LAMA

At last, the renowned “casual” card game with its own cult fanbase has been adapted as a mobile application.

As every individual card-carrying member of the team knows, keeping a keen eye out for detrimental minus points is key in this game. In order to avoid racking up chips, players must strategically eliminate their hand cards. The choice is whether to play safe or risk drawing and leave it up to chance. Ultimately, the player who can deftly navigate around the unfavourable circumstances is crowned the victor.

Reiner Knizia’s card game has earned its acclaim from its simple rules and ability to entertain. It goes as follows: every participant starts with six hand cards. The current player lays down a card, where the card value must be identical or higher than the top card in the discard pile. If they’re not feeling up to it, players may opt to pass or even draw a fresh card instead. The end of a round will occur when a player discards all of their cards or if all participants have passed their opportunities. Players will be docked for remaining cards in their hands or any cards left after passing in the form of chips. The winner is the one who can clear all their cards and subsequently return one or more chips. After several rounds end, the individual with the lowest negative score wins.

More elements are infused in the application, featuring two spinoffs: “LAMA Party Edition” and “LAMA Dice.” Both share the basic guidelines of the original game but present new aspects, consequently rendering it more diverse. You may engage in all three modes with five AI opponents or group up with friends and family using “Pass & Play.” The application also enables users to combine narrative and play all at once.

As a delightful added bonus, “LAMA Dice” offers a new mode, singular to the application, wherein players are challenged to garner the best feasible score. Those who aspire to climb to the top ranks competitively are required to complete the achievement roster.

More highlights of the application are:

- 3 games in one app
- 4 game modes having their distinct scoring systems
- Single-player mode with an assortment of difficulty levels
- Weekly international high score lists spanning all 4 game modes
- An array of Achievements

This version has been nominated for several awards, securing the 2019 Game of the Year nomination and bagging the 2020 GamesExpo award, won in the “best children’s game” category.