Have you ever got so frustrated with a friend or family member that you have wanted to throw something at them? Maybe one of the kids has asked for one too many snacks. Maybe the other won’t stop looking at her phone screen and maybe your partner just won’t get up and make you a cuppa, after all, once isn’t much to ask, is it? Well now you can, and I don’t mean pick up the remote and launch it at the nearest annoyance, aka family member. What if I told you of a game where you can sit around the table as a family playing a card game, but one where you get to launch a soft burrito at a loved one? That would pique your interest, wouldn’t it? I bet you are already sitting there thinking of lobbing a Tex-Mex snack across the room at someone, anyone. Well sorry to disappoint you, whilst this game does involve throwing a burrito, happily it doesn’t use real burritos, that would silly, messy and quite frankly a waste of food! But you can do the next best thing and throw a soft and squidgy burrito at your nearest and dearest with the family game Throw Throw Burrito from Exploding Kittens.
Throw Throw Burrito is a family game for 2-6 players, suitable for age 7 years old and upwards. The aim of the game is to win points over two rounds whilst having to avoid airborne missiles in the form of soft and squidgy foam burritos during burrito brawls, burrito wars and burrito duels.
In the box:
- 120 Cards
- 2 Burritos
- 6 Burrito Bruises
- 1 Fear Me Badge
- Instructions
Setting up the game is simple. Shuffle the cards and deal around 15 cards to each player (this doesn’t have to be exact, although to me it does seem harder NOT to deal the exact number to each player) which become that players draw pile, the remaining cards are then split into two piles and placed face down in the centre of the table, becoming the community pile. The burritos and the burrito bruises are also placed in the centre of the table within each reach of all players. Each player then takes 5 cards from their draw pile and looks at them. You are now ready to play.
There is no taking of turns in Throw Throw Burrito. All players play at once trying to match 3 cards the same within their hand by discarding and taking new cards. Once you have collected a set of 3, you place these on the table in your score pile – a matching set of 3 is worth 1 point. But the game is not that straightforward. Also in the pack are brawl, war and duel cards and if you collect a matching set of these it is time to grab those burritos and let the battle commence.
If you collect a set of 3 battle cards you shout out the name BRAWL, WAR or DUEL and put the cards on the table in your score pile. All gameplay stops at this point in anticipation of a burrito fight.
If you have collected 3 BRAWL cards and shouted BRAWL, the players to your immediate left and right need to grab a burrito as quickly as possible from the table and throw it at the other, the first to get hit loses the brawl.
If you have collected 3 WAR cards and shouted WAR, all players (except you) need to try and grab a burrito and throw it at another player, the first player to get hit loses the war.
If you have collected 3 DUEL cards and shouted DUEL, you need to pick any 2 players to have a duel. They need to take a burrito, stand back-to-back and start to step away from each other whilst saying, “3, 2, 1, Burrito”. On the word Burrito they can turn and throw their burrito, the first to get hit is the loser of the duel.
During these battles you can duck, dodge and even use other objects to block burritos being thrown, you can even catch a burrito or use your own burrito to block. You cannot however hold both burritos at once. If you are the loser of any of the battles you take a burrito bruise (this is worth minus 1 point) and place it on your score pile.
The game is played over 2 rounds, a round ends when the last burrito bruise has been handed out. The winner of the first round is the one with most points and is then given the Fear Me Badge. The game is then reset and round 2 begins. If the player who has the Fear Me Badge wins again, they are the overall winner of the game, if another play wins that player then has to have a duel with the Fear Me Badge holder to determine the winner.
Overall, Throw Throw Burrito is a very simple game to set up and play. You will need a room with a bit of space to play and make sure any breakables or valuables are removed (pictures, glasses of water, granny etc.) as whilst the burritos and soft and squidgy foam they are being thrown around the room and could easily knock something over. With gameplay of around 15 to 20 minutes it is a quick and easy game to play, no questions need to be answered and the only thing players have to think about is their strategy when going into battle.
The battles are lots of fun and the more space and more players you have the better they are. We love the fact the rules contain small room and two player variants. It even has rules for if you want to combine two copies of the game for more players and adding in more burritos.
The game is simple to understand, and we all enjoyed getting into battles, the kids more so (especially when trying to take out the adults – the look of maniac happiness on their faces is quite frightening). It is a fantastic fun game for all the family to get involved with, enjoy and definitely an excellent way to get the kids off the screens.
Although we don’t like to encourage throwing things in the house, Throw Throw Burrito is a really fun and energetic family game, and the burritos don’t hurt when they hit you. We really would recommend it, just make sure you remove anything that could easily be broken from the room first.
Throw Throw Burrito would make an excellent family game to enjoy together. And look out for Block Block Burrito, an expansion pack for the Throw Throw Burrito and Throw Throw Avacado games introducing Tortilla Shields and new battles which add a whole new dynamic to both games. With the expansion pack, players are able to defend themselves against flying Burritos and Avocados!
Throw Throw Burrito is Dodgeball on a smaller scale but just as much fun.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £24.99
For more information, visit www.explodingkittens.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
Disclosure: I received this item for free for the purposes of writing an honest and impartial review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review uses an affiliate link which I may receive a small commission from if you purchase through the link.
