Up or Down? Review

No need to hold the door open.

Up or Down? is a game of highs and lows. It features stunning art and pedigree design from Kramer and Kiesling, yet the gameplay feels surprisingly on-rails. A simple card game that functions as a hand-builder where the basic aim is to make lines of ascending or descending cards to formulate hands that score based upon length of the hand and color of the cards therein.

The specific version I received was the one I got at GenCon 2025, but I’ve been struggling to put into words why this game hasn’t particularly landed for me, despite being a recurring game played at friendly occasions.

Product: Up or Down?

Designers: Michael Kiesling, Wolfgang Kramer

Publisher: ABACUSSPIELE, Capstone Games, HOT Games

Price: $10

Age: 8+

---

Let’s start with some gameplay mechanics. The baseline gameplay flow is quite simple. First, you start by dealing three cards to each player and arranging six revealed cards from the deck into a circle, ordered low to high, around the remaining deck of cards (exact number varies based upon number of players). The remaining deck is then into two central draw piles inside the ring: one face up and one face down.

From here, players take turns placing a card from their hand into the appropriate space in the circle, taking an adjacent card to the one just placed. That card is then added to one of your columns of cards, of which you can have three, in either ascending or descending order. When all cards have been drawn from the deck, players calculate score totals based upon the number of cards in their discard pile (1 point each), and the makeup of their columns of cards. For the card columns, score is calculated by multiplying the total number of cards in the line of cards by the count of the single most common color in that line. The player with the highest total wins.

I am aware the column is ordered incorrectly per the rules.

---

Fundamentally, there’s not much going on in this game. There’s really only one strategy you can use — start with the highest or lowest numbered card you can get and go from there, targeting similar colors as much as possible. The strategy aspect is extremely limiting, as there is no true way to interact with other players at the table, and your fortunes are primarily decided by lady luck rather than any particular masterstroke of genius on your end. This makes the entire experience a bit detached, with you and your cohorts playing simultaneous solitaire rather than engaging in a collaborative or competitive experience.

All collections are open to view by the table, so I suppose there is the idea that you could work to deny other players cards that would assist them. This would really only serve to play spoiler for one or two other players, leaving you with a weak collection overall and setting up another player for the win.

Despite these mechanical shortfalls, I find it works well as a friendly, party-style card game. Without any difficult decisions to make and boasting a very clear turn structure, even beginner level board game players can jump in easily, and paying close attention is rarely necessary. On top of this, the version we obtained is beautiful. The card stock is really solid and feels great in your hands, plus the art is stunning, despite the mundane subject matter. 

Verdict

Ultimately, Up or Down? lands at strictly party fare for me. It’s easy to get into, and feels good in your hands, but its distinct lack of true strategic elements or player-to-player interactivity prevents it from being a true staple. 

Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.