One of the shared gifts our kids received for Christmas this year was a copy of Sushi Go!, a fun card game our family's been having a blast playing together. It's also been making me super hungry for dim sum ?

The basic gist is, you and the other players pass around hands of sushi-themed cards, each person laying a card face-down and revealing it each turn, with the hopes of assembling the highest-scoring combination of sushi dishes by the end of the round (when all the cards are used up).

Every card type has a unique set of conditions and/or point values. For example...

• Playing a single dumpling earns only 1 point, but as you play them in multiples, the point values grow in larger increments (1 → 3 → 6 → 10 → 15 points).
• Meanwhile, sashimi rolls have no value individually, but if you manage to play a set of three (which is easily blocked by another player who sees what you're trying to set up), you get 10 points.
• Chopsticks earn no points at all, but can be used to play two cards at once on a later turn, allowing for big plays to swing the game in your favor.
• Alone, wasabi does nothing, but place a nigiri (worth 1, 2, or 3 points) on top of it and you triple its value.
• ...and the list goes on.

This guy's 5-minute video gives a great rundown of the game rules:

The game is very approachable and easy to get into, and the game's whole design aesthetic is cute so it doesn't feel intimidating for little ones like our 4yo daughter. It also goes by relatively quickly, so you don't have to dedicate an entire evening if you don't want to.

However, because the hands are always being passed around, and because you can predict future plays being set up early by your opponents, there's this whole other level of strategy you can get into that involves 1) remembering who is holding what, 2) when a particular card might come back to you, and 3) possible chances to block someone else from pulling off a devastating combo (at the risk of stalling your own progress).

This is a great little card drafting game that I highly recommend for any family or friend group. Get it for just $12 on Amazon.