Designed by David Harnish
Published by LD&S Enterprises
Review by Ken Tidwell.
2 or 4 players
20-30 minutes
One-on-One Hoops almost didn't get played. It is a very simple little card game that simulates a basketball game. At first glance it looked just too random to bother with and it is on a subject that doesn't normally float my boat. Then the Final Four came along and Stanford was in and before I knew it we had broken out One-on-One Hoops after the game to give it a try.
Its a nice little game that manages to convey the feel of a basketball game very, very well. It is very light on strategy and long on luck. It clips right along and is over before most folks will get tired of its repetetive nature - remember, this is basketball, after all.
Each player is dealt a hand of cards. Cards allow you to foul the other team, block shots, get the rebound, steal, and generally add flavor to the game. On their turn a player must roll two dice and play a card. Sometimes you will play the card first, normally to modify the dice roll's effect. Other times you will play the card after the roll to respond to the result. Barring other effects, an odd roll scores 2, an even roll is a miss, and a double scores 3.
The entire deck is played out for each half. When the deck is depleted play contnues until a player must play a card and their hand is empty.
Strategy comes from playing cards at the right time. If you roll doubles, it is a good time to foul the other team. When fouled, the other team spends their turn taking two free rolls (free shots - all numbers excepting two that you pick score one point) and prevents them from playing the annoying 'blocked shot' card. Near the end of a half if your team is ahead a risky strategy is to play lots of 'loose ball' cards which can return play to your team without the other team getting to dump a card. This speeds the end of the half as you burn off all of your cards.
Nice game. Not much there but a good filler.