I’m always ready and willing to play trick-taking games. I’ve played those since I was a child, and I think it was due to my grandparents teaching me pinochle and bridge at an early age. Fast-forward to high school and college and my friends and I were constantly playing like spades or hearts to pass the time. Since writing and editing with Board Game Quest, I have been exposed to a bunch of great trick-taking games like Papayoo, The Crew, The Fellowship of the Ring, and Bottle Imp.

This brings us to today’s review of Vivo from Allplay. This trick-taking game is where players play cards and try to follow the harmony cards to score points, and after two rounds, the player with the most points wins. Vivo is for 3-4 players only; it plays in about 20 minutes or less. Is Vivo another great trick-taker? Read on!

Game Overview:

Vivo is made up of 4 suits, with each card numbered 1-12, and also includes harmony cards that include solo, duet, trio, and quartet. Cards are shuffled and dealt to players except for the harmony cards, which will remain in the center of the table, and one is placed face-up.

The harmony cards have a wide range and some will not be used at 3 & 4 player count.

The player who leads will start the trick with any card, and each player will only play 1 card from their hand. The next player must look at the harmony card and either follow the lead player’s suit or play another card from a different suit to follow the harmony. So, this means if a solo harmony card is played, then all players must follow the lead suit; if a duet is played, then two suits should be played, and so on with a trio or quartet.

If a player cannot follow the harmony suits, then they are playing off-harmony, and their card is ignored for scoring that turn. After each player has played a card, players will then collect their cards for scoring or discarding. The player who played the highest value card that followed the harmony flips over the card, and that card will be worth 2 points at the end of the round. The player who scored the lowest card that follows the harmony keeps that card face up, and the card will be worth its number value. All other cards are discarded and the player who scored the lowest card will lead the next turn and flip over a new harmony card.

Once all cards have been played, round 1 is over, and players will then score their cards and add up their points. Players will reshuffle all cards, play each turn, and complete round 2, and score their cards, which will end the game. The player with the highest points wins.

The green 11 will be the highest but my blue 2 will be the lowest which means I lead the next turn.

Game Experience:

I think what won me over with Vivo is that it’s a unique trick-taker. Yes, there are a bunch of unique ones out this year, but Vivo does stand out and apart from other track-takers in a good way. The harmony cards are a great mechanic that adds excellent variety each turn and keeps players on their toes. The harmony cards also complement the unique high & low scoring, and if players can or cannot follow the harmony.

Vivo was also unexpectedly thinky. This is not a negative, but players are not just randomly throwing out cards. Players should try to keep track of what was played and if they can score either the high or the low value. You also need to keep track of whether the required number of suits have been played to fulfill a harmony, so there’s a lot going on, but it’s not daunting. If anything, players will likely be focused and trying to determine when it’s the right or wrong time to throw high or low cards, like in any good trick-taking game.

Vivo has four suits and each with a unique singing dog…for some reason.

Once you master the harmony rules and scoring, which should not take a few hands, then you will see that Vivo plays fast. There should not be much in the way of analysis by paralysis because, to be blunt, you must play a card from your hand, and as you shed cards, the choices are fewer, which adds to the fast play. Vivo is also a small box game, making it incredibly portable with a smallish table presence, and it takes up very little shelf space, which all gamers should appreciate.

Now, where Vivo falls short for me was mainly the theme & artwork. My son summed it up the best. He asked what the theme was and why there were cute cartoon dogs singing on the cards. I shrugged and said there’s really no theme to this game, and I wasn’t sure why that art was chosen. He then added, probably just to make it cute, so people would buy it on the box cover alone. I don’t think he’s wrong, but the artwork adds nothing to the game but questions.

The last detail that I want to highlight is that Vivo only plays 3-4 players. For some, that might not be an issue, but for game nights or groups, this player count can be disappointing again, given the number of trick-takers out there that can play as low as 2 or even as high as 8 players. I did want a higher player count, say to 5 players, because I think that count makes following the harmony cards much more challenging. I know that current rules align with the current deck sizes, but a few more harmony cards or another suit would have allowed for a higher player count (it would increase the box size but that would be negligible since the box is already very small).

Final Thoughts:

I think most fans of trick-taking games would like Vivo because it’s a unique trick-taker, because you are trying to follow harmony cards, and also due to how there is a high and low card scored each turn. I think players will be surprised and like how thinky and how fast Vivo plays. There’s little in the way of analysis by paralysis, but there’s a lot of fun mental math going on each turn.

No,w where Vivo fell short for me was the dog art and pasted on theme and the fixed 3-4 player count. There are so many great trick-takers that allow for wide-ranging player counts and have better themes, but Vivo is still a good one nonetheless.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars – A unique, fast-paced, and thinky trick-taking card game.

Hits:
• Harmony and scoring are unique
• More thinky than you expect
• Plays fast and portable

Misses:
• Dog artwork theme
• Only 3-4 player count