Caper: Europe – Keymaster Games’ cartoonishly charming board game about pulling off daring feats of thievery in various romantic European tourist traps – made quite a splash when it launched in 2022. Its tight, competitive two-player gameplay and eye-catching looks netted it some rave reviews – and you can nab it for just $19.99 for this weekend only thanks to a 43% Black Friday discount!
Keymaster is known for making visually yummy stuff. It’s the studio behind arty hiking travel game Parks, one-time member of our coveted Best board games guide; my personal all-time favorite cozy board game; and, incidentally, also 20% off right now for Black Friday.
Where Parks is pretty and relaxing, however, Caper: Europe is pretty and tense. Over six rounds, you and your opponent will compete to assemble the best team of cartoon criminals, equip them with score-boosting equipment, and rack up points by controlling locations and stealing valuables as you go.
The core mechanic is drafting: each turn you’ll play one card from your hand, then swap hands with your opponent, and repeat. This is a classic way to build competitive tension; can you build the combos you need, while depriving the other player of theirs? Magic: The Gathering drafters will feel at home.
The game’s not without minor faults. While the wide variety of locations rotates each game to provide replayability, veteran strategy board game fans may find the overall tactical gameplay may goes a little stale after a while. And, while the turn-of-the-century, sepia-pastel theme is splendid, it’s a little ‘tacked on’ and detached from the gameplay.
But they really are small peccadilloes – Caper nabbed a 10/10 review from the Dice Tower for a reason, and it’s well worth adding to your collection of board games for couples (especially at nearly half off).
And, while we’re at it, here are a few more delicious Black Friday board game discounts I’ve spotted just this morning:
You can see these and many more heavily discounted board games in our main guide to 2024’s best Black Friday board game deals (not to mention big price drops on some of the best card games and DnD books, too).
Source: Wargamer
