die.

Thankfully, there are the memento and red dot cards. These are significantly better than the rest of the wallpaper cards. So much so, that when these cards are in play, everyone is gunning for them.

This brings back the mind games in full force. Allowing you to wonder what the other players are going to play, and how to outsmart them. Which is always so much fun. However, these cards are the exception, and these great moments are few and far between.

Great for families and newcomers

Putting the main mechanic aside for a second. The scoring also feels unnecessarily complicated. While you match together patterns, each colour of the pattern has both a big and small version. But you only score the pattern you have the least of.

Meaning you have to count up all 8 patterns, before removing half of them. It’s just a lot of work for a family weight game that’s otherwise quick to play.

For all its flaws, That Old Wallpaper is still a fun game to play. The pattern matching is fabulous, and the use of gold foil highlighting important features of the card is an inspired choice.

Furthermore, when you build a hole for yourself, and then get a card that completes your pattern. There’s not much like it, it’s the same feeling of driving to work and getting green lights all the way. Absolutely delightful!

Overall, That Old Wallpaper is a fun light-hearted game that wades a bit too deep into the waters of randomness. Making it a great recommendation for newer board gamers looking to have some fun. But those wanting more thought around the choices they make in their games will want to give it a miss.