Polygon Will Put a Hex on You (Get it?)
When a game bills itself as “The First of its Kind Strategy Game”, it is a pretty bold statement. I mean board games have been around for a couple thousand years at least, so it is hard to imagine a game that hasn’t been tried in some form at least once. But ever the optimist (and pessimist), I’ll put the opinions aside and check out another new game from Jax Ltd. called “Polygon”.
We really have a preference for games that use unique boards and pieces, and Polygon is no exception. Included are a colorful hex-shaped board, 49 hex-shaped tiles, a custom die, 50 score cards and of course some instructions (yes, this man reads instructions).
At first glance the game appears to be a variation of Triominoes or Quad-Ominoes, but once we dove in we saw it was much more than that. Yes, you try to line up matching number to score, but you can also score with numbers in a series.
But…you only score for colors that match the roll of your dice at the beginning of your turn! The amount of your score is also determined by what exactly you match (4’s are worth more than 1’s, 1-2-3 is worth less than 3-4-5).
And what would any game be without wild cards (tiles)? Strategically placed, they can be used to represent any number. In addition you can play on top of other pieces, building upwards to make new combinations. Lastly, some of the tiles have multipliers on them, bringing the potential of boosting your score dramatically!
Our 9 & 11yr old children had no problem learning the game, and since it is rated for 7+ I wouldn’t expect them to. If you’ve followed our game reviews you know we love when a game includes complete and clear instructions. If I have one complaint about Polygon, it is that while the instructions are clear, they didn’t feel complete to me. We found ourselves not sure about a couple of the rules, and here’s an example:
In this scenario, the player rolled ‘blue’ and is completing a 1-2-3 series to score. We questioned whether she could make this play because it makes a 1-2-4 combination in pink which is invalid. It wouldn’t score either way, since the rolled color was blue. The instructions didn’t address this issue, and when we consulted the (tiny) photo on the box and the default image on Amazon for an example, it looked like the players were purposely leaving open spaces (not playing this piece) or only playing if all sides made a match. We could not see an example of a play where a mismatched set was made, scoring or not. That became the other question, could someone play anywhere, even if a score could not be made? We would love some clarification of the rules, mostly so Nicole can’t cheat (again).
But other than this minor OCD complaint, we loved the game. There is a nice mixture of luck (the roll of the die and the draw of the tiles), strategy (where to place the tiles) and speed (each game only takes 10-15 minutes to complete). Couple that with a high-quality board and plastic tiles and you have a game that would be a great gift to a friend or for yourself for a MSRP of $16! Jax has a number of other popular offerings on their website, some of which you may already have in your closet! We’ll be bringing you a hands-on of Link-O in the next couple weeks!
You guys are such a cool family. You are always finding the best games to play and I love that you spend so much quality time together!
HA! A hex! I get it – and very funny. The girls looks like they are having fun.
Polygon looks like a cool game. It will be fun when the grandkids are older.
Polygon looks like fun! I like that it’s a game the whole family can enjoy.
Ooh, this looks like a cool game that we need to add to our games closet! We like unique games, too and Jax always has something different to play with!
Love that families still play board style games. I try to get my family together for a weekly family game night. I’m going to need to check this game out. Looks fun!
That looks like quite the interesting family friendly game! I like how it’s different then a lot of the other games that can be found on the market these days 🙂
This looks like such a fun game to play together. I can’t wait till my daughter is older to have these fun game nights at our house!
This sounds like a really interesting game. Lots of fun.
My boyfriend likes games like this with a little strategy involved. Of course, that means I’m going to lose. lol
Looks like fun. My kids are too young to enjoy it now but I bet they would like it when they get older.
My kids are getting to the age where they can actually play games too. I think this game looks fun!
I love games that can involve the whole family. This seems like a fun one for kids and adults!
We’re domino fans from way back. This game looks like a lot of fun!
That is such an awesome looking game! Very colorful too. I can totally play this. And thanks for making board games cool again
I can’t wait for my kids to be old enough to play strategy games like this. I am about over Chutes and Ladders!
this looks like triominoes kind of and we LOVE that game.
i love your game reviews 🙂
Oh, this looks like a fun family game! We are always looking for new ones.
This is an awesome game! I never heard of this game before. Is it a new? It’s so colourful and looks fun as well. Your family will definitely a great time playing this game. 🙂
I really want to do a family game night each week, especially as my kids get older. This would be a great game for that!
We have a board game night about once a month and we are always looking for new things to play. This looks like it would be a lot of fun!
What a great family friendly game! Looks like a lot of fun!
Reminds me of an old triangle game (the name escapes me). But I love the colors and it gets the family thinking~
Polygon looks like such a fun game! We play a lot of board games and card games as a family, and I can’t wait to add this one to our game nights!
that looks like such a fun game. Our kids need to learn how to play dominoes like they did back in the day.
Looks like a fun game! I haven’t seen it before.
This looks like a fun family game! My oldest likes anything that has to do with math.
I haven’t played this one. We love board games so I will definitely have to check it out.
I loved playing Dominoes with my grandmother growing up. I bet I would love this game, too!
this looks like fun for the kids and me. it makes you think and also is challenging at the same time. i can’t wait to play it.
This looks like a really good game to play with the family. I like that it makes you think how to match and get points.
This game looks like a lot of fun. I would like to play it with my family for family game night.
This looks like a fun game! My kids always enjoy puzzle games. I will have to look into getting this for our Saturday night game night.
Thanks for your game review. We love playing board games like this, and will definitely have to pick up and play with family and friends come our next game night.
This looks like a fun game! I would totally play this game for couples game night!
That looks like a really fun game. Great that they are learning too.
Our family LOVES board games around here. Every Friday night we are playing something new. This one looks like one that we could all enjoy!
I bet my math inclined boy would love this game. I really like the combination of fun and needing to do some thinking.
That does look like fun. You always find the neatest games. I need to find some new ones for the kids and I to play.
This looks like a lot of fun. I think that my son would be really good at this one.
I love to keep an assortment of board games in my classroom for 2-hour delay days when I don’t have a full class. You’re right, clear instructions are so important. I have a lot of students who will quibble over the rules for hours.