Bean Counters Inc.
- Board's Eye View
- Apr 26
- 1 min read
Bean Counters Inc. is a light super-silly card-shedding party game for 2-10 players. It's designed by Alice Mills and Nick Payne, and published by Gibsons.
Players have their own stacks of numbered cards. On your turn, you flip the top card of your stack and play it to the discard pile while saying the next number in the sequence of play. If, however, the number on your card matches the number in the sequence, all the players must slam a hand on the table - effectively calling 'Snap!'. The slowest player takes the discard pile and adds it to their stack.
So it's a 'Snap' variant then. Except that there are also cards that introduce additional rules and particular requirements; for example, specifying that a number must be said in a high-pitched voice. These rules gradually accumulate, making this a memory game that's increasingly chaotic and silly the longer you play.
Bean Counters Inc. makes a fun end-of-the-evening filler, especially with players who are just a little inebriated. It's bound to generate laughs when players trip over their tongues to comply with the added requirements.Our only gripe is that if there's a lot of to and fro over stacks changing hands then the game can run longer than is ideal. The rules suggest a playing time of 15-60 minutes: it's a great little 15-minute game but it is likely to have overstayed its welcome if you find your plays end up running to 60 minutes.
