If you like boardgames at all you have probably played a few hands of cribbage at some point, and have challenged your vocabulary with a game of Scrabble.

Think of combing the two and you have a bit of understanding of this week’s review game CrossCribb.

At its heart CrossCribb relies on the basic principles of cribbage in terms of scoring, so think 15s and 31s, runs and pairs.

The cards are played out onto a 5X5 game board, with one player scoring cards in up and down columns, and the others in cross rows.

Players are each dealt seven cards and on alternating turns play out five to create the scoring lines.

Points are scored after each hand, with the board filling up over a series of five hands.

As the board fills there is more importance to placement, but also a growing likelihood that a card may not offer a huge point score.

Now the board itself was a bit of a disappointment. With limited use the backing of the board is lifting from the cardboard, and will require gluing, although I fear it will bubble because it will be difficult to get glue spread evenly. That said, the board is more a guide than necessity, as you can easily lay out a 5X5 card pattern without it.

There is a deck of cards, but you can play with any deck since there is nothing unique to the deck.

What is handy is a thick pad of CrossCribb score sheets which will make tracking scores much easier.

Designed by Steve Barry and Tony Nelson CrossCribb offers something different enough to hold interest, with enough fun attached to get occasional playtime, although it won’t replace the simplicity and re-playability of old fashioned cribbage.

Check the game out at www.crosscribb.com

If anyone is interested in this game, or other boardgames feel free to contact calmar...@sasktel.net

Past reviews are collected online at calsboardgamemusings.blogspot.com