Waffle Hassle is fun but flawed

 When I was trying out Waffle Hassle, the thought that kept going through my brain was that this was a game that designed to be played on a airplane tray.

Waffle Hassle is an 18-Card micro game that’s all about stacking waffle cards with different toppings on top of each other.  There’s a two-player mode and a solitaire mode and the two are pretty different.

In the two-player mode, each player has a hidden objective card. Solitaire just has you trying to get at least two of each topping on the final board. Oh and the two-player mode has you swap hands at the end of each round. (Which is honestly the most interesting element of the game)

Either way you play the game, you use four of the cards to form a two-by-two grid that make up the entire playing area of the game. Here’s the telephone booth, here are the knives, go.

I have only played the solitaire version of the game. There are things that I like about Waffle Hassle. And there are some real concerns as well.

Okay. Let’s the the positives out of the way. While we live in an age of micro-games and an increased interest in In Hand games, I do like the minimal footprint of Waffle Hassle. If you have any kind of table space, it will work. And the solitaire game has a surprisingly strong ‘one more time’ effect.

But…

Here’s the biggest problem.  The alingment of the fronts and the backs of some of the cards in the files I bought is off. That means that those cards are effectively marked, which would quickly become a big deal in a two-player game. And I am doing my best not to remember cards for the solitaire game.

Now, even for someone like me who isn’t super craft for computer savvy, I can come up with workarounds to solve this. I can just use a solid pattern for the backs and problem is solved. However, I do like how the backs form a grid that is the same size as the symbols on the front of the card. And, let’s be honest, this is a legitimate  production issue.

I am also concerned about how the small pool of cards will affect long term  replay value. Four of the cards are hidden objectives, leaving 14 cards that you actually play with. And four of them become the board. I think there will reach a point in which you know the deck well enough that it won’t be as interesting. I bought the files for Ukiyo at the same sale and that is a tile-laying micro game that I can already tell will have a lot more long term value in it.

All that said, I am enjoying my time with Waffle Hassle. I bought the files on sale and I am definitely going to get my money’s worth out of them. It’s got problems but it is engaging.