Review: L.L.A.M.A.

Introduction & Overview

In this game, llamas rule, so get ready to take negative points. The goal is to play all your cards, but if you can’t, you’ll have to decide: do you fold now or draw hoping to get the card you need?

This is the premise of L.L.A.M.A., designed by Reiner Knizia (Keltis, High Society, Ra). The game was published in 2019 by AMIGO Spiele in a German edition, being one of the Spiel des Jahres nominees that same year. The artwork was handled by Rey Sommerkamp (in his board game debut) and Barbara Spelger (Speed Cups, Halli Galli, Fluxx).

The game is published in Spanish by the Chilean publisher Fractal Juegos (although the game is completely language-independent except for the rulebook). It accommodates 2 to 6 players, with a recommended minimum age of 8 and an approximate playing time of around 20 minutes. The MSRP is €7.99. A review copy of the German edition by AMIGO Spiele was used for this review.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom), measuring 11.9 × 9.4 × 2 cm (standard box size like 6 nimmt! or No Thanks!), we find:

56 Cards (58 × 87 mm)
70 Scoring Chips (plastic):
- 50 White chips of value 1
- 20 Black chips of value 10
Rulebook

How to Play

L.L.A.M.A. is a card filler in which players try to empty their hands as quickly as possible by playing cards to a discard pile one by one on alternating turns, being able to play only the same value as the top card or the next higher value. If a player cannot or does not want to play, they can draw from the deck or fold, scoring negative points based on the values of the cards remaining in hand. The game ends when one or more players reach or exceed a score threshold.

Key Concepts

In L.L.A.M.A. we find two main elements. The first and most important is the cards. We have a deck of 56 cards of 7 types: cards numbered 1 to 6 and llama cards, which, in terms of numerical sequence, follow the 6 and precede the 1 to close the loop (although when scoring, their value is 10). Players will play a series of rounds with an initial hand of six cards, with the main goal of trying to be the first to run out of cards.

On the other hand, we have the scoring chips, available in two colors (white chips are worth 1 point, while black chips are worth 10 points). These points are negative, as the winner of the game will be the one who has accumulated the fewest points when the game end is triggered. The game provides a mechanism to discard previously earned chips.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

Form a general supply with the scoring chips.
Shuffle the card deck and place it in the center of the table.
Finally, randomly choose the starting player.

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of L.L.A.M.A. takes place over an undetermined number of rounds until the game end is triggered.

At the beginning of each round, the entire deck is shuffled, six cards are dealt to each player, and one card is revealed face-up in the center of the table.

Starting with the first player (in subsequent rounds it will be the player who played the last card in the previous round) and proceeding clockwise, each player must choose one of the following options:

Play a Card from Hand. This card must show a value equal to the top card of the discard pile or one higher (the value following 6 is llama, and the value following llama is 1).
Draw a Card to Hand. The player takes the top card of the deck and adds it to their hand.
- This action is no longer available if the draw deck runs out or if the player is the only one who hasn’t folded.
Fold (Quit). The player reveals their hand and scores points equal to the sum of the distinct values shown on their cards (if a player has multiple cards of the same value, they only score that amount of points once). Llamas penalize 10 points.

The round ends when one of two situations occurs:

All players have folded
A player manages to run out of cards in their hand.
- In this second case, that player gets the chance to return one of their scoring chips (black or white) to the supply.
- The remaining players accumulate points according to the cards left in their hand (as if they had folded).

After this, if the game has not ended, a new round begins.

Game End

The game ends at the end of the round in which one or more players have accumulated 40 or more points. The player with the fewest points is crowned the winner. In case of a tie, victory is shared.

Personal Opinion

How many times have you heard or read that question: “is this game like UNO, but done right?” Well, it seems the good Doctor thought we hadn’t heard it enough. That is why, as a true master of rehashing and recycling ideas—both his own and borrowed from other designs—he delights us with a new filler that seems to have hit the ground running in the board gaming community. Let’s see why.

