Winner's Circle

Winner’s Circle is not one of those games that wins you over at first glance. Yet once it is laid out on the table, it becomes a rare kind of great party game: huge laughs, a terrific mood, and that pleasant commotion that makes you remember the evening even more than you expected. I think Dr. Rokos had mentioned it at some point, but we did not give it the attention it deserved then. Our mistake.

At its core, the game sets up the atmosphere of a horse race, with players watching the race unfold and becoming emotionally —and, apparently, dangerously— invested in their horses. This is not the sort of game where you sit in silence and calculate on your own; the fun lies in watching the race develop and experiencing every twist with the group.

The interaction mainly comes through that shared racetrack tension: everyone is watching the same race, everyone has a reason to cheer or complain, and one player’s fortunes instantly become entertainment for everyone else. It is one of those games where the whole table takes part, even when someone is merely watching their friend’s next disaster.

Still, a few people in the group would do well to stay away from an actual racetrack, because I can already see them auctioning off their collections. For us, though, this is a great game that will definitely grace BLTG’s traditional pie-cutting gathering. And, to raise the mood a little, our favourite influencer served up the…