dnup
- Board's Eye View
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
We were handed an advance copy of dnup at Spiel Essen 2025 but the game was always scheduled by publishers Asmodee for a May 2026 release. The name of this card game is taken from the fact that, if you write the letters 'dnup', the 'word' is the same whichever way up you have it. The title is also short for 'Down Up' and that is also a loose summary of what the game's about in that it's played with cards that have two numbers on them that differ depending on which side up the card is. We've seen similar two-number cards in Scout (Oink) and gameplay in dnup has some noticeable similarities with that game, but then both games were designed by Kei Kajino.
This is a card-shedding game where you're trying to get rid of all your cards. When you go out first you win two of the letters spelling dnup. With three or more players, play continues and the second player to go out scores one letter. You continue with a new round until a player has the four letters to spell out 'dnup'.
The principle difference with Scout at set up is that you are able to organise your hand; you just can't reorient your cards. This is a 'ladder climbing' game in that cards played have to beat those already on the table either because they have higher numbers or because they are combos using more cards. You can use your turn to add to a card set played by another player, and that can be a 'take that' play because it may force other players to have to pick up cards from the table. And when you pick up cards they are always rotated to their other side... You can never reorient individual cards within your hand but you can, as your turn, flip your entire hand and play with the numbers on the cards' flipped edge.
Tho' dnup is a light and easy-to-play game, there's plenty of scope for tactical play. Because you pick up cards for the numbers on their flipped edge, canny players will play cards in the expectation that they will subsequently pick them up and then be able to use the flipped-edge numbers to make powerful combos...
This is proving to be a game with more depth than was immediately apparent on its first outings. Games typically take no more than 15 minutes so dnup is a filler-length game that's been getting a lot of plays, and winning a lot of fans for its tricksy hand management.
