#97: Klunker

Klunker

• designer: Uwe Rosenberg
• publisher: Rio Grande
• date: 1999
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: 1255/6.31
• position on my top 100 in 2005: 95th
• age: 10+
• # of players: 3-5
• print status: out of print
• cost: a number of copies can be found on the BGG Marketplace for around $8...

I'm guessing that you probably haven't recently trundled down to your local game store thinking, "What I'd really like to find is a game about running a costume jewelry shop." Of course, that didn't stop Uwe Rosenberg from designing just that kind of game - and you, you non-costume-jewelry-loving-gamer, are the richer for it.

You see, Uwe is a genius - he possesses an innate ability to take the whole idea of "card game" and turn it inside out. (No surprise that you'll see Uwe's name on this list a number of times.) Klunker is a trading game with some serious hand management issues... and a whole lot of fun stuffed into a little box.

One warning: the game is pretty unforgiving the first time you play... you need to give it a couple of chances to really get a feel for how the shop window & safe work together to score you some dough/points.

If you're wondering about where the goofy name came from... or if there really is any strategy to this game (there is! there is!), check out my Game Central Station: Klunker article here on aka pastor guy.