Happy Home from Alley Cat Games

First up, Happy Home. 2 to 5 players move their player tokens around the shop board to collect polyomino furniture tiles and place them in their home. Collect furniture sets in each room, and colour sets across rooms to score points.

This was a popular game at UKGE and it’s easy to see why.

Our first impressions of Happy Home:

• The rules were quick and easy to pick up, and the playtime short and breezy (15-30 minutes), which is a positive for us as it means more likely to get to the table.

• The shop board was circular and player turn was determined by who was at the back (like patchwork, or tokaido). This helped add some strategy to the game as you had to balance jumping too far ahead and missing out turns with grabbing a prized item (in our game bedroom furniture was hard to come by!)

• One rule we struggled with was that, if all players pass over an item in the shop, that item gets discarded and replaced. Because of the circular nature of the shop, the 4 of us playing found it tricky to remember which items had been passed over before.

• The tile placement is satisfying – although I managed to place all my furniture a little too easily. Matt found placing colours across rooms rather than within them slightly more bothersome (i.e. each room had a bunch of different coloured furniture), because it’s the opposite to what we would do in real life. (However, this didn’t detract from his overall enