Tabletop Spotlight: Bottle Imp

I had an idea for this week’s post: let’s do a little bit of a lighter game. Something substantial, but easy to play, and quick to learn. So I looked around, and figured why not an old favorite like Bottle Imp? I mean, it’s December, people. It’s the perfect time to damn your friends to hell via an ancient trapped demon! Talk about getting into the holiday spirit… LOL

Bottle Imp is a tidy little trick-taking card game for 3 or 4 players, most recently published by Z-Man Games in 1995. Like other trick-taking card games (e.g. Hearts or Spades), gameplay relies on clever deceits and cutthroat card passes to win the game. And the story of Bottle Imp really is as dubious as my opener suggests!

Based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, the story of Bottle Imp revolves around an enchanted bottle with a crafty imp caged inside. Carrying the bottle around will bring you endless luck in life, riches, and romance. However, if you die in possession of the bottle imp, you are condemned to hell for all eternity! The trick (no pun intended) is to sell the bottle to someone else for less than what you paid for it. Herein lies the rub of the game: have the bottle, get more points; end the round with the bottle, lose all of your points.

As with other trick-taking card games, your luck might run out sooner than you’d think! I like this game because it moves so quickly, has a real cutting edge kind of feel to it, and you don’t have to overthink things. Some of the best things you can do in the game are play on impulse. When you have a low card and you want to steal the bottle, you go for it! This kind of lighter fare can really be a great starter game for a game night, especially if you’re one of the first to show up.

Lovers of card games (and especially trick-taking games like Hearts) will love Bottle Imp for its thematic design and clever mechanic. The art’s a little iffy for kids, but it’s really no worse than what you see in advertisements these days. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you like card games at all.