Ganz Schon Clever - That's Pretty Clever!
A great introduction to roll and write games, Ganz Schon Clever is competitive, easy to pick up and challenging to master. We highly recommend this compact, satisfying game.
Ganz Schon Clever: Quick Summary
Score:
9/10
Number of Players:
1-4
Time to Play:
20 minutes
A fantastic introduction to roll and write games, this is a brilliant and fiendishly hard to master game that combines reactive actions with careful pre-planning. It's also super compact and makes for a brilliant commute or holiday game too!
What we loved:
A brilliant game which builds up with each round
Firing off point scoring combinations is extremely satisfying
It's an easy game to play
It's compact and only requires a pad, a pen and the dice
The pad is clearly laid out and easy to pick up
It's a balanced game, but very challenging to score well
What could be improved:
The pens didn't last long and leaked a lot
This is a game for people who love numbers and combinations
Initially, it might seem a little confusing for new players
The review
Ganz Schon Clever (That's pretty clever) is a roll and write board game from Schmidt games. This is a 2018 Kennerspiel des Jahres nominee and Boardgamegeek Golden Geek awarded game where you roll dice, pick a colour and number and then mark an action on your game pad. As you progress through the rounds, you fill in enough boxes to activate bonuses that create combinations of actions which land you big points. Everything you need to play the game is in a box the size of a small book, and you can easily play this on your lap or on a packed commute.
How to play Ganz Schon Clever:
In turns, players roll six coloured dice on the tray in the game box. Each dice is a different colour, which corresponds to a colour on the play pad, and the player must decide which dice they want to choose. If they pick an orange 3, for instance, they write 3 in the next available box in the orange section, and then discard any dice that are less than three. They use the remaining dice for the next roll, choose a colour and discard anything lower, and then once again for the final roll, they repeat the action. The different coloured zones each behave in slightly different ways, which players must understand in order to form their winning strategy. The blue die must always be used in conjunction with the white die, so if blue is 3 and white is 4, then the player marks the number 7 square in the blue section. The white die is wild and can be used for any of the coloured areas except blue. Once the player has made three rolls and chosen three dice, the other player chooses one of the discarded dice. This means whoever has their turn, both players need to be paying close attention to the rolls and the potential scoring opportunities.
Each new round, players unlock bonuses such as rerolls or the ability to use a dice again after it has been played. Knowing when to use your +1s or rerolls is also a key part of your winning strategy. Once 6 rounds have been completed, the players calculate their totals, and whoever has the highest score is the winner.
The game is simple, relatively quick and once you've played it your first time, you'll keep coming back to try and get more precious points.
Calculating clever combinations
The game pad may look a little bewildering at first glance, but it's very well designed and actually simple to use once you're underway. Each section on the pad interlinks, which means you are planning not just this score, but also how you can achieve future high scores on different areas of the sheet from this one die placement. It makes every action valuable, if you misstep then your ability to fire off combinations will be hindered later on.
You score points for each square crossed off for the green and blue sections. The blue section is the hardest to fill, but provides the most bonuses for other sections if you achieve complete rows of columns. The yellow section scores for columns and provides bonuses on the rows. The orange section can have any number written in, but then becomes a dumping ground for bad numbers when you can't play other dice. The purple section must always be a higher number than the box previous, unless it is a 6 and then you start again at 1. Everything has its own flavour, but also interdepends on the numbers you play in the other zones. Which means you feel very good when you unlock a combo!
Your dice strategy is very important. If you go for high-scoring dice in your first roll, you will give away too many dice to give you good numbers in your third roll, and your opponent will have great dice to choose from. If you play too conservatively, you won't be able to use the yellow, blue, green and purple areas and your combos won't work. Finding the right balance and making the most of every roll is crucial to a winning play.
The pros and cons in detail
What we liked:
In round one, each roll seems fairly inconsequential to the overall score, but as you build through the rounds, you start to close in on the bonuses, and in round four, you get a free square or a free 6 to play in any zone. At this point, suddenly everything starts happening on the pad. If you play the freebie well, you can fire several zone bonuses and boost your score for the last rounds. The momentum in Ganz Schon Clever builds brilliantly, until every square you fill creates combos that fire lots of points. It's a very satisfying feeling and quite exciting considering you are just playing with a pen, six dice and a piece of paper.
The small number of components makes the play very simple. You can set this game up in seconds and be a few games in by the end of the first hour. It's super easy to play, and that means you will play this over and over. It's very bingeable, especially when that high score you just achieved is merely the first level, you'll be going back to try and land Einstein-worthy points.
What we would improve:
This is a low-cost game, and the components do feel a little rough and ready compared to other roll-and-write games like Railroad Ink. One particular bugbear was the pens, they are standard felt-tip pens, and they go dry quickly and leak everywhere! It doesn't affect playing the game, because such things like pencils, pens and any other marking tool exist, but it is a wee bit annoying!
This is a game for people who love calculating actions, planning future numbers and just number combos in general. If you don't like those, you may not enjoy Ganz Schon Clever. The gamepad can look a little confusing, so it may put people off, because it looks like a colourful spreadsheet - but go with it. It's so worth it!
Ganz Schon Clever: A summary
This is a fantastic little roll and write. Compact, brilliant to take in luggage, you can play it in small spaces and it is challenging but simple all at once. Less than £15 in most retailers - this should be an essential in your collection.
Expansions and Related Games
Expansions
Ganz Schon Clever does not have any expansions
Related Games
There are a large number of flavours of Ganz Schon Clever, including: Doppelt So Clever, Clever4ever Clever Cubed and Ganz Schon Clever Kids for children under 8.
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Ganz Schon Clever: Frequently asked questions
How difficult is Ganz Schon Clever to learn?
Ganz Schon Clever is easy to learn but tough to master. Once you've mastered how the dice rolls and scoring work, you will play this again and again!
Is Ganz Schon Clever luck-based?
Ganz Schon Clever uses dice, which means there will always be an element of luck built into the gameplay. However, players need to choose from six dice per round, which means there is always a play option, and strategies can be built around your luck.
Is Ganz Schon Clever similar to Yahtzee?
Ganz Schon Clever is a roll and write, which is the same as Yahtzee, but that's where the similarities end. It's much more intricate, more strategic and involves more inter-player competition.
Transparency Notice
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