Panda Spin

The Game

Panda Spin is a climbing game by Carl Chudyk. One of my favourite games of all time is Innovation. So when I hear he has a new game, I pay attention.   

Panda Spin is a card game. You play multiple rounds and only the winner scores points every round. You play until someone has 15 points and wins the game. This is a climbing game, so it is like Big 2 and Tichu. The goal is to get rid of all cards in your hand. Each trick, the start player leads with a combination, and for that trick everyone must play this combination.  You can only play if your set is higher than the previous set. The combinations are singles, pairs, triples, runs (e.g. 345), and sets of runs (e.g. 333444555). There is also a special combination called the bomb. It is four or more of a kind, e.g. 7777. A bomb can be played over any combination, changing the combination of that trick to bombs. Suits in the game do not affect combination strength, but they do have certain characteristics, e.g. special powers and what are on the upgraded halves. Depending on which suits are in play, you can expect a slightly different experience. 

All cards have two halves, the normal half which is lighter and the upgraded half which is darker. One interesting part of the game is how your cards can be upgraded. Before I talk about that I need to talk about another mechanism. Cards that you play may come back to your hand. This is unconventional. Your played cards are only discarded if you win that trick. This can make things difficult. In Big 2, you can leave one lousy low card together with a super combo. That super combo will carry your low card because when you win a trick with the super combo, you start the next trick and you can just play that last low card (or even a weak combination) to go out. In Panda Spin this doesn’t work. If someone beats your lousy card, you have to take it back and you might be stuck with it for a long time. 

When you lose a trick, all the cards you have played this trick go back to your hand. That’s the bad news. The good news is they all get upgraded. You turn them upside down. The upgraded halves can be very useful. They may become a higher number, they may have special icons, or they may become multiple numbers. Sometimes you deliberately lose a trick in order to upgrade your cards. If during a trick you have played at least one upgraded card, then all the cards you have played do get discarded at the end of the trick, even if you don’t win it. 

Some cards have special powers, e.g. scoring a point immediately, upgrading another card, or discarding another card. These can be very useful. In the advanced game, you get beasts. These are powerful single cards which let you win tricks under specific situations. These add some unpredictability to the game.  

The Play 

This is a climbing game. It introduces interesting ideas but this is still a climbing game. If this is not your thing, it probably wouldn’t change your mind about the genre. But if you like climbing games this will be a delight. I find the game very strategic because there are many possibilities. You can deliberately plan how to upgrade your cards. Things don’t always work out, but the possibilities are there. It is challenging to plan how to go out, because sometimes your cards can come back to you. You can and should remember the cards your opponents have played, especially those which get upgraded and returned to their hands. You can gather a lot of information about your opponents' hands. 

The Thoughts

This doesn't feel like a Carl Chudyk game to me, because I've never played any climbing game by him. His games are all very innovative and original. This is the first time I have played his game which is built on a commonly used core mechanism - the climbing mechanism. He has certainly introduced something new to the genre. I have never seen any climbing game that works like this. Due to the many possibilities, I find the game highly strategic. I can't say I'm a fan of climbing games, and Panda Spin doesn't change my mind about the genre. So it's not a game I actively want to play, like Innovation, but it's a game I'll enjoy when I do play.