Panda Panda

The Game

This is a design from Japanese designer Kaya Miyano, who is most known for Trio / Nana. He also designed Trick & Snipers. When I looked him up, I found that I have played an older game he designed with another designer - Zombie Tower 3D. I thought that was quite clever. The first edition of Panda Panda was released in Japan in 2023, and it was named Cat Poker. The international edition Panda Panda was released only shortly after the original, in 2024. 

Panda Panda is a simple and short card game. Every round, you race to be first to collect a winning combo. Whoever achieves that scores a point. You need to score two points to win the game. The cards in the game are labelled from A to G. A's are the most common. There are 10 A's in the game. The G is the rarest card. There is only one G in the deck. Here are the winning combos: 

To make a winning combo, you must have the exact number of cards, no more, no less. For example you want to make the C and E combo. That's a 2-card combo. You can't have more than 2 cards. If you do, you need to spend turns discarding the surplus cards. A turn is super simple. You either take a card or discard a card. When taking a card, you may draw from the common draw deck, or take the top card from the discard pile of any player. Yes, every player has his own discard pile. What this means is if someone wants a card you discard, chances are he will be able to get it, because that top card in your discard pile will not be covered by anyone else's card. It takes a full round before you can cover it with another discarded card. 

If you choose to discard a card on your turn, you simply place it face-up at the top of your discard pile. If you discard an A (the most common card), this triggers a special action. Everyone must pass a card to the left. This is an important mechanism. This can really mess up someone's plan. It is not easy to collect a winning combo, and an untimely (or timely!) A being discarded can really screw someone's plan. 

When you make a winning combo, whether by taking the last card you need, or discarding the last extra card you don't need, you don't score immediately. You still need to wait a full round until the start of your next turn. This is always a nerve-racking moment, because if anyone discards an A, you will be forced to break your combo. During the game if you see anyone getting cocky, you may want do discard an A to see whether you'd destroy his plans. One rule about A's - if the top card of a discard pile is an A, you can't take it. 

The Play

This is a quirky little game which I can't quite categorise. I guess you can call this a set collection game. It is brisk, and it'll work well as a filler for game night. The game is simple and doesn't require deep thinking, but if you do think about it, there are some tactics you can consider. When you pay attention to the cards others are discarding, you may be able to guess which combos they are making, or which ones they are not making. If anyone takes a card from another player's discard pile, that's a big hint too. Keeping some A's in hand is a good tactic. If you sense someone might be winning, discarding an A can severely delay him. It's always a pleasure to hear someone groan when you discard an A. 

One general strategy I use is to just keep drawing cards in the early game, and then depending on the cards I have, decide which combo to go for, and then start discarding. I'm not sure whether this is an optimal way to play. It seems sensible. When an A is discarded and everyone needs to pass a card, what you get from your neighbour might be a useful clue. 

I mention several tactics here, but you don't really need to think so much to enjoy this game. You can choose to focus on your own combo and just enjoy the race to make a winning combo. This is a light and casual game. 

The Thoughts

Playing Panda Panda was a refreshing experience. It is something a little different. It'll work well with non-gamers and casual gamers. This is the kind of game you can play while chatting. For gamers, this is something novel worth trying out.