Base price: $25.
2 – 8 players.
Play time: ~45 minutes.
BGG Link
Buy on Amazon (via What’s Eric Playing?)
Logged plays: 2
Full disclosure: A review copy of Sparks was provided by Rabble.
It’s always interesting to try a game that’s a bit outside of my usual wheelhouse, and almost every party game or group conversation game lands there, lately. I’m sure there’s still some party in me, somewhere in my deepest soul, but I’m busy half the time, these days. Maybe it’s the Seattle Freeze (it’s not). Either way, sometimes something looks pretty nifty and I want to know more about it, and here we are. Let’s talk about Sparks, from Rabble!
In Sparks, your goal isn’t to get points or exchange resources or conquer a likely-populated locale; you just wanna chat and get to know your friends (old or new) better. Delve into the past, consider the present, and plan for the future, and see how those things create a constellation that asks you one final question. What will you learn, and what new conversations will emerge?
Overall: 8.25 / 10
Overall, I was pretty impressed by Sparks! I’m normally a bit skeptical about these types of games, since they more often than not just end up asking pretty surface-level questions as part of their play or not giving a lot of room to expand on your answers. I particularly like how the three questions provide symbol inputs to a final question (though it would be a bit interesting if the questions were somewhat thematically-linked, so that you had a progression of your story in some way). I’m glad that this went for “thoughtful” over “raunchy”; I’ve had a couple chances to play this with folks I didn’t know very well, and the conversations that resulted after each question were genuinely informative and pleasant. We learned a lot and had fun doing so.
The other smart bit about this game is that the overall design aesthetic is very sharp. The cards have a nice embossing on them and are a very pleasant progression of purples, so it looks reminiscent of the night sky while still being very striking. If you break this out at a party, people are going to be interested, and there are enough questions that you can really pose these to a large group or change up how you play depending on your situation. The cards are also pretty decently-high quality, which adds to the overall quality of the game. There’s also some structure to how players play and ask questions, so even the chattier players are reminded to let everyone finish before they ask more or talk about the answer.
It’s maybe a bit disappointing when players get the same constellation card at the end, but I wouldn’t call it a major one; sometimes players give very different and interesting answers to the same question! All things being equal, though, I was very impressed by Sparks! I’m not sure what I expected, but what I got was a lovely and simple experience with some structure that I could play at dinner, in the car, or even at a party with basically no setup or rules time. There are also cute Lunar Events that pop up every now and then and let players mess with the cards or the ordering or even the question to try and add some interaction (beyond the post-question engagement). It’s a lovely parlor game and one that I might genuinely carry with me for a variety of activities moving forward. The questions are thoughtful, the aesthetic is impeccable, and the structure lets players engage while still providing some scaffolding beyond a hat full of questions. I ended up liking Sparks a lot, and if you want to get to know your friends better, you’re looking for a good game to play on a road trip, or you just like interesting conversation topics, I’d definitely recommend checking it out!
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