You grab your burrito in a firm grip and throw it towards your opponent. He makes an agile dodge and sends a projectile towards you. You know you can’t dodge, so you brace yourself for the worst. A soft balloon crashes into your head, much to the delight of the other players. You have lost this round.
The Flying Burrito is a game with banal mechanics, which is just an excuse to throw yourself around the title sweet-eyed meal. The game was released a few years ago and gained popularity among gamers thanks to the idea of activating gameplay and graphics by the creator of the online comic The Oatmeal . The now released Extreme Backyard Edition differs from the usual in a few essential details, but does not mix anything up with the proven formula of the game.
What is it about
Each player has 5 cards in their hand and strives to have a set of 3 cards of the same type among them. He can then play them to score points or trigger a battle. Cards can be discarded and drawn without following turn order, leading to an exciting race punctuated by battles. These can be played in 3 ways: free-for-all, freestyle duel and gentleman duel in which the players face each other, take three steps forward and fire a shot at the opponent. The hit player receives a chip with a negative point and the game resumes. According to the rules, the game should end after a few such rounds, but in practice we play longer, until the participants lose their strength to throw burritos.
The mechanics are simple and that’s what it is meant to be. The key moments of the game are the battles, and they are the most fun.
Duel: foam or blown?
The differences between the versions apply to virtually every element. First of all, the title burrito, play two, is now puffed up and gigantic. It is worth having a pump with you, because without it you can lose your lungs while preparing the game. In the new edition, the cards are more than twice as large, and the tokens were produced on fat rubber instead of cardboard. The whole thing now looks even more effective.
The changes did not affect the mechanics of the game itself, but the gaming experience did. The scale is different – the backyard edition, as the name suggests, is not suitable for indoor playing. The backyard, garden or park will be the perfect place for a dodgeball game. You will still need a table or a piece of flat surface to play cards.
The cards themselves are described as waterproof, but this is not a good translation of the original water resistant , which does not guarantee full resistance. Unfortunately, the cards absorb moisture quite quickly from the edges, which makes them easily damaged after being poured with a drink or exposed to rain. The size of the cards may be pleasing, but it makes it difficult to quickly shuffle the stack, and I definitely prefer the original release here.
You should also be careful with the burrito itself. When we play on a surface that is not evenly trimmed, and has stones, sticks or other protruding elements, we risk damaging the title bullets. You don’t have to try hard to puncture the rubber – burritos fly fast in all directions, so it’s only a matter of time before they hit something harder that will damage them. There is a patch in the box, but it will not help with more serious injuries. The foam burrito from the first version of the game also had its drawbacks and was able to break quickly, so that’s a feature of the game (and depends on the players too).
Verdict
The Flying Burrito: Extreme Backyard Edition is a fun and exciting twist on a dodgeball game with a layer of rules that moderate the gameplay. First of all, it is about the fun of throwing absurd balloons. You can give the children to play in the garden or have a game while drinking alcoholic beverages. Laugh and tire a little. This is what it is all about.
