The Table is Lava First Impressions

In this game, The Table is Lava.

Can you increase your population while sending your opponents for a warm swim?

The Table Is Lava presents players with a simple challenge: Toss cards onto the table to save your meeples, while trying to knock other players’ pieces into the lava at the same time. Have the most survivors, and you win!

The Table is Lava Game Play

Players take a set of cards and the meeples in one of the five colours. There are 4 colours in the base game and Pink is added in the ‘Coconuts’ expansion. There is some jiggery-pokery required with which cards are used depending on the player count and the colours used.

Choose a random start player

Each player takes turns placing their start card on the table, touching at least 1 other card. They put a meeple on that start card and 1 of the colour 2 players to their right.

Players take turns tossing or flicking any one card from their hand onto the table. If the card lands not touching another card or is more than a thumb width away, discard it.

If the card stays, place a meeple on the card for each meeple showing. The other players put one on if it has their colour meeple on the card.

Any Meeples, not touching cards return to their owners and have died in the Lava.

This continues with players throwing and adding meeples except for the last card each player throws which doesn’t get any Meeples on it.

Then players score 2 points for each standing meeple, 1 point for each meeple laying down. The player with the most points is the winner.

Theme

It’s a really nice theme. Having these people you’re trying to save while knocking your opponents into the Lava is fun…

You can overthink it and if you do, it’s really stupid 🙂

Setup & Rulebook

Setup is OK with players needing to remove certain cards from their deck depending on who is playing. This is complicated further by the expansion adding a 5th player.

I say complicated, it’s not that difficult just needs a bit of memory.

The rulebook is very good.

Components & Artwork

The cards are OK but a little light for what they’re needed for. The meeples are OK too.

The cards clearly show how many and of which colour meeples are placed on the card.

The art is fun, I like the little characters and their facial expressions.

Ease of Teaching & Accessibility

Very easy to teach and of course, very accessible.

The Table is Lava Summary

I don’t mind a dexterity game but if I’m honest throwing isn’t my thing. I prefer flicking and building.

But this game is OK. I like the test of skill when it comes to throwing a card. You also have to balance ‘going for the kill’ and ‘going for placement’ so you can add meeples to the table.

Go for the kill too often and you’ll find your cards landing too far away to be useful. No additional meeples will mean no additional points.

But the cards are too light to be truly effective. They flutter and bounce and don’t really clear a path. I don’t want it to be easy, but a decent clearing shot was so rare it was boring for most of the turns.

Then there is the mound of cards and meeples that builds up that can’t be moved. Thematic maybe, but dull.

So yeah, played twice and that’s enough for me.

Jesta ThaRogue