Here at BigBossBattle, we’re big fans of sushi-themed games, and we’ve already reviewed Sushi Go!: Spin Some for Dim Sum’s older sibling, Sushi Roll, as well as several other titles like Maki Staki and even Sushi Bar. Lots of sushi games seem to capture the themes of choosing combinations of food to make a delicious meal, but Sushi Go!: Spin Some for Dim Sum is the first one I’ve seen with an actual lazy susan as a game component.
Sushi Go!: Spin Some for Dim Sum is a super simple game to learn and teach. It involves placing stacks of randomised circular cards into slots on a rotating plastic container (the lazy susan) and then popping a gorgeous squishy bao bun in the middle. Players each take a menu and a handful of chopstick tokens, and the game is ready to begin.
On their turn, a player will simply take the face up card from the basket directly in front of them — or alternatively, they will spend chopsticks to rotate the lazy susan one space per chopstick. Each chopstick spent this way is placed onto the stack of cards that is “moved away” and thus on later turns, a player choosing a card from a stack with chopsticks will also take those chopsticks.
Each card depicts a kind of sushi or food — with everything from bao buns to vegetable rolls and shrimp represented. Each card scores in a different way, with cards like sesame balls scoring simply on their own, and other cards only scoring if you have an odd number, or if you have two or three. There are also set menu cards, which rewards players for having specific combinations of dishes.
The players will only be able to take twelve dishes during the game, so Sushi Go!: Spin Some for Dim Sum is always over within about twenty minutes, never outstaying its welcome. This makes it ideal for younger players who don’t have as much patience, or those who struggle to manage very long term strategies. The scoring here does generate both tactical and long term thinking, but you can only see so many cards and plan so many turns in advance, which keeps things manageable.
Aside from the lazy susan, the standout feature of Sushi Go!: Spin Some for Dim Sum’s components is the squishy bao bun. This bun is taken whenever a player claims a bao bun card, and the bun itself can be “spent” on a later turn to choose any option from the lazy susan — that is, assuming noone else chooses another bao bun before your next turn, and steals it off you.
Generally, I’ve been playing Sushi Go!: Spin Some for Dim Sum with my kids aged 3, 7, and 9 — all of whom are able to join in. Our youngest has no idea how to score or what the combinations are, but she can go through the mechanics of play without any issue. Our older two are completely able to understand, strategise and win, whilst my wife and I still find Sushi Go!: Spin Some for Dim Sum enjoyable enough to be involved in.
As a relatively cheap addition to your family game shelf, Sushi Go!: Spin Some for Dim Sum is very welcome. This is a clever, tactile experience that more or less everyone can have fun with. Yes, it’s somewhat lacking in depth, but given that it is so quick and perhaps focussed on younger or very casual gamers, that is fair enough — and it never promises to be anything that it isn’t, anyway.
You can find Sushi Go!: Spin Some for Dim Sum on Amazon.
