ROCKY ROAD A LA MODE (Green Couch Games)
Said in one of the most annoying voices ever, the “Hello!” shouted in between the repeat of that age old summer melody has us all running to our wallets and then out down the street. In Rocky Road a la Mode you’re the original food truck, cruising behind the wheel of your 4-wheel freezer.
With a set of rules that can be explained in less time then it takes to gobble down an ice cream sandwich, this game is easy enough for young players but with enough choices for grownups. The furthest back player takes their turn (as in Red November) by either restocking their hand, playing a card to attract customers, or playing a set of cards to satisfy the order of one of the customers they’ve attracted. After all of a card’s orders are completed, they go in the back of the truck and grant glory points or permanent treats to use to fulfill future orders. First to nine glory wins!

Living in the age of Kickstarter stretch goals, us gamers are pretty easily distracted by gargantuan boxes crammed with sexy (but more often then not, unnecessary) components and excessively high-grade materials. Sure a bit of cardboard could have done the trick, but why not have “over 100 finely detailed miniatures!”?
Which isn’t saying that finely detailed miniatures are a bad thing. Games at their core can usually be reduced to bits of cardboard and paper but the “toy” aspect is what widens our eyes and gets us excited to open those boxes up on our dining room tables. But “over 100 finely detailed miniatures” come with a big price tag that is challenging to balance out with the fun that you’re going to get from them.
Green Couch Games are masters of knowing this balance on a super affordable scale. With an amazing track record of small box games filled with the coolest and most innovative components, you won’t beat their fun delivered to dollar spent ratio. With its wooden trucks, colorful cards and game board, and fun and simple rules, Rocky Road a la Mode is another great game. Go run down a copy. (Green Couch Games) by David C. Obenour