Name: Mamma Mia
Publisher: Rio Grande Games
Players: 2-5
Ages: 10+
Playing Time: 30 Minutes
Download Rules
Mamma Mia is a mildly competitive, fast-paced card game that is easy to learn and enjoyable to all. Combine fresh mushrooms, olives, bell peppers, salami and pineapples to make good, wholesome Italian pizzas. Mix your own ingredients With those of other players and bake your pizzas to perfection, satisfying the cravings of your customers. Successfully fill the most customer orders to claim the victory at the end of the game! It's simple, appetizing, and fun!
It works like this: each player starts with a combination of ingredient cards and customer orders cards. The players take turns playing their ingredient cards into a common pile in the middle of the table. Then, at just the right moment, players try to claim the ingredients for their own customer orders by placing them over the stack. As the pile builds, it becomes increasingly difficult to remember what ingredients are still available! Each single ingredient card can only be used on one pizza, so everyone competes to make use of the common ingredients. Although some luck is involved, strategic timing and a good memory are worth their weight in gold.
I found Mamma Mia in a pile of old clothes while rummaging through a garage sale one chilly Saturday afternoon. Its shrink wrap was still intact, though dirty, and its colors were severely faded from years of abandonment. Nobody had ever even bothered to give it a try! For $1.50, I figured I couldn't go wrong, especially since it was put out by one of my favorite game publishers.
My initial impression was marginal: the graphics didn't impress me much, and I tend to put a fair amount of value on the overall visual appearance of the games I play. The gameplay was solid, though, and I quickly overcame my premature judgement. They say never to judge a book by its cover. I found Mamma Mia to be very enjoyable, as did the four people playing with me. They even begged to play another round! It was a great success.
Several factors make Mamma Mia unique among games, such as its playing time, appeal to the non-gamer, and compact size. Its short length, with rounds as quick as 20 minutes, makes it easy to squeeze in between longer games, livening things up a bit and allowing for a light-hearted experience. It also has great appeal to those who aren't as serious about gaming in general. Seriously, who would turn down pizza making? There's just something about the appetizing nature of this game that makes it a fun fit for all. In addition, its small size allows it to conveniently fit in a purse or pocket, which makes it very easy to play while passing time on the go, such as in an airport.
I recommend Mamma Mia as a fun alternative to its lengthy, more complex counterparts. It's perfect for sharpening up that good ol' memory, and it makes for an enjoyable time among friends. For a great pizza-making time, give Mamma Mia a shot!
