Get on Board: Cobra Paw

Following the success of its fast-paced anagram game, the team behind Banagrams puts out another distinctly family-friendly game with Cobra Paw, an introduction to reaction-testing games.

Two big, chunky dice each feature six symbols. The two-symbol combination a player rolls will correlate to one of the 21 domino-style tiles provided. The first player to recognise the tile must use their ninja-like reflexes and sharp recognition skills to snatch the tile as quickly as possible. It sounds easy enough – but there is a catch. Even once a player has claimed a tile, it is still up for grabs. If that combination gets rolled again at some point the owner of the tile must still snatch it out of the way before anyone else can get their paws on it. The first person to accumulate six tiles wins and bestows honour to the Grand Shidoshi, Master Meow.

This is a high-quality, gorgeously stylised game, making it a welcome addition to any collection. Each symbol is colourful and easily distinguishable, and the chunky, durable design makes it ideal for children who will soon be able to play without adult supervision. The game can be easily played on the smallest of tables but while the packaging and concept art are pretty, the oversized box does let down what could be a very compact game.

With its very basic premise, Cobra Paw is engaging for all ages but if one player has better reaction skills, gameplay will quickly become dull for other players. Although other reflex games such as Dobble have different variations of play, Cobra Paw has just the one. It’s not particularly something you can settle down to an evening playing but it will provide an amusing filler in between longer board games.