SAUSAGE. SIZZLE. SAUSAGE. SIZZLE. SAUSAGE. SIZZLE. This was the insane chant my wife heard emanating from our basement game room at 11pm one evening while she was trying to sleep. “Could you keep it down please” she pleadingly texted me.
No ma’am, impossible. The vibes were simply too real, the energy too hyped. The stakes were too high. It was a moment of courage. Sausage courage. I apologized when I came to bed later that night, attempting to explain that to ask one of the players to “keep it down” would be game night hosting malpractice.
I’m sure that not everyone’s play of Sausage Sizzle is as dripping with drama as ours was. After all, we’re talking about a 2-5 player push-your-luck Yahtzee-esque dice chucker. But there is something magical in this small box offering from 25th Century Games, created by the seasoned designer husband-and-wife duo of Inka and Markus Brand, and illustrated by the Banksy of Board Games himself, Ian O’Toole. You don’t sell the sausage; you sell the sizzle.
Gameplay Overview:
The game could not be simpler. I taught it to a seven-year-old who grasped it right away. There are eight dice, four of which have pictures of one of six animals on each side, while the other four have a combination of dice pips (numbered from 2-5) and either one or two pictures of a sausage.
The goal of the game is to score the most points for each animal. You begin by rolling all eight dice. Like Yahtzee, you can only score each animal once. Also, like Yahtzee, you must keep at least one die after each roll, whether it be an animal die or a number die.
After you’ve completed rolling, you will score the number of like (and unscored) animal dice times the lowest number on any of the number dice. The sausage counts as a one, BUT you can shoot the moon and attempt to get all four dice to show sausage, in which case your multiplier is seven. A tasty proposition to say the least. But if you get three sausages and even one other number, the sausages simply count as ones, and therefore your multiplier is one.
After you score an animal, say Kangaroo, you can no longer score them and must score one of the five remaining animals. The game is played over six rounds, after which the player with the highest score wins.
Game Experience:
In our weekly game group, we have a name for the loud, obnoxious, yelling table. Usually embroiled in a game with a ton of player interaction, “take that” mechanics, “push your luck” brinkmanship, or otherwise decibel-raising antics, we call this the “wet” table. This is in stark contrast to the “dry” table, which is usually housing some heavier-weight beige-ass Euro. The wet table always sounds like it’s having the most fun, even if the participants at the dry table are just as deeply engaged in their game.
Sausage Sizzle is a wet table all-star. The sheer volume of peer pressure to go for all sausages is deafening, both literally and figuratively. If this isn’t the vibe of your game group, that’s ok! Some people like to min-max “push your luck” games and spend some time chin-stroking and contemplating if they should make the smart move or the fun move. The wet table mandate is to choose the fun move, even if it requires a feral chant to convince you of it. Win or lose, it’s simply too good.
This is a game for people who like the classic dollar-betting dice game Threes. High drama, incredibly low rule set. It’s incredibly silly, short and sweet, and entirely themeless. The main boon the theme provides is the chant of “SAUSAGE. SIZZLE.” The game was originally released in 2012 under the German name Würfelwurst, which might be fun to chant as well, I guess. I believe the intended theme is supposed to suggest that you are making sausages, and these wild critters are coming to steal them, but it’s much more fun to think that you are making sausages out of the critters. “I made 12 platypus sausages, grill ‘em up!” Just don’t forget to slop ‘em up and make Sausage Sizzle a true wet table experience.
Final Thoughts:
Sausage Sizzle is a feather-weight push-your-luck dice game is a perfect night cap for the late hours of your game night, just when things start to get loopy. The trick is to not take it too seriously and encourage your opponents to make risky decisions. It shines the rowdier the group is.
Final Score: 4 – sausage. sizzle. Sausage. Sizzle. SAUSAGE. SIZZLE. SAUSAGE!! SIZZLE!!!
Hits:
• Sausage
• Sizzle
Misses:
• Might make your spouse upset if they are trying to sleep.
