Monday , March 18 2024
A slippery new innovation in stacking games.

Stacking Game Review: ‘Brynk’ from Winning Moves

Brynk from Winning Moves Games takes a new direction in stacking games, thanks to its geometric pieces and innovative Balancing Base. This unique triangular piece fitted with three plastic bearings sets Brynk apart: Instead of working from a firm foundation like a tabletop, players shift the center of gravity and, in fact, the entire structure with every added piece.

brynk stacking gameGameplay in Brynk is straightforward and reminiscent of other classic stacking games. Players set up the base and take turns, starting with the youngest player, adding pieces to the stack until it falls over.

Rather than each player having individual stashes of pieces, Brynk is played from a shared pool of all of the pieces on the table. This eliminates the possibility of chance where a player might get caught with an unwanted piece in his or her own pool, instead allowing players to choose their own strategy and favored pieces. There may be some luck involved if particular pieces become rare late in the game, but the odds are that Brynk will come crashing down long before then.

Careful players will notice the differences in weights and possible future moves in the three Brynk piece types. Molded in transparent plastic that gives something of a science fiction feel, the pieces match the slick white plastic used in the container and cap, which serve as the original structure. Players may add triangle, square, or pentagon shapes, the square being the heaviest, the pentagon the lightest.

Each corner of each piece serves as a potential connection, meaning there are multiple possibilities for placements. Players have to think not only of their own placement and how it will shift the center of gravity, but about how they are setting up the next player to move. A lighter pentagon might seem a safer play, but it will also give more flexibility to one’s opponent.

Brynk is played with an amended elimination pattern, much like other stacking or deconstruction games. As with typical stacking games, if any piece falls off on a player’s turn, that player is eliminated and the others play on. However, since Brynk is the slipperiest stacking game out there, there is the possibility of a single placement causing the entire structure to collapse. In this case, the last player wins outright for the cleverness of setting it up so delicately.

Brynk is a balancing game for two or more players aged seven and up. With each round lasting a few minutes at most, it is an excellent game for families, parties, and serious gamers who want to strategize around the geometry and potential effects of gravity of the ever-growing structure. Although players arguably could calculate ideal geometric positioning, a game of Brynk will more likely turn into delightful chaos. There are even special rules for cases when the balance base pops out but part of the structure somehow remains up, so the game goes on. No matter what happens, players will love the intensity of dexterously adding pieces, just waiting for the inevitable crash and burst of laughter.

https://youtu.be/NirBi-TL8AY

About Jeff Provine

Jeff Provine is a Composition professor, novelist, cartoonist, and traveler of three continents. His latest book is a collection of local ghost legends, Campus Ghosts of Norman, Oklahoma.

Check Also

Game Review: ‘Scattergories Stackagories’ from Winning Moves

Players race to think of things in a category beginning with a certain letter, but the last one wins the square.