I’m part of the  Asmodee UK Blogger Board Game Club and recently I was gifted the ‘SET‘ game in exchange for an honest review. In case you’re not aware, Asmodee UK is an established distributor of games, collectables and toys – both domestically and across Europe.

When the opportunity came about to be part of the Asmodee UK Blogger Board Game Club (organised by Playtime PR) I jumped at the chance! I was given the chance to select  board games from a huge list they supplied me with and then fingers crossed I would get my choices sent to me. Guess what, I did! So far I have received ‘Hey, That’s My Fish!‘ (Click here to read the review) , Ticket to Ride – Europe (Click here to read the review) , Jungle Speed (Click here to read the review), Dice Academy (click here to read my review) and now ‘SET‘ game. The other game I received which I will be reviewing next is ‘Just One‘.

The description for the SET game from the brand’s website as follows:

“SET is one of the most awarded games of all time! Race to find as many SETs as you can—the player with the most SETs at the end of the game wins! Play SET solo or with as many people as you can fit around the table! It’s perfect for travel, parties or as a quick after-dinner game. Fast-moving and fun, SET is a perfect for any get-together with family and friends! It’s Triple Matching Mania that anybody can play, but nobody can stop!”

This was one of the games that as soon as we opened the box and had a glance of the rules we were good to go. SET is a game of visual perception (Visual perception refers to the brain’s ability to make sense of what the eyes see) and it really makes you use your head! The premise of the game is really easy. Take a look at what the SET website says >>  “SET is a speed game. The first to see a SET, calls out “SET” and picks up the three cards that make the SET. There are no turns and no luck. Race to find as many SETs as fast as you can. Be the one who has the most SETs when the cards are gone, and you win! SET is a game of fast-thinking fun! A SET is three cards where each feature, when looked at individually, is either all the same OR all different. Each card contains four features: color (red, purple or green), shape (oval, squiggle or diamond), number (one, two or three) and shading (solid, striped or outlined).“

See…..sounds easy enough but , oh my word, it really makes you think! You THINK you have seen a set and then you have to think again about whether or not it really IS a set. Then even when you are certain you have found a SET you then start doubting yourself that it is a SET!

The idea of the game is that you play either on your own or with other players. Either way is fun but it’s obviously more competitive playing with someone else as you end up trying even harder to find sets and then you doubt your judgement even more!

My daughter is 10 years old and I home educate her so I’m always looking for innovative board and card games for us to play together. This is a great game as according to the SET website “SET builds cognitive, logical and spatial reasoning skills as well as visual perception skills while playing a game! Because it has a rule of logic (three cards that are all the same or all different in each individual feature), and because players must apply this rule to the spatial array of patterns all at once, they must use both left brain and right brain thought processes.” So basically this fun game actually exercises your brain! That definitely can’t be a bad thing!

The SET game is available to buy from various retailers – both online and in store. At the time of writing this review Zatu games have the SET card game available to buy for just £7.99 instead of the RRP of £12.99. Click here to order >> www.board-game.co.uk/product/set-game/

I think the game is good value and I would recommend it because it will always be perplexing to play as each game of SET will always be different, it tests and exercises you brain which provides you with great cognitive benefits and also it comes in a handy small box which will easily fit in a bag or in your suitcase so you can take it on holiday with you to play with your family.

I don’t  have any negatives to say – if I’m brutally honest I wouldn’t want to play this every single day as my mind would just tire too much from all the thinking about what constitutes a SET but I would happily play it every few days with my daughter. If you are someone who loves Sudoku then this is definitely going to be your cup of tea! I believe the more you play the game the more you will improve your visual perception and then possibly the quicker each game will be played. My daughter is really good at spotting the SETS whereas I always doubt myself.

The images above and below show the rules for the game but my photos are not all that clear so if you would like to read them properly you can see them here >> www.setgame.com/file/set-english

Also, if you’re thinking about buying the SET game but not sure how you’ll get on with finding the SETS then you’ll be happy to know you can have a go yourself before making a purchase by going to these two links >> www.nytimes.com/puzzles/set and www.setgame.com/set/puzzle. Every day those two websites update with a new game of SET you can test your visual perception and find the SETS. Give it a go! 🙂

While I was in the process of writing up this review I found a really interesting video online about the founder of SET, Marsha Falco, and why she created the game. Watch the video below >>

It turns out “Marsha didn’t intend on creating SET, or any board game empire for that matter. In 1974, Marsha was researching population genetics in Cambridge, England. Specifically, she was studying epilepsy in German Shepherds, and she created a sort of visual code for herself to convey the animals’ genetic information. These visualizations were the precursors to the beloved squiggles, ovals, and diamonds found in the game today. Marsha said  “It was during that study that I got tired of writing [data] out, so I made little symbols to indicate different pieces of data. I was working with veterinarians who weren’t mathematicians, and I was explaining to them how set theory worked — permutations, combinations — and one of them said, ‘Oh, so if you take this one, this one, and this one, you’ve got a set?’” And so, the game was born.” (This excerpt is from the Gizmodo article ‘Canine Epilepsy and Purple Squiggles: The Unexpected Success Story of SET by Danielle Steinberg’)

SET game has won over 35 best game awards including MENSA Select and I am not surprised because although it sounds so simple it really makes you use your mind! The video above explains how to play it.

I would like to say a big thank you to Asmodee for kindly gifting us this copy of SET game to review on my blog as part of their Asmodee UK Blogger Board Game Club.  If you would like to purchase the game please click here to be taken to the Zatu Games website to buy your copy or alternatively do a quick google search to find a different retailer (please note that none of the links in this review are affiliate links).