As I mentioned, L.L.A.M.A. (the uppercase letters are no coincidence either) is a filler with the same premise as UNO: trying to be the first player to empty your hand of cards, having the two classic options of playing a card to the discard pile meeting certain restrictions (in this case, that the played card’s value equals or is one step higher than the top card) or drawing from the deck when you can’t play, adding a new card to your hand (which moves you further away from your goal).

When a player manages to run out of cards, the round ends, and players score points. In this case, it is the opponents and not the player who triggered the end of the round who score, since in this design points are negative, in pure 6 nimmt! style (here is its tocho-review), including the overarching goal of trying to be the player with the fewest accumulated points when one of your opponents crosses a certain threshold (40 points in this case). For greater simplicity, there are no special effects in L.L.A.M.A. Cards are just simple values (with one subtle exception) and do not trigger extra associated actions.

Described this way, it sounds like a bland version of Merle Robbins’ classic. And when you explain it for the first time, skeptical looks will be a constant. But the key lies in the subtleties the design reveals as the games roll on.

The first is that players have a third option on their turn: they can fold (quit). This is equivalent to another player going out, scoring negative points based on the values still in hand, but with the crucial difference that it is up to the player themselves. Returning to 6 nimmt!, it would be similar to when a player chooses a card with a value lower than the last card of every row—they know they are almost certainly going to take negative points, but the decision is theirs, allowing them to choose the least damaging path.

When evaluating risk and seeing folding as a good option, another subtlety of the design comes into play: negative points are not scored based on the number of cards, but solely on the distinct values present in your hand. For each distinct value among the cards in hand, the player scores that value in points. But of course, if a player has multiple cards of the same value in hand, they only receive negative points once for that value.

Thus, if you have 3 or 4 cards of the same value in hand, bailing out of the round isn’t a bad deal, especially if you consider that another player is likely to go out before you can get rid of any cards you might draw trying to stay in the round. Let’s not forget that the goal is to accumulate as few points as possible, and often you’ll have no choice but to take some points, so weighing when it’s best to take a hit is crucial to staying alive in the match. That said, many times you’ll have no choice but to push your luck, because there is one card that, as mentioned before, has an exception when scoring.

These cards are the llamas, which, for gameplay purposes, act as a value 7, since it’s the card that follows 6 and precedes 1 (allowing for circular progression on the discard pile). But when tallying points, their value is not 7, but 10 (directly earning you a black 10-point chip). Therefore, having llamas in hand is a constant hazard, and every time you manage to play one, you’ll feel a sigh of relief. The trouble is when you have several in hand and you’re praying that the other players don’t bump the value past them. These moments of tension and uncertainty generate surprisingly intense moments, especially when few players remain in the round, making it harder to cycle back to a specific value as you have to advance one step at a time.

Regardless, not all is lost if you get stuck with a hefty pile of points in a round. The game provides a mechanism to shed them. This is the reward for being the player who goes out in a round: being able to return one chip from your stash to the supply. And any chip will do, whether it’s a 1-point or a 10-point chip. Thus, a dire situation can turn relatively favorable in an instant.

I’ve already dropped some of the little gems that reveal themselves during your initial plays. But there are more. For example, adapting your strategy based on your accumulated points is fundamental. Being behind on the scoreboard is not the same as being in the lead. In the former case, you must try to go out, because even if you add just a few points, you’ll keep inching dangerously close to the game-ending threshold, leading to certain defeat; on the other hand, if you have very few points in your stash, pushing your luck is a much harder pill to swallow.

Another subtlety of the game is the dead end. There are two situations where a player loses the option to draw cards. The first is the most obvious: when the draw deck runs out. Here, unlike other games, once the deck is depleted, you cannot draw anymore, so players must make do with what they have in hand. This leads to great moments when a specific value was heavily played early in a round, so if the discard pile cycles back around to the preceding value, you’ll watch players draw and draw, swelling their hands. After all, once you’re holding a hefty handful of cards, one more or less usually won’t hurt that much more.

