Cinco: An underrated filler game on Board Game Arena
Those who follow me on social media know that I’ve been playing a lot of games online, namely Board Game Arena. I am still not comfortable resuming my weekly game nights at my place, which bums me out as now I have a lot more space in our new house. One game that I’ve discovered on BGA — and have never heard of before until a few months ago — is Cinco.
Cinco is a quick end-of-night filler game that my friends and I have all enjoyed playing online. Think Connect 4 but with 5! Plus, fivefold more strategy than Connect 4. It plays about 15 minutes and worth checking out online.
In Cinco, you’re first dealt a hand of 4 cards. The cards go from 1 to 90, and when it’s your turn, you can either play a card, draw a card, or exchange your entire hand of cards if you have exactly 4 cards in your hand.
When you play a card, you place a marker on the board, which is this numbered hexagon, on any space the value of the card or higher. So, if you play a 65, you can place your marker on the 65 or any open space higher than that. When you select a card to play on your turn, the BGA interface actually shows you where you can place a marker. When you or your team connect five markers in a row, you win!
You can play Cinco with up to 6 people, either two groups of 3 players, or three groups of pairs. We’ve enjoyed it as a 4P, as you play in two teams. You have no idea what cards your teammate holds, so it’s always so satisfying unknowingly working together to maximize your five-in-a-row options.
Cards can also become wild if you play it and that number and all the numbers above it have markers on them. It’s sometimes strategic to fill up the higher numbered spaces to make one card you have in your hand wild. Having a hand-size limit of 4 cards though really makes the game tight. You should always try to have the most cards in your hand, but sometimes you have to play a card to block your opponent — and even more painful if it’s a low-numbered card — instead of being able to draw on your turn.
Lastly, it’s also advantageous to hold on to really low numbers because you’ll be able to use them for almost any space, and they can be placed in the tough-to-reach center of the hexagon. For a game I’ve never heard of a few months ago, Cinco has quickly been one of our go-to games each game night.
