Publisher: 25th Century Games
Player Count: 2-5 Players
Dedicated Solo mode: No
Game Length: 10-15 Minutes
Complexity 1.25/5
Oh My Brain tells the wholesome, classic story of a group of friends sitting around the campfire swapping stories and munching on marshmallows. The stars twinkle above in the clean, crisp night air and everything is perfect… right up until the bloodthirsty, zombie animals appear. Now it’s a matter of survival as you’re racing to escape from becoming zombie food. We all know you don’t have to be the fastest… just faster than someone else.
In this tongue-in-cheek card game players will work to quickly discard their hand in order to outrun the dark forest dwellers and their hunger for human brains. Earn bonus actions by playing cards or rolling the pink marshmallow die to gain an advantage. Are you physically up to escaping these campfire crashing critter creatures fueled by brain power? Sink your teeth into our review below:
ON YOUR TURN
Campers begin the game by drafting cards into their active hand and cemetery (reserve) space. Campers will then take turns playing individual or card sets into the central campfire area. Each card played must be a higher number than the previous one or you’ll face the consequences. Whenever you discard below 3 cards you’ll pull from your cemetery area. The end of a round (and potentially the game) is triggered when one player empties their hand.
Certain cards will allow you bonus actions allowing you to play no matter the previous card value, forcing your opponent to play a card under an 8 value or giving yourself a second consecutive turn. When you play multiple cards of the same value, you get the opportunity to add 1 or more into an opponent’s cemetery. Of course, we’re all trying to get rid of our cards, so the more you have in reserve the bigger the challenge gets. Cards featuring the marshmallow icon allow you to roll the marshmallow die and take bonus actions.
Whenever you’re unable to play a card of higher value, you’re forced to discard a brain token. Brain tokens represent your lifespan and the first play to lose all of them loses the game. At the end of each round you lose brain tokens equal to the cards left in your hand. Rounds continue until the first player loses all their brain tokens.
ARTWORK & COMPONENTS
Oh My Brains understands it’s a fun, family-friendly game and the artwork caters to that audience. The cards and box feature highly stylized, silly, cartoony animal zombies. The colors and art direction are solid, giving the game a nice visual appeal. The components are pretty straightforward. Each player gets a plastic card stand to serve as their cemetery/reserve space and the pink die is fun to roll.
PROS & CONS
➕ Fast, silly game that works for families
➕ Fun, easy gameplay is quick to teach and pick up
➕ Interesting choices create a nice dynamic paired with the light gameplay
➕ Great packaging and vibe
➖ Replayability is somewhat limited
Neutral Points
– Game doesn’t do anything new, just does it well
– Fun game, but a lot more fun with kids
WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?
Gamers in the market for a quirky, easy-to-teach, silly and fun family card game or going to find the most enjoyment out of Oh My Brains!
WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?
The best thing about the game is the animal/zombie theme. It’s the crazy animals, brain tokens and fun artwork that take a good game and make it something memorable.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’m having way more fun than I should with Oh My Brains! It has so much charm and personality that it sucks you right in. We often talk about a game with a single great mechanic or a great component but falls short because the rest of the game doesn’t quite add up. With Oh My Brains!, it’s really the opposite where the sum of all the parts come together to create a more complete experience.
The gameplay isn’t that unique—playing higher cards to deplete your deck has been done before. The card actions are fun, but they’re also pretty standard. Losing tokens when you can’t play is nice, but again nothing earth shattering… now losing brain tokens… that’s where Oh My Brains! comes to play. You’re not just ridding yourself of cards… you’re shedding zombie animals. You’re not just dropping more cards on an opponent, you’re scratching and clawing to get ahead because you know the player in last place is likely to be eaten by the zombies. The theme is lively and fun and brings everything together.
That’s not to say you dismiss the gameplay. There is a fair amount of strategy in this light-hearted game and it feels almost hidden beneath the surface. Building a successful chain of cards that allow you to quickly disperse your hand while still considering contingencies when opponents throw a wrench your way is a fun exercise. You really have to think through your potential future turns and almost prepare in advance where you think your opponents will take the discard value. You are often faced with something unexpected and you’ll be forced to think on your feet. Fortunately, choices are somewhat limited and no turn truly bogs down the flow and pace of the game.
Overall, Oh My Brains! isn’t going to do it for everybody. It’s going to be too light and too silly for some tastes… those would be the cynics. For those looking for a family-friendly game with a great theme, look and lively experience… this is for you. Oh My Brains! should be played with kids or nephews and nieces. You should laugh and enjoy the absurdity of it all. It plays 2-5, but I think the more the merrier. The game’s choices are interesting enough to keep adults engaged, but it’s the theme that will keep this one coming back to the table. This is a small box game that’s easy to learn and set up and works great for multiple games in a row. You can easily take it with you on a road trip or pack it in a suitcase. If you’re looking for that family friendly game to keep smiles on everyone’s face, you should give Oh My Brains! a look.
