Ghost Blitz
A frenzied game of mental & physical dexterity
Looking at the box may have you raising your eyebrows wondering why I’ve given Geistesblitz such a high score. Rest assured, I’ve tried this game out with numerous gamers and the overwhelming response was “that game is brilliant.”
Components
Sometimes nice things come in small packages. The components feel durable and seem to be produced with a high quality. You get 60 cards with charming illustrations printed on thick card stock, five wooden objects, and a full-color rulebook written in four languages. My favorite component is the little gray mouse with it’s red rope tail. I found that several gamers liked playing with the wooden objects, they were stacking them up and taking victorious swigs from the green bottle.
Flavor Text
This is the kind of game that makes me wonder which came first, the theme or the mechanic. Hopefully it was the mechanic because the storyline seems disjointed, concocted over too much German lager perhaps? Maybe we’re just missing something in the English translation.
The odd story-line loosely woven into the mechanics explains that it’s your job to assist an absent minded ghost named Balduin. As he roams about the castle Balduin likes to take pictures with his enchanted camera of objects he likes to make disappear. Apparently this enchanted camera is broken and the objects in the pictures turn up the wrong color. All of this wacky color changing makes Balduin very confused and it is our job to help him sort things out.
Gameplay
The game comes with a basic rule set and a slightly more challenging variation.
In the basic rules the wooden objects are laid out. A card is turned over so that everyone can read it. The card will show two of the wooden objects after which one of two scenarios will play out:
- One object on the card is colored incorrectly; therefore players must be the first to grab the correct colored object.
- Both objects on the card are colored incorrectly; now players must grab the only object not represent on the card in any fashion.
For example:
The correct object for the first card is Balduin the White Ghost.
For the second card you would grab the Green Bottle. Since both objects are miss-colored, the green bottle is the only object not represented on the card (neither green nor a bottle is shown on the card)
Hands dart out trying to grab the correct wooden object. The first player with the correct object in hand gets to keep that overturned card. You only get one guess, touch the wrong item you must give up a card to the first player who snagged the wooden object correctly.
The second rules variation is a shouting version based on the card illustration. It adds an extra step to make your brain hurt just a little more. If the book is shown you then must shout the correct answer, otherwise you grab the right object like normal.
The more one plays the game the better they get at recognizing the correct object. Allowing the inexperienced players a few rounds head start alleviates this situation.
Tips and Trickery
1. Players may try to snatch items out of each other’s hands or even push another player’s hand into the wrong object. Tsk, tsk, you know who you are! We had to develop various house rules to cope with the insanity.
2. Not very good at the game? You will have to depend on trickery to win. Shout out the wrong object or do a fake grab to throw people off. When they touch the wrong object they are out for that round and are forced to hand over a card.
3. Let’s be honest, this is a game about a sneaky ghost, if you snuck one of your oponent’s cards into your own pile is it so wrong? Just ask yourself, what would Balduin do?
Who will like this game
Geistesblitz can take a multitude of players and can be simultaneously enjoyed by a wide range of players. The dynamics of the game will vary based on the familiarity of the players. In other words the game gets more vicious depending on how comfortable everyone is with each other.
I witnessed a hardcore strategy wargamer, an eight-year-old, and my non-gaming mother-in-law enjoying Geistesblitz equally.
Downsides?
Gesitesblitz is similar to another game called SET but in my opinion much better. With SET you sometimes have a runaway leader or players who ‘just don’t get it’. Geistesblitz has an added dexterity and punishment element that makes it a little more accessible, chaotic, and entertaining.
Some of you might consider this a tip but if you play with someone who has sharp finger nails watch out! Also, competitive spouses and siblings have a tendency to get a little violent when snatching the objects—I guess some families play for blood.
Final Remarks
Is this the best game ever invented? No, but as a quick filler game Geistesblitz is fun and engaging.
User Reviews (3)
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Intro:
Ghost blitz, in any of the three configurations, is probably among my favorite fillers and can sure bring quite a few laughs in a round. This is a game about quickly recognizing and grabbing the correct piece.
Gameplay:
Ghost Blitz is nothing more than 5 different colored items and a deck of cards with images of two of the 5 items in 2 of the 5 colours. These are a white ghost, green bottle, grey mouse, blue book and a red chair. All of these should be placed near the centre of the table within reach of all players.
The idea of the game is to flip up one card and quickly as possible grab the correct item, which is determined by the image on the card. There are two possible solutions.
1) If one of the objects appears with matching colour you must grab this item
2) If neither object matches in colour you must grab the item which neither matches in item or colour on the card. So if the picture is a red ghost and grey book you have to take the green bottle.
The first player to grab the correct item receives the card as a point. However, if you grab the wrong item you must give up one of your previous earned points, either discard it or as an optional rule, give it to the player who grabbed the correct item. One very important rule here is as soon as you have touched an item you have picked it and you can not take another. So you need to act quickly if you want the card, but not to quickly… 🙂
Conclusion:
Ghost Blitz is a filler done right. Quick, easy and at times just hilarious. Those special moments when 3 or 4 players almost get into a fight over an item just to see the last player calmly grab the correct item several seconds later is just…fantastic.
Finally, when you feel / think you’ve mastered the regular edition you can move on to Ghost Blitz 2.0 and finally Ghost Blitz 5 to 12. With both of these adding more ifs and buts to the ruleset that are sure to make you rethink once, twice or more which item to grab, or at times shout out.
So, if you’re looking for a quick, action filled filler the Ghost Blitzes are highly recommended.
The game instructions are very simple, you look at the cards that are flipped over one at a time and physically grab the game piece as fast as you can. The game piece is either a) The same colour in the picture as the piece is or b) The piece that is not in the picture in anyways (colour or shape)
After learning the instructions I though well this is a pretty easy game how could I lose?
I’m going to go with my brain is too cluttered, my 11 yr old cousin beat me! And not just beat me, more than doubled my score. This is a good fast paced easy to teach game that works great as a filler game or with younger gamers, that being said with a group adults it is almost more fun because you actually stand a chance at winning!
Definatley worth trying out don’t just write it off as a kids game!
when i have to introduce some non gamer to my hobby i can always count on this. I played geistesblitz with many friends who don’t care for card games or boardgames and the result it’s always the same: everyone loves it and then they ask me where to buy it. Rules are grasped in 1 minute but quickly you realize that it’s not as easy as you though to spot the right object before your adversary, especially when you play with the 2nd variant. I’t’s fun, easy to learn, short and cheap, what else can you ask to a game?