Board Game: Marble Quest

Can't all be winners

The Game: Marble Quest
The Publisher: Modernized Toys, Inc
Players: Me, Michelle, Gus, Amanda
Time: 15-20 minutes

So, see how that cover of the game is a hot mess? That's the whole game. But we'll get there. 

Game Play: OK, so we've got a game board with a track and colors corresponding to the four marble colors. The track boxes also mention a "level," which refers to one of the three levels of the tower:

Seen here being assembled by Gus

 

You can play the game in one of three "levels," which is bad terminology because the three heights of the tower are also referred to as "levels." Anyway, you can play it just as tic-tac-toe (BUT IN 3D), you can use the trivia cards, or you can...use the trivia cards slightly different. We played the "level 3" version because we wanted to do the trivia bit. 

So on your turn, you roll a die, move your piece, and if you land on a color matching yours, you add a marble to the tower or rotate one of the discs. If you land on another color, you answer a question corresponding to it and if you get it right, you add a marble/rotate a disc. The questions are all true/false or multiple choice, and they're pretty darned easy in general. 

You win the game by scoring a tic-tac-toe (three marbles in a row), but you have to have one marble on each level. 

So does that mean three in a row on the bottom level wins as long as you've got marbles on the upper two as well? The rules are unclear. 

Opinions: This game is a hot mess. The rules don't explain the game well, and are often unclear as to how to interact with the game pieces. For instance, the spaces on the board include notes like "rotate all levels", but those notes are never addressed in the rules, so when do they apply? Also, you may have noticed that playing rules-as-written, there's a whole category of questions that you'll never answer because you don't answer a question when you land on your own color. Sucks if you're playing blue and you like answering pop culture questions. 

We pulled this game out because last night we didn't have the brainpower to play something more involved, and about the best I can say is now it's off the list. 

Keep? Nah.