Base price: $60.
2 players.
Play time: ~10 minutes.
BGG Link
Buy on Amazon (via What’s Eric Playing?)
Logged plays: 25 

Full disclosure: A review copy of KLASK was provided by Asmodee US.

Oh, KLASK. I’ve been playing this game on and off at pretty much every con it’s been at since it hit the US a few years ago. I love it in the same way that I love all those fun wooden dexterity games that they always have at BGG.CON when I can be bothered to go to Texas (not often). Do I prefer sjoelen? Slightly. Will I ever get a sjoelen board? Absolutely not. It’s impractical. With KLASK, however, the dream of practical impracticality is slightly more within reach. Let’s talk about it.

In KLASK, your goal is simple: ball goes in hole. To complicate things, magnets have been added. How do magnets work? Please don’t ask me; I’m stressed enough as-is. But magnets are present. Each round, players will essentially air hockey a ball back and forth with their magnetic paddles. Few things to watch out for: if the ball goes in the hole on your side, that’s your opponent’s point. If your paddle goes in the hole on your side, that’s your opponent’s point. If you get two of those little white magnets stuck to you, that’s your opponent’s point. That’s a lot of different ways to score, so keep on your toes and see if you can outmaneuver your opponent. Can you figure out how magnets work long enough to prevail?

Overall: 9.25 / 10

Overall, I love KLASK. I’ve always loved KLASK. I think like, fourteen games of KLASK were just from one Gen Con a few years ago. It’s very close to the ultimate sit-down-and-play fast game, with simple rules, enjoyable strategy, and quick play working in perfect harmony for a really fun experience. Yes, I’m a fan of dexterity games, and this is easily one of my favorites. ICECOOL still has it beat on theme, though. It has that killer “let’s go again” ease of replay that defines a lot of my favorite games, from Santorini to The Crew. You lost? Too bad; try again. And you can try again, nearly instantly.

Okay, Eric, you might say: you love the game, so why not a 10 / 10? First off, that’s a very rare occurrence. Gotta keep that curve normally distributed, ish. Second, there are a few things about KLASK that I find frustrating. It’s quite a large production, as some of these games tend to be. KLASK is “portable” in the broadest sense, in that there’s a handle on top of the box that you can use to carry it around, You’re not throwing it in your backpack for a day out and about. Common problem with dexterity games is also how much they require a flat surface; even on my game table, I worried that there was a slight curve down and to the left. Not the biggest deal, but still happens. Final concern is about piece sizes and the magnets. KLASK is not necessarily a game I would recommend for families with pets, for instance. The magnets are all tiny, the pieces are all tiny, and I worry about just losing them when I’m playing; I can’t imagine what would happen if you had pets and one ate one. Or a kid, I guess; I don’t know what kids eat. Small components in dexterity games generally stress me out, as a person who loses things.

Those are not dealbreakers for me, however. They might be for you, which is why I mention them, but they’re also kind of critical for KLASK to be … KLASK? If the board were any smaller, I think it would be hard to play. If the components were larger, similar issue. There’s a scale of things, I suppose. But for my money (idiomatically; this is a review copy) you’d be hard-pressed to find something that reminds me so much of air hockey while still being its own game and a delight in it of itself. Cabin trip? It’s there. Any time I can put it in my trunk and take it with me somewhere, it’s probably going to join. That’s just the fun of KLASK. It’s dead-simple to pick up and every point you play you feel like you understand the game a bit better and know what to do next time. It’s a game you grow into and grow with, and as a result, I highly recommend giving it a shot. Who knows? Even if you don’t love dexterity games, this might be the one that’ll change your mind.

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