Spritz, Spray, Dice in Disarray
•••Game Stats: Parfum•••
•Publisher: Queen Games / Piatnik
•Designer: Marco Ruskowski / Marcel Süßelbeck
•Players: 2-4
•Sweet Spot: 3 or 4
•Mechanics: Action Point Allocation / Set-Collection / Dice Rolling
•Long-Distance Hacks: Proxy dice and pile separation for one side. Also, easy visual delineations between top, middle, and bottom tiles.
Parfum is a scintillating balance of strategy and luck. Be the best at concocting olfactory delights to fulfill unique clientele requests. I smell a winner here!
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•THOUGHTS•
Kitty: This one was definitely an unassuming, sleeper hit! To be honest, we never imagined that selling perfume to picky customers would be so damn fun! What initially pulled us in was the artwork. The beautiful box and the market style gameplay is what made us bring it to the table. The Art Nouveau style artwork on the inside equally impressed as well. We were so happy to see the client tiles had both male and female customers and wasn’t stereotypically all women. And then with gameplay… oh boy… that was the beginning of an intense addiction.
Lizzy: The cute art is what caught my eye as well. I agree with how awesome it is that the client tiles aren’t all women! The game was probably overlooked by some gamers due to the stereotypical view that perfume is “girly.” They sure are missing out if that’s the case. And in typical Queen Games fashion, it was simple to learn, complex with layered strategy, and accessible enough to lure muggles (non-gamers) to the table. It also is balanced and engaging even when not your turn.
Brooks: Like Kitty said, it completely crept up on us. We were not expecting to be hooked hard and fast by a game about hawking perfume. Turns are quick and every decision feels weighted. Choosing turn order based on your points (or lack there of) can give you the advantageous push you need to surpass the leaders of the pack. Players don’t feel hopeless when in last and don’t feel safe when in first. The droplets (either blank or containing points) are another strategic layer giving the ability to reroll some dice. But be careful, Kitty now refers to them as “tears of failure” due to her need for constant rerolls!
Lizzy: Exactly! Do you buy up certain tiles to undercut others, or focus on obtaining the perfect combo for a sellable scent? Should I hold out on selling my perfume, hoping for a rare customer with expensive tastes?? Will I get to sell to Becky-with-the-good-hair before Brooks can??? Will Kitty distract me with useless facts about European aristocracy so I miss her triggering end-game before I can sell my stinky creations???? So much pressure…
Kitty: Omg… by the way… did you know that perfumed gloves became so popular in France that the “Guild of Glove and Perfume-Makers” was established in 1656, and a poisoned pair of these perfumed gloves were used to murder a French duchess!!
Lizzy: See!!! Foul play!
Brooks: Kitty, stop working deception into every game we play… although, that fact was actually pretty interesting.
Kitty: And I got away with saying “guild!”
Brooks: The moratorium on the word “guild” has now been extended.
Anyways, back to our original broadcast, Parfum is totally worth all the hype. It’s also incredible for long-distance play. Only a few tweaks were needed for visual clarity. To easily delineate between bottom, middle, and top bottle segment tiles, we simply slid the tops towards the top of the market, the bottoms to the bottom of the market, and the middles stayed… well, in the middle!
Lizzy: Until both sides had a copy, we also used proxy dice and wrote out which numbers represented the successes and fails of each color set. Then we only had to have one side separate the A and B customer tiles into easily searchable piles that the other side would call out. It becomes a super easy practice to be the non-random side after a while. We also experimented with some house-rule play variants such as keeping the selected dice for the round, creating an interesting take-that element.
Kitty: In summary, we became severely addicted to this game immediately. Even though I went through a spell where all my rolls failed, and “The Kitty Six” became the new moniker for a failed die roll, I couldn’t stay away from it. (PSA: don’t roll like Kitty, and don’t take her to Vegas!) We now find ourselves interrupting other games to say, “I just have to say it… I really want to play Parfum.” That smells like high praise to me.
Kitty: 10/10 ~ Brooks: 9.5/10 ~ Lizzy: 8.5/10
!!!Game Playlist!!!
Perfume ~ Britney Spears
Smell ~ Sleeping at Last
Cologne ~ Haux
Cigarettes and Perfume ~ OnCue / Manicanparty
Slip Away ~ Perfume Genius
Smells Like Teen Spirit ~ Nirvana
Spilled Perfume ~ Pam Tillis
Chanel No. 5 ~ Calexico
Scent ~ Pinback
Cologne ~ Isaac Dunbar
Long Distance Gamers 