Tango Review: A Two Player Ballroom Battle

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💎 BGG rated 7.2/10 w just 157 ratings 💎

💡 Designers: David Harding and Matt Sims

🎨 Artist: Heiko Günther

🖨️ Publisher: Grail Games

📅 Released: 2024

🧑🏻‍🤝‍🧑🏿 Players: 2

⚖️ Weight: 1.60/5

⏱️ Time: 15-30 minutes

🔗 View Tango on BGG

Trick-takers usually have a player count problem: they’re not ideal for two.

Harding & Sims try to get around the issue with a dedicated 1 vs 1 trick-taker based on ballroom dancing and the idea that “it takes two to tango”.

In Tango, there are just 41 cards - 1 to 10 in four different suits and a “Rose” card.

One card is dealt to the side to indicate the starting trump suit, then each player gets 20 cards.

Only ten of them form your hand, though.

Five are dealt face down in front of you, with another five face up on top of them. Anyone who’s played the shedding game Shithead will be very familiar with this setup.

From then on it’s fairly standard trick taking, but with a couple of interesting twists.

Every trick consists of four cards, not two.

Both players play one card from their hand, then they each play one of their face up cards.

As is standard, you must follow the lead suit if you can. Highest card in the lead suit wins, unless a trump is played.

The Rose card is considered to be a zero in the trump suit. Once the back of a face down card is revealed, it’s flipped ready for the next trick.

The other big twist is that whoever loses the trick has the option to switch the trump card with a card from their hand.

The round ends once ten tricks have been played and you’re out of cards.

Scoring

💃 +1 per trick won

💃 +1 for each 1, 2 or 8 in a won trick (these cards have a black circle on them)

💃 -1 for each 9 or 10 in a won trick (these cards have a red ‘X’ on them)

💃 + 2 for the Rose card (which has two black circles on).

All players start the game with two rose tokens placed face down. Whoever wins the round flips one of their tokens face up. First to flip two tokens - i.e. win two rounds - wins the game.

🎲 G - Gameplay

(pacing, downtime, intuitiveness)

Tango is straightforward to learn with a concise set of rules and a lightning fast setup time.

As is often the case with trick-takers, sometimes you have no choice over which card to play because you must follow suit if you can.

At other times, players prone to analysis paralysis (AP) risk getting a little bogged down. With four cards per trick, and your ability to see the face-up cards your opponent has to choose from, there are multiple permutations to chew through.

Don’t get me wrong - that’s what makes it interesting. Just be careful who you play it with if you want a snappy game.

There’s even more room for AP when the loser is deciding if they want to swap out the trump card.

⭐ Score: 19/25

🎨 A - Art & Theme

(visual appeal, thematic coherence, component quality)

In my experience, card games - and trick-takers in particular - struggle to integrate a theme well.

Take Scout, where the circus theme is utterly pointless or Luz - one of my favourite trick-takers - that is supposed to be about stained glass windows.

Of all the themes I’ve seen with trick-takers, Tango is up there in terms of doing a good job integrating the theme.

One player leads, the other follows. You’re battling over the rose between your teeth.

And the tension in the game, with its push-pull nature, does suit the ballroom dancing theme very well.

I have no complaints about the artwork or component quality. It isn’t spectacular, but it works. The dots and ‘X’s on the cards make it super easy to score a trick.

⭐ Score: 17/25

⚙️ M - Mechanics

(design elegance, balance, novelty)

Clearly a lot of thought has gone into how to make a trick taking game for two. It’s a really clean, well balanced design that feels fresh.

Scores are typically really close, with someone often winning a round by a mere point. This really adds to the tension because it isn’t usually clear who is going to win a round until possibly the final trick.

There are some juicy decisions to be made, too.

If you know you’re going to lose the trick, sometimes you might deliberately throw in a face-up 1 or 2 even though it gives your opponent an extra point. That’s so that you can reveal one of your face down cards in the hope that it nets you more points in the next trick.

⭐ Score: 19/25

😄 E - Enjoyability

(fun factor, replayability, emotional response)

That tension I was talking about is what makes the game - I really enjoy playing Tango. There’s joy in turning over the hidden cards and celebrating or commiserating what you find there.

In terms of replayability, the rulebook handily offers alternative ways to play the game. That includes a longer version where it’s the first person to 20 points that flips a rose token.

I always appreciate it when the designers offer multiple ways to play a game - it helps the game stay fresher for longer.

⭐ Score: 18/25

Tango is a highly enjoyable two-player trick-taker that generates real tension.

The four cards per trick, visible and hidden cards, and the ability for the loser to switch the trump suit are all great twists that come together to make a great 1 vs 1 card game.

We're always on the lookout for off-the-beaten-track board and card games that aren't getting the attention they deserve.

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