Nostalgia Thursday - Can't Stop (1980)

There is an old game called Can't Stop by Sid Sackson that sees a lot of play around these parts.  It's simple and has a compelling press your luck component that is fun and addictive.  I've blogged about it previously here.  Though designed for two to four players, with some added components from extra copies of the game, we often play it with as many as seven or eight players and just require two rows be captured for a win instead of three.  It plays about the same length of time that way as a game with fewer players.

The Board Game Geek description runs as follows:

In this Sid Sackson classic, players must press their luck with dice and choose combinations tactically to close out three columns. The board has one column for each possible total of two six-sided dice, but the number of spaces in each column varies: the more probable a total, the more spaces in that column and the more rolls it takes to complete. 

On their turn, a player rolls four dice and arranges them in duos: 1 4 5 6 can become 1+4 and 5+6 for 5 & 11, 1+5 and 4+6 for 6 & 10, or 1+6 and 4+5 for 7 & 9. The player places or advances progress markers in the open column(s) associated with their chosen totals, then chooses whether to roll again or end their turn and replace the progress markers with markers of their color.

A player can only advance three different columns in a turn and cannot advance a column which any player has closed out by reaching the end space; if a roll doesn't result in any legal plays, the turn ends with that turn’s progress lost.

This game never ceases to be fun for our group.  A lot of the same trash talk and jokes get repeated but they never feel old or stale.  A lot of other table talk can transpire during this game because it requires little focus when not your own turn and we're often coming up with ideas for house rules and modifications, so there is some game design undercurrents every time we play.  Great fun!

Nostalgia Thursday on MFWARS.com 

Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.

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