NMBR 9 board game review

NMBR 9 is a board game where you must place down multicoloured numbers on top of each other to score points in what sounds like the board game equivalent of a maths teacher’s fever dream.

In every turn of NMBR 9 a card is flipped from a shared deck showing a number from 1 to 9 and then everyone must take a corresponding number tile and choose where to place it down to create your own pile in front of you. However, to get points you must stack numbers on top of other ones but this is harder than it sounds, as you can’t place a number over an empty space in your stack and it must cover at least two other number tiles. At the end of the game each number on level 2 is worth its value, every number on level 3 is worth twice its value and so on.

 

The first thing you notice about this game is its sleek looks, like an Apple computer was forcibly shoved into a box before being painted into a selection of pleasing colours. This is only increased when you have finished the game and you get to see your

hard work pay off in something that looks like a creation of a child that has acquired the power to vomit perfectly geometrically in all the colours of the rainbow.

As you get into the game, it provides just the amount of brain burning action to keep it interesting while not becoming like chess where you have to plan out the entire game before you’ve even laid out the pieces. This is because only one card is revealed at a time, so you only need to think about this one tile and where you should put it and not have to worry about the rest of the game.

However, a small gripe I have with NMBR 9 is the scoring system which requires you to all get out your calculators and have to struggle (slightly embarrassingly) to remember what 3x7 was. This is a shame as once you’ve played one round you immediately want to play again and the wait for that last player to finish rechecking all their point values is about as bad as a queue for the loo when you

really, really need a pee.

But this is practically countered by the sense of mastery you get after a few games. You will soon find out all the hidden strategies lurking just beneath the surface like a professional athlete who is at the top of their game and improving all the time. Soon you will be turning 20-point games in to 80-point masterpieces like making record breaking jump or javelin throw (it almost makes me forget my complete lack of skill in any sport whatsoever).

Overall, I would say NMBR 9 is a great and satisfying game: it is easy to teach, fun to play and rewarding to learn. So if you have the spare cash lying around, this is definitely a worthy and great addition to anyone’s collection.