#87: Biesti Boys

Biesti Boys

• designer: Howard Kamentsky
• publisher: Amigo Spiele
• date: 2002
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: not ranked/6.2
• age: 6+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: OOP
• cost: EUR 14,14 (Amazon.de), $4.99 (ebay - Elevator Eddie - used)

See, there's this hotel full of monsters - well, friendly monsters. And they all need to use the elevator - right now! So, we try to get the elevators to move up & down as quickly as possible by playing cards that are one more or one less than the number on the previous card... and we all play cards at the same time!

Yes, campers, this is a Speed/Espresso/Dutch Blitz variant that's simplified & streamlined to make for a really enjoyable gaming experience. In addition to the numbered cards (there are 8 floors to the hotel), there are STOP and GO. You can play a STOP at any time... which is kind of like having a kid monster on the elevator who pulls the emergency button. The only way to get it going again is with - wait for it! - a GO card. Anyone can then immediately play any number card on top of the GO card & get the elevator running again. You have a limited hand (2 cards, if I remember correctly), meaning you are playing & drawing cards as fast as your hand-eye coordination skills will allow to move.

As in all speed discarding games, it's easy for things to get confused, so we occasionally call a "time out" to straighten the piles. The game actually anticipates "freezes" - if everyone is stuck & can't play, the current set of elevators (and the cards on them) are discarded & a new elevator set put in the center of the table.

There's one more odd thing about Biesti Boys - it was also published in English as Elevator Eddie... but with different rules! As far as I can tell (I've never seen an actual copy of Elevator Eddie), the basic game is the same as Biesti Boys, except that you take turns. (Take turns?! Yawn.) There's also a "educational" set of rules, where you have two piles & add/subtract the numbers to come up with the answer. Double yawn.