Game: Team3 Green
Designer: Alex Cutler and Matt Fantastic
Published: Brain Games Inc
Players: 3-6 Players
Playtime: 30 Minutes
Play Type: Dexterity/ Party
Synopsis:
You are taking on the role of the three monkeys. One of the monkeys cannot hear, another cannot see, and the final cannot speak. Your job is to complete blueprints to help your developing construction company.
Game Play:
Team3 Green is a cooperative dexterity game in which players will try to build structures based on blueprint cards. Each player will have a role card that will determine what their job is in building the structure. The Architect has the blueprint in front of them. They must communicate what it is on the blueprint without speaking. They can use gestures to explain what they are seeing to the Supervisor. The Supervisor’s job is to take what the Architect is gesturing, and explain it verbally to The Builder. The Builder is blind folded or keeps their eyes shut. Their job is to listen to the Supervisor and try to build the structure correctly.
Players have three minutes to build the structure. If they manage to do it before the time is up, the players win the round. If they do not, the players will lose the round. Each deck of blueprints have a different level of difficulty. For players to win, they must complete the same number of blueprints are there are stars printed on the back of the deck. Players will lose the game if they lose a number of rounds equal to the number of players.
Components:
Team3 Green comes with three decks of cards, and 10 construction pieces. The construction pieces are vibrant, and different enough from one another that it is easy to differentiate them when trying to communicate. They have held up well to use in the classroom as well. I do wish the game included a blindfold for The Builder though.
Overview:
Positives:
- Easy to Explain, Hard to Master
- Interactive
- Family Friendly
- Can be Combined with Team 3 Pink
- Adjustable Difficulty
Negatives:
- Lacks Theme
- Best with 3
- Lack of Insert
Team3 Green is a great experience for families, classrooms and gamers alike. It is a very simple game that is easy to explain. However, the simplicity does not transfer over to ease of play. The difficult mode is extremely challenging. Luckily, the easier modes are more manageable and can be played with younger family members.
As an educator, I especially like Team3 Green. This is a great icebreaker activity to use in the classroom to work on communication. I am looking forward to picking up a few copies of both Team3 Green and Pink to use as students work on their communication skills. It is easy enough to explain to younger children, but will be challenging enough to keep the focus of older students as well. I have used this in a smaller setting to work on direction following with my students. My students have seen improvement on following directions and asking questions when needing clarifications.
Outside of the classroom, I feel that Team3 can be a great entry point for non gamers. The interactive nature keeps players engaged throughout the whole game. It will also make players laugh and struggle throughout. That being said, while the game can play with up to six, it really is best with only three players. There are variations for four, five and six, but they are not nearly as well polished. These variations seem to be tacked on to make the game more marketable, but do not flow as smoothly as the base game.
While the game is fun and keeps players engaged, the game does lack in depiction of theme. It feels almost an afterthought and does not show throughout the design of the game. This has not affected my enjoyment of the game, but it may not appeal to someone looking for a depth of theme.
I highly suggest this game for players who enjoy dexterity games or party games. It is easy to get to the table and laughter will ensue. While I really enjoy the game, I do not think it would appeal to gamers who enjoy a lot of depth in their games. Those who enjoy games like Meeple Circus, Ice Cool or Maki Stack would probably get a lot of enjoyment out of the Team3 series as well.
The Meeple Street 