MLGG: Pop Culture News, Reviews & Interviews

As tactile and simple as games can be, The Fuzzies is essentially Jenga, but with gravity-defying, colourful fuzzy balls.

The basics are so simple that they’re printed on the back of the box: players take turns to pull a fuzzy ball from the precariously stacked tower, with the aim being to place it higher than the position it was taken from (not necessarily the top of the tower) without knocking any fuzzy balls off.

If more than ten balls drop from the tower, it’s considered knocked over and the game ends with that player as the loser.

There’s a few more wrinkles than that, rule-wise. For example, if less than ten balls drop off the tower, play continues – but the player responsible for knocking the fuzzies off the tower takes a forfeit card for each ball dropped. On their next turn, they must follow the directions on the forfeit card (such as using their non-dominant hand or using different fingers to grab a fuzzy ball), combining these instructions if they hold more than one card.

Everything’s packaged neatly and appealingly in a semi-opaque plastic cup that doubles as storage and set up for the game, with the lid also pulling double duty as the platform the fuzzy tower stands on during play.

Plastic tweezers see provided in order to pluck the fuzzy balls from the tower; a neat idea in theory, but in practice these seemed to only be able to pinch a tiny part of each fuzzy ball, causing more havoc than helping. The rules do specify that it’s legal to use your fingers instead of the tweezers, so that’s usually the safest option.

The minimalist visual design is charming – the cards which determine the colour to be plucked on each player’s turn are illustrated with cute faces, bringing a great deal of character to an otherwise abstract game. These cards double as the forfeits (on the other side) which arealso illustrated in an amusingly cute way; the dual nature of the cards also helps keep components down – and assists with the game feeling pretty self contained and portable.

The Fuzzies is a fairly raucous experience and it’s easy to pick up and play in seconds. The rules are clearly laid out and the FAQ helps with a few minor quibbles that could crop up during play.

It’s all very well made and presented; for what it is, however, The Fuzzies may seem a little pricey. It’s a fast paced and fun game for all ages, but it is very basic and doesn’t scale well to large groups, given the instability of the fuzzy tower.

That said, it’s a unique spin on the kind of physics and dexterity type games – such as Jenga – that are perennially popular with more casual gamers and families. The Fuzzies also has charmingly minimalist design and just about anyone can pick up and play it within moments of being introduced to it.

You can purchase The Fuzzies from Amazon here.

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