The concept of asking players to quickly identify things that fit into randomly selected categories is one that is not uncommon among tabletop games. Some games may ask that players try to identify unique items that none of the other players came up with, while others reward players for coming up with the things that are the most popular answer. The game Hit or Miss requires players to do both at the same time, and involves a strategy that makes it both strategic and fun.
The game itself is simple on its surface and only needs a few items to be played – the deck of cards that contains the categories, the sand timer, and a single die that contains three symbols – hit, miss, or the jester. Players also need paper and pencils – included with the game – to write down their items during each round. A score pad is also provided to track points during a game, with each game made up of 8 rounds.
At the start of each round, one person picks a card and reveals it to the group. The timer is started, and in the next 45 seconds, players write down as many words as they can that fit the category. When time is up, the player who picked the card rolls the die. If it shows “hit,” then they select a word they think other players will have written down. For each match, the person who chose the word gets one point and the player who had the match gets one point. (So if the person who chose the word got three matches, he would get three points, while the three players who had the matches would get one point each.)
On the flip side, if the die result shows “miss,” the player tries to choose a word that no other players have chosen. For each player who did not have the selected word written down, the dice rolling player gets one point. However, any player that did have the “miss” word written down gets a generous three points (and the word selector gets zero). Any players that did not have the word written down get zero points.
Things become strategic when the “jester” symbol is rolled, which allows the player to choose whether they want to play “hit” or “miss.” Playing hit is often the safer route, but also awards points to each opponent for a successful match. Playing miss is riskier – since any hit gives the opponent three points instead of the one they would have received for a hit – but can also create a larger point difference, since a perfect round will award no points to the opponents.
Players take turns rolling the dice and choosing hit or miss until each person has had a chance to select a word for the current category. Once every one has gone, points are totaled and the round is over. The next person then chooses a new card and the timer is started again. The scorecards that came with the game had eight rounds listed, so that was the length we used for determining when the game ended and declaring a winner.
The appeal of this game lies not just in the strategic element of the hit or miss scoring mechanic, but also in the categories themselves. The categories that come with the game can range from very broad (types of birds), to very narrow (fast food chains), and everything in between (countries in Europe, TV sitcoms). And 45 seconds isn’t very much time to try and come up with both common and unique items that fit the category. In my games, more than a few times we had a player very confidently pick a word for “hit” that certainly should have been on everyone’s list, only to find out that none of the players had written it down, despite is being a very obvious answer.
Overall, the game is a lot of fun and does have replayability value, since the dice results could change which types of words are selected. A word that may have been rare the first time through might be more common the second time around, depending on whether or not people remember it was used or their choice to include it. The game is designed for 3-8 players ages 10 years old and up.
Steve "Jaspor" Orr
