Trio

You are staring intently across the table, trying to deduce if your friend is clutching a two or a twelve, only to realize you've completely forgotten the location of a card you saw literally three seconds ago. Welcome to the beautifully stressful world of Trio.

Originally released in Japan under the name nana, this tiny, vibrant card game has taken the gaming world by storm. At its absolute core, Trio is a memory game—but before you roll your eyes and think of childhood matching tiles, understand that this is a high-tension, deliciously frustrating, and laugh-out-loud table experience.

Unboxed

Inside this travel-friendly little box, you will find:

• 36 Cards 

• 1 Rulebook 

Trio is a gorgeous little game with great production. The Mexican Folk Art style is beautiful and colourful and the gold accents on the 7's gives those card a little extra flair to remind you just how important they are.

However, my minor gripe here is that the cards have black borders, which are probably necessary for the art to pop as much as it does, but if they scuff players will be able to tell the cards apart, which might be a problem given trio is a memory game. Of course, you can sleeve the cards to solve this issue, which is what I have done.

A Quick Overview

The goal of Trio is simple: be the first player to collect three "trios" (sets of three matching numbers), or win instantly by securing the trio of golden 7s.

To set up, shuffle all 36 cards. Deal a hand of cards to each player based on player count, and place the remaining leftover cards face down in the middle of the table. Crucially, every player must immediately sort their hand in numerical order, from lowest to highest, keeping them secret.

On your turn, you are trying to find three matching numbers. You reveal cards one by one by doing any of the following:

• Ask any player (including yourself) to reveal their lowest card.

• Ask any player (including yourself) to reveal their highest card.

• Flip over one of the face-down cards in the middle of the table.

As long as the cards you reveal show the same number, your turn continues, and you try to find the next match.

• If you successfully find all three matching cards: Congratulations! You claim the Trio, place it face up in front of you, and your turn ends.

• If you reveal a card that does not match: Your turn ends immediately. All revealed cards go back exactly where they came from (returned to the extremes of players' hands or flipped face down in the center).

The game ends when someone claims their third trio, or whenever a player successfully hunts down the elusive 7s!

Spicy Mode

After your first game I recommend you switch to Spicy Mode. This makes the game play a little more tactical as players hunt for trios that when added or minused from one another make 7.

• Winning via "Spicy" Trios: You can no longer win with just any three trios. To win the game, you must either obtain two connected trios that share a linked icon on the card corners (such as a 4 and a 5, or a 10 and an 11), or pull off a single, high-stakes trio of 7s.

Thoughts

Trio is marginally more complicated than Memory and yet infinitely more fun. Because players hold a hand of cards it means they have information that the other players don't. They might know the location of the sevens for example. This hidden information in your hand makes for more tension around the table as players suddenly start honing in on a trio and you know exactly where the last card they need is located.

But while it's more fun than memory it manages to stay fairly uncomplicated and fast paced. Everyone will be on board with the rules after just a few turns and then it's all about trying to read the other players minds and remember where in the world that other 2 is!

Trio is at it's best when it is played multiple times in a row as players begin to muddle up where cards are located, getting past games confused with the current hand and making hilarious mistakes that often lead to their downfall.

Final Thoughts

Trio is a great little filler to kick of an evening of more serious gaming. Beautifully produced, fast to play and a visual feast on the table. This tiny game fits in a pocket or backpack and can be enjoyed by pretty much anyone. And because it relies on memory kids and adults can play together without the adults needing to hold back!