The other path is when only one player remains without having folded; that player is forbidden from drawing, even if cards remain in the deck. Once you’ve played a few games, players will actively look to create this scenario with an engineered hand. It is tricky and risky, but if the gamble pays off, the payoff feels legendary, as you can run out of cards and return one of your chips to the supply. But as I said, it is a high-risk gamble, because if an opponent goes out while you are setting up that ultimate hand, you’ll watch your penalty points soar.

This dynamic also opens the door to subtle bluffing, which usually manifests through commentary and groans when the situation isn’t actually that bad, trying to coax your opponents into folding early in hopes of leaving you out in the cold.

Let’s discuss player count scalability. Surprisingly, L.L.A.M.A. works acceptably well at all player counts, which isn’t always the case for this kind of game. It achieves this thanks to the fold rule. At lower player counts, it’s relatively easy for players to hit a roadblock and, rather than make matters worse, most of them will fold; at higher player counts, with constant fluctuations in the discard pile values (it is exceedingly rare for a player to be able to play two identical values across consecutive turns), going out becomes far more challenging. Obviously, there is a sweet spot, which for me sits around 5 players, but it remains satisfying across all configurations.

Replayability follows the typical curve for games of this genre. The ultimate test of whether a short, rules-light filler works is seeing whether players want to run it back immediately after the first game. And with L.L.A.M.A., you simply can’t play just once. True, it might not be the absolute best choice given the player count and weight bracket, but it does its job flawlessly. It is imperative that it is played at a brisk, steady pace, as even a small amount of overthinking can drag down the experience. It has decisions, but not of the depth that requires players to run mental simulations while the OS loading wheel spins next to their heads.

Its biggest flaw is the one you probably already expect. It is a very simple game reminiscent of others and may prove too lightweight for more demanding hobbyists. But bringing it to the table with casual players is a guaranteed hit. Conversely, its greatest virtue is that every round has a built-in timer in the form of the draw deck, ensuring the game never outstays its welcome or drags into boredom.

Let’s move on to production. We find the classic small-box filler with bridge-sized cards of good weight, smooth finish, and decent snap. The cards have white borders to avoid marking, though sleeve protection is recommended (they get a lot of mileage). The chips are large, tiddlywink-style plastic tokens. Preferable to cardboard, though not particularly glamorous. The rulebook is well-structured and leaves no room for doubt.

Visually, it sports the “classic” look of numerical fillers: colored cards with simple background motifs that don’t particularly jump off the table. Standing out among them are the llama cards, which also grace the cover. A goofy and amusing depiction of the domesticated artiodactyl mammal of the camelid family, sporting a yellow scarf around its neck, bulging bright-blue eyes, and a rainbow backdrop (which also adorns the card backs). I like the emotional roller coaster during play: drawing a llama is visually delightful, but a split second later, the sheer dread of holding it in your hand sinks in.

As a fun fact, the German name of the game is an acronym, L.A.M.A., standing for “lege alle Minuspunkte ab”, which roughly translates to “drop all negative points.” And from that acronym, the leap was made to the Andean quadrupeds.

And let’s wrap this up. L.L.A.M.A. is a straightforward and effective offering that revolves around hand management and constant risk evaluation. The tension of knowing when to fold to mitigate damage, the psychological weight of holding high-value cards, and the temptation to press your luck to clear your score pile create a snappy dynamic packed with playful rivalries and small moments of euphoria. While its extreme conceptual lightness and unavoidable reliance on luck may leave those seeking deeper tactical substance lukewarm, its mechanical nuances give it just enough spark to shine on the table. A fresh, well-calibrated piece of entertainment that delivers thoroughly thanks to rapid-fire decisions and razor-sharp penalties. For all these reasons, I give it a…