Summary
👥 A game for 2 to 6 players
⏳ Playing time is 20 – 30 minutes
🏢 Publisher is Little Rocket Games
Introduction
Lodge – A clever card game full of bluffing, timing, and hungry squirrels 🐿️🍎
Let’s get it on the table
In Lodge, players try to serve tasty snacks to hikers visiting the lodge in the forest. But watch out for the squirrels. Every failed order gives you an annoying squirrel token, and normally you do not want to collect too many of them. Unless you manage to collect exactly ten, because then you instantly win the game. This creates a delicious amount of tension during every turn.
Everyone chooses a card from their hand simultaneously. Each player has a hand full of snack cards, everyone starts with 7 cards, but during the game you can gain extra cards so the number per player may differ. These cards are numbered from 1 to 48 and are divided into different snack types such as apples, smoothies, sandwiches, and energy bars.
In the middle of the table are 3 customer cards showing which snacks they want to receive. Everyone secretly chooses a snack card from their hand and places it face down. Once everyone has chosen, all cards are revealed at the same time and the puzzle begins.
The order in which players may place their cards is extremely important. The game is played in ascending card number order. If you played a low-numbered card, you take your turn earlier and usually have more choice among the available customers. If you play a high-numbered card, you risk that the exact customer you were aiming for has already been completed by someone else. This creates a surprising amount of tension and forward planning.
During your turn, you place your snack card with a customer who needs exactly that snack type. You do not need to pay attention to the order of the snack icons on the customer card, as long as the correct type is placed. There is, however, one important restriction: you may never place more cards of one snack type than the number of icons shown on the customer card. And if there is a customer where your snack card can be placed, then you must place it there. You cannot voluntarily pass or save a card for later. This creates fun moments at the table, because sometimes you really do not want to help complete an order since another player will probably benefit the most from it. But you do not always have a choice. At the same time, you are naturally trying to make smart use of the turn order so that you are the one who finishes an order.
When a customer order is completed, the player who placed the final required snack takes the customer card and places it in front of them. These cards are worth points at the end of the game, but they also often activate a special customer ability immediately. After that, all used snack cards are discarded and a new customer card is immediately placed in the center of the table. This keeps the pace of the game high and ensures the situation on the table is constantly changing.
Sometimes a squirrel customer also appears. These special cards immediately create extra chaos, and their effect is resolved right away. The card shows snacks, and if those snacks are currently on the table with the other customers, all matching snacks are removed. After this, the squirrel customer is discarded until eventually a normal customer card appears again. This can completely change a turn in an instant and keeps players constantly alert for unexpected situations.
If during your turn you cannot place your snack card with any customer, then your snack is eaten by the squirrels and you receive a squirrel token. These are negative points, because at the end of the game every squirrel causes a point deduction. However, this is where the biggest twist of Lodge comes in: if you manage to collect exactly ten squirrel tokens, you instantly win the game. This makes every failed placement suddenly feel double-edged. Is someone intentionally trying to reach ten squirrels? Or are they desperately trying to avoid disaster? That uncertainty creates fun bluffing moments and lots of interaction at the table. What makes it even better is that if a player reaches 11 squirrel tokens, that player immediately loses.
The game is played over three rounds. Rounds 1 and 2 continue until one of the players only has 2 cards left in hand, after which every player receives new snack cards until everyone has 7 cards in hand again. In round 3, the game continues until at least one player has no snack cards left in hand. Some special effects may cause players to keep more cards than others, which means the pace can differ slightly from round to round. At the end of a round, players may keep certain cards or cards may remain in play for the next round. If the draw pile runs out, a new deck is simply formed from the discard pile.
After the third round, final scoring takes place. But before points are counted, there is one important check: did anyone collect exactly ten squirrel tokens? If so, that player instantly wins regardless of all other points. If not, the points on the collected customer cards are added together. Then you subtract one point for every squirrel token you own. There is also an interesting extra layer in the scoring system: players with exactly five squirrels receive a five-point bonus. If you have more than ten, then you are basically doomed and have lost the game.
Final Conclusion & rating
Weight: 1.50/ 5
Replayability: 7
Our rating: 7,5 out of 10 dices
In Lodge, you are constantly balancing between safely collecting points and taking risks with squirrels. Do you go for stable customer cards and try to make as few mistakes as possible? Or do you cleverly try to work your way toward those magical ten squirrels before someone else notices?
Lodge feels fast, interactive, and surprisingly tactical. The simultaneous card selection keeps the pace high and ensures nobody has to wait long for their turn. At the same time, the ascending turn order offers plenty of room for planning and reading your opponents. Because customers constantly change and special effects can alter the situation, the game remains dynamic until the very last turn.
Lodge is a card game that is easy to explain, but during play offers far more tension and smart decisions than you initially expect. The combination of timing, risk-taking, and lightly sabotaging each other makes every game feel different. And that constant threat of the squirrels? It keeps everyone sharp until the very end. 🐿️
🙏 Thanks to Little Rocket Games for providing this review copy and the opportunity to write about it.
