Cholent Card Game

The Cholent Game is a brilliant concept that combines the best elements of several genera. The basic premise is a bidding / auction scenario for different ingredients needed for Cholent, a traditional Jewish Sabbath food. Overlayed upon this are different "effect" cards that modify many elements and sub points of who "wins the pot" for the round. It is an excellent blend of chance and strategy. I had initially played the Cholent Game at a friends house. Represented at the table were an 8 year old, two players in their 20's, and two players in their 60's. Everyone had fun and played well. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a set for myself and have since introduced several friends to the game. An additional point that will resonate with players who are familiar with Orthodox Jewish stereotypes is that the effect cards nail the stereotypes of the "matchmaker" the "schnorer" the "Rabbi" and all the other colorful characters found in an orthodox community. The strategizing with the effect cards is somewhat akin to "Talmudic analysis" as done on Purim. The one inconsistency I found is the length of time needed to play. For a 5 player game, there is a lot more strategy involved, and the game can easily go for more than an hour. (The box states 30 minutes for an average game, though perhaps they mean for 2 players.) I actually prefer a slightly longer game, so it was fine for me. The box is nice, the cards have cool pictures, the stereotypes are awesome, and the game is fun. Highly recommended for all ages.

Got Cholent a week ago Friday, and immediately set to enjoying it with my brothers over the weekend. The game is a lot of fun, with the wide variety of Chevra cards being the focus of the gameplay. These cards enable various actions to enhance your own position or subvert those of your opponents. We were able to pick up the rules of the game fairly quickly, with the few questions we had mainly being dealt with in the included printed rules. We initially weren't sure if a player's Gelt cards should be visible to the him/her, but it was soon clear they should be. The game is well designed in that while the rules are fairly simple, gameplay requires thoughtfulness and strategy. An early lead can be overcome by luck and careful use of Gelt and Chevra cards. Also, when played with 3 or more players, a combined effort can cancel out one player's lead. The Chevra cards also require careful planning to be used in the most strategic order, as their effects can be canceled or made irrelevant by opponents' Chevra cards. The artwork is cleverly done, with some variation among Ingredient cards keeping things interesting. The open-ended gameplay and variety of Chevra and Shuk cards seems to allow for the possibility of an expansion pack at some point (?), which I would probably buy if available at the right price.

This is a fun game to play and also to laugh about. The basic strategy is pretty simple--be the first to collect all ingredients needed to make your secret cholent (stew). Various cards allow players to make defensive and offensive moves. It's slightly more than a game of luck in that you have some discretion as to which cards you play and when. Game play seems to last around half hour per game, and has kept myself and my adult brothers in law fully entertained on many a shabbos afternoon. Still, the rules are easy enough for my eight year old niece to learn and enjoy as well. There are a number of typos throughout the instructions, which indicate a low quality product and little to no review process, but this can be forgiven as the game is fun to play. One thing we noticed while playing is that all the recipe cards include eggs. I have never made a cholent with eggs in my life, though I do recognize that this is popular in some Sephardic communities. If I was writing this game, I'd include a few recipes with eggs but certainly not most or all. The cholent recipe cards included in the game are all fairly basic (some combination of meat, potatoes, eggs, and spices), but the game also includes a pamphlet of actual cholent recipes, which I am excited to try.

Terrific game. It has a very good balance of luck vs. skill, so unlike many strategy games, it's not always the same person that will win, but good players will certainly win MORE. This makes it ideal in a family situation where a younger player can learn progressively better strategy, and occasionally win. I'm a board/card game junky and it is hard to find this balance! I can play this with my younger cousins and they can win now and then without my having to let them beat me; so they feel like they earned it. Not to mention it is very fun to play, and the cards are lightly humorous both in art and their mechanics.

It's fun. There's plenty little thrills of victory and agonies of defeat throughout the game. There's some confusion about when you can play your chevra cards to affect an auction, but that's fairly easy to work out. We also played one game that lasted forever because we used the full 5 people so people were slow to build up their recipes; but it was fun anyway.

We love playing this game, but my children noticed that the coloration on the Gelt cards worth 4, are a slightly different color than the others, so we either have to play without them or we know at least 1 card that someone is bidding with. If it weren't for this, would give it a 5.

Great Game! My Kids loved it as well as the adults! I think the makers of the game should of added more recipes in the game so no one knows what recipe each person has over time. OTHERWISE, GREAT FUN FOR A SHABBOS AFTERNOON!

This game was much more fun than we were expecting. Everyone got very competitive, which added to the fun.