Is Sushi Go Party! good for kids? Age and difficulty

How do you set up Sushi Go Party!?

Checked against the Gamewright English rules for Sushi Go Party! (2016). Page numbers are the printed numbers; the cover is page 1 and each PDF sheet holds two printed pages.

1. Put the game board in the middle. Each player picks a colour and puts their pawn on or near the 0 space of the score track (page 2).
2. The first time you play, sort the cards by type into the slots in the box (page 2).
3. Decide which menu to play. For a first game, My First Meal is the menu the rulebook suggests for first-time players: Nigiri, Maki rolls, Tempura, Sashimi, Miso Soup, Wasabi, Tea and Green Tea Ice Cream (page 3).
4. With 2 players, don't use Spoon or Edamame (page 4).
5. With 7 or 8 players, don't use Menu or Special Order (page 4).
6. Put the menu tile for each chosen card in its slot on the board (page 2).
7. Put the menu tile for each chosen card in its slot on the board. If you are using Maki rolls, flip the Maki tile over to show the 6 to 8 player scoring (page 2).
8. Shuffle the chosen dessert cards and put them in a face-down pile beside the board (page 2).
9. Shuffle all the other chosen cards together into a face-down deck near the board (page 2).
10. Before each round, shuffle dessert cards into the deck: 5 in round 1, 3 in round 2 and 2 in round 3. The extra desserts stay in the box (page 5).
11. Before each round, shuffle dessert cards into the deck: 7 in round 1, 5 in round 2 and 3 in round 3 (page 5).
12. Deal each player 10 cards face down. Put the rest face down beside the board (page 5).
13. Deal each player 9 cards face down. Put the rest face down beside the board (page 5).
14. Deal each player 8 cards face down. Put the rest face down beside the board (page 5).
15. Deal each player 7 cards face down. Put the rest face down beside the board (page 5).

How do you teach Sushi Go Party! to kids?

The box says 8 and up. We suggest 7 and up with an adult helping, and 8 and up on their own. The game is the same pick-and-pass turn every time, but the menu changes which dishes are in the deck (page 3).

Say this

1. We play three rounds. In each round everyone gets a hand of cards.
2. Everyone picks one card to keep and puts it face down. Then we all flip our cards at the same time.
3. Then pass the rest of your hand to the player on your left and pick up the hand you are given. Keep going until all the cards are played.
4. Each dish scores in its own way when the round ends. Move your pawn along the score track.
5. Dessert cards are kept to the side and score only at the end of the game.
6. After 3 rounds, the most points wins. A tie goes to the player with the most dessert cards.

The rulebook offers My First Meal as the menu for first-time players (page 3). It has no other beginner variant, so the ideas below besides that are house rules.

First-game simplifications

• Official variant Play the My First Meal menu: Nigiri, Maki rolls, Tempura, Sashimi, Miso Soup, Wasabi, Tea and Green Tea Ice Cream (page 3).
• House rule Let a grown-up set up the menu and keep the score for younger kids, and keep the Card Guide open to check dishes.
• House rule Play only the first round at first, so kids learn the pick-and-pass turn before scoring desserts.

Watch-outs for kids ages 7 to 8

• Everyone picks at the same time and reveals together. Then pass your hand to the left (page 5).
• A wasabi does nothing until you play a nigiri. The next nigiri you play goes on top of it and is worth three times as much (page 15).
• If two or more Miso Soup are played on the same turn, all of them are discarded and score nothing (page 11).
• Maki rolls only score if you have at least 1 maki card. Tied players each get the full points (page 8).
• Tea scores 1 point for each card in your biggest set of the same background colour (page 15).
• Dessert cards go to the side at the end of a round and are not shuffled back in (page 7).
• Cards you play stay in front of you until the end of the round, and are scored then (page 5).

Back for another game?

• Each round: shuffle the round's desserts into the deck, deal hands (10 cards for 2 or 3 players, 9 for 4 or 5, 8 for 6 or 7, 7 for 8), then everyone picks 1 card, reveals together and passes the hand left until the cards are gone (page 5).
• Chopsticks and Spoon are played once, then kept in your hand to use on a later turn by calling them out as everyone reveals. Menu and Takeout Box are played at once. If several are used in a turn, the small number in the lower-right corner sets the order (pages 6, 12 and 13).
• End of a round: put desserts to the side, score everything else with the Card Guide, move your pawn, then reshuffle all other cards (page 7).
• After round 3, score the desserts too. Most points wins, and the most dessert cards breaks a tie (page 7).
• Nigiri: egg 1, salmon 2, squid 3, and triple on a wasabi (page 8). Maki: most 6 and second 3, or 6, 4 and 2 with 6 to 8 players (page 8). Temaki: most +4, fewest -4, no penalty with 2 players (page 8).
• Uramaki: the first to 10 icons scores 8 at once, then 5, then 2. The player with the most left at the end of the round takes the next place (page 9).
• Dumpling: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15 for 1 to 5 or more (page 10). Edamame: 1 per opponent with edamame, at most 4 each (page 10). Eel: 1 loses 3, 2 or more score 7 (page 10). Onigiri: 1, 4, 9, 16 for 1 to 4 different shapes (page 10).
• Miso Soup: 3 if it's the only one played that turn, otherwise discarded (page 11). Sashimi: 10 for each 3 (page 11). Tempura: 5 for each 2 (page 11). Tofu: 2 for 1, 6 for 2, 0 for 3 or more (page 11).
• Soy Sauce: 4 if you have the most different colours (page 12). Tea: 1 per card in your biggest same-colour set (page 15). Wasabi triples the next nigiri (page 15).
• Desserts at game end: Green Tea Ice Cream scores 12 for each set of 4. Pudding: most +6, fewest -6, no penalty with 2 players. Fruit: per kind, 0 icons -2, then 0, 1, 3, 6 and 10 for 1 to 5 or more (page 16).

How do you score Sushi Go Party!?

Each dish scores in its own way, so the Card Guide on pages 8 to 16 does the dish by dish work. This helper only adds your totals. At the end of each round, score the cards you played and add what you gained (and separately what you lost, such as for temaki or eel) to the first two boxes. After round 3, score your desserts and add them to the last boxes (page 7). Count your dessert cards too, because a tie goes to the player with the most dessert cards (page 7). Most points wins. Your pawn on the board's score track shows the same total.