Card Game Review: ‘Organ Attack!’ from University Games and The Awkward Yeti

Organ Attack! from University Games brings life to the many body-part characters presented by The Awkward Yeti webcomic. It all began with “Heart and Brain” comics from The Awkward Yeti showing the comical differences in a passionate, nearly unpredictable character and an overly logical one, each illustrated by the classic body part. Then came more, like nervous, goofy Tongue and sensitive Gall Bladder. The comics themselves are great, and Organ Attack! brings the characters into a new direction as a competitive card game packed with medical information.

Battling Body Parts

Organ Attack! begins by dealing an equal number of the 24 Organ cards to each player. Much like the comic, these cards cover many parts of the human body like the Stomach, Kidneys, Lungs, and even Thyroid. Players then receive a hand of five Attack cards, with the remaining Attacks in a draw pile in the middle of the play area. The player with the Wild organ card, indicated by the whole system that can be attacked by nearly any Affliction, serves as the starting player to make choosing easier. From that point on, Organ Attack! is a hailstorm of illnesses.

The object of Organ Attack! is to eliminate all opponents’ Organ cards by playing Affliction cards. The Afflictions are unique, each marked by particular medical issues like Heart Attack, Diabetes, and Asthma, as well as the comedic Love affliction. These Afflictions will affect different Organs, such as Conjunctivitis afflicting the Eyes. Some Afflictions can be played on a variety of Organs, like Vomit being played on Teeth, Tongue, Stomach, or Esophagus. To keep the game moving, there are also powerful Necrosis cards that immediately remove any Organ.

Just as there are many different Affliction cards, Organ Attack! offers an array of further card types to keep the gameplay unpredictable. Tactical cards can cause opponents to skip a turn as in Narcolepsy. Bureaucracy cards make for all kinds of chaos with players discarding their hands or searching through the discard pile to choose an Affliction. Poison cards are traps built into the draw causing an immediate discard of an Organ. There are also plenty of defensive cards with Resistance and Cures that can keep Organs healthy.

Smart Play

With so many different possible cards, Organ Attack! requires players to think on their feet with every draw. At its core, the main strategy is simple: eliminate the opponents’ Organs while defending when possible. Each player’s turn allows playing one card with only a few being instant or out of turn as defenses, meaning players will have to optimize each opportunity.

In addition to the strategic calculations players will need to win, Organ Attack! is surprisingly educational. Organ and Affliction cards in Organ Attack! are packed with medical, physiological, and anatomical information, such as the Heart Attack explaining it is a disruption of blood flow and the Thyroid regulating metabolic rate throughout the whole body. Players will pick up all kinds of knowledge as they battle it out.

Outlasting Opponents

Organ Attack! is a last-player-standing card game for two to four players aged eight and up. Games move quickly, lasting about twenty minutes depending on how quickly players make their moves. Thanks to the balanced math in the game mechanics, it may also be played by six players for a greater level of flat-lining as players knock each other out readily. With speedy, randomized play, gamers will return to Organ Attack! again and again.