Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
Cooperative games where the players can’t discuss strategy aren’t anything new, but they only work if everyone figuratively signs the social contract to make it work. In Shape it, published by Randolph, players move cardboard shapes around the table in hopes of everybody seeing the same artistic vision. Without speaking about the look you’re going for, this can be a Herculean feat. But does it shape up to be a game worth bringing to the table? Let’s find out.
Shape It: Taking Shape
In Shape it, players move seven abstract shapes to communicate a concept listed on one of the Word cards laid out on the table. The trick is that all the words could be correct; it’s a matter of unified consensus among the group. If everybody can collectively earn 5 cards for guessing the same Word card before flipping the third Life/Failure token, they win!
To set up the game, players arrange 7 shapes in a circle in the center of the playing area. Starting with the green deck, 5 Word cards are drawn and laid out to form the starting Word pool from which inspiration will be drawn.
Every round, players may move a single shape. Pieces can be placed on top of other pieces or rotated around, but pieces that are underneath other pieces are locked in. You also can’t flip a piece over to the opposite side, since you play with every shape on either a solid green side or on a gradient-laden side with a wavy silver pattern. You’d think that it wouldn’t make much of a difference, but having colors and accents on a piece can really affect the way your mind perceives what’s being created.
Every time a player moves a shape, they are hoping the rest of the table sees their creative vision in portraying one of the Word cards in the Word pool. Any player who feels like they have a grasp on the Word the shapes are forming can put their thumb up as a signal. This is the only communication allowed in the game; otherwise it really wouldn’t function. When everyone has their thumbs up, there’s a countdown before all players guess the Word simultaneously.
A player who isn’t quite sure of the Word can alternatively spend one of the few Silence tokens to refrain from speaking, thereby preventing them from being responsible for a potential error. Additionally, players can spend an Extra Move token to move a second shape during the turn to help clarify the image.
Five correct rounds and the players win.
Shape It: Going Full Circle
I was skeptical about Shape it initially because anytime you have a game with limited communication, the quality of the game can vary wildly. There are plenty of instances where the formula works—like with The Mind or Sky Team—but there seem to be countless more where it doesn’t.
To put it simply, Shape it rules.
We played with some of our good neighbors who sadly moved away but came back for a weekend visit, and it was a major hit. There is no common orientation point, so every time somebody moves a shape, it becomes a matter of putting yourself in their shoes and going through their thought process. How do the shapes appear from their angle? Are they angling the piece to make more sense from our perspective?
I also thought that the extra mechanics put in place to help you out would make the game too easy. Silence tokens are there for a reason—use them! More than once I was admonished for thinking I had the Word in the bag when maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. In my defense, a dragonfly and a satellite look quite similar.
The limit of not being able to move a piece that is under another piece is another aspect of the game that seems insignificant, but it turns out to be quite important. It allows you to lock in a piece, thereby giving more information, telling players that a certain piece really matters to your vision. And to add to the challenge, the pieces stay put between rounds, sometimes creating awesome situations where the previous Word helps give life to the current one.
Consensus also shifts throughout the round. My favorite gag was to move the first piece and instantly put my thumb up. Of course I would know what Word I was going for. Just as often, my thumb would retract as soon as the second piece moved, and my hopes became dashed.
Shape it feels like a moving Magic Eye puzzle in all the right ways. With its fluid turn order and approachable gameplay, I’m reaching for the box more than I thought I would. Good games come in all shapes and sizes, and this one is no exception.
