Betakkuma's Fart & Furious

Betakkuma is a character from Japan. I know him from WhatsApp. I currently use a set of stickers based on him. I find them funny. Now this game Betakkuma's Fart & Furious was bought when I was at the 2024 Essen game fair in Germany. I bought it at the Thailand pavilion. The publisher is Thai, and they licensed the character for this game. A Japanese character in a Thai game sold in Germany. That's globalisation! 

When I was at Essen, the Thailand pavilion was impressive. They had many designers and publishers, and also many games. Seeing our neighbouring country do so well was an encouragement for us Malaysian designers and publishers. Fart & Furious caught my attention because of the character. After listening to the brief description, I didn't immediately buy a copy. It is a party game about farting in the lift (elevator). That's a hilarious premise. I put it on my potential list. I was conservative about buying games because I didn't want to go over the weight limit. My plan was other than those I was determined to buy, I'd put games on the potential list, and I'd decide only by Sunday afternoon, the last day of the fair, which ones to buy. Now this was a little risky, because some games sold out early. Thankfully when I went back to the Thailand pavilion to get Fart & Furious, it was still available. 

The Game

This is a simultaneous action selection party game. Every round you pick a card to play, and everyone reveals their card at the same time. You only have five cards. When you play a card, it stays on the table. You only get all your cards back into your hand after having played them all, or when you successfully play the exit card (to exit the lift). If you are willing to spend the effort to remember what cards have been played, you will know what cards your opponents still have in hand. 

The three simplest cards are fart, breathe and hold (your breath). If you fart and someone else smells it, you score points. If no one smells it, you lose points. If you breathe and no one farts, you score points. If someone does fart, you lose points. If you hold your breath and someone farts, you score points. Otherwise, you lose points. This is very much like rock paper scissors, and these actions all make sense. You try to guess what your opponents might play. You don't always have a good basis on which to make your guess. After some cards have been played, you will have more information to help you guess. If everyone has farted, you know you can safely take a deep breath. 

One of the cards is the exit card, which means you are getting off the lift. Now the twist it this card only works if you are the only one trying to exit. If more than one person wants to exit, you all end up fighting at the door and no one gets out. If anyone farts, you all smell it (and lose points). 

The last card is the focus card. It doesn't have any effect by itself, but it doubles the effect of the card you play next round. If you manage to score points, you score double that. If you lose points, you lose double too. An exit card paired with a focus card gives you priority over regular exit cards.  

This building is your score track. For the short game, play till the 8th floor (8 points). For the normal game, play till the 13th floor. 

The Play

I didn't buy the game immediately at Essen because based on the short overview, it seemed like a pretty simple party game. The premise was funny, but the game mechanics didn't seem particularly new. Now that I have actually played the game, I realise some aspects of the detailed implementation are quite clever, and I admire that. So this is not a simple silly game designed by non-gamers. This is a simple silly game designed by gamers who know what they are doing. Yes, it's still a party game, and there's still luck, but there's also some thinking and strategising involved. You can decide to play without thinking too much. After all this is a farting game. You don't need to take it very seriously. 

When I played this with younger daughter Chen Rui, nephew Oswald (11) and niece Lauren (9), we discovered one particularly potent combo - focus plus breathe. If you breathe when no one farts, you score 3 points. If you combo this with a focus from the previous round, you'll score 6 points, which is huge. Even in the full game, 6 points out of 13 is about halfway to winning. When you know there is this powerful combo, you will be watching out for opponents trying to do it. This gives you a bit more basis for guessing what they will do. So the game is certainly not simple rock paper scissors. 

Well, maybe I'm completely overthinking this. I talk so much tactics and strategy, but then I'm not exactly winning much. 

The Thoughts

This is a silly and funny party game for 2 to 8 players. I've only played with four. I wonder whether it will be rather difficult with 6 or more players. When you choose to breathe, wouldn't you need to be very lucky to have no one else farting? Similarly, when you try to exit, chances are someone else will be trying to exit too. But then maybe at high player counts, clashes are expected. You need to try to gain an advantage over your opponents by farting when the most number of opponents will be smelling. When farting, you score points based on how many opponents smell it. I should try the player counts at the extremes to see how the gameplay experience differs. 

I've been playing boardgames as a hobbyist for more than 20 years. This is my first ever farting game. It's certainly something you will have fun with casual players. You won't be able to explain the rules with a straight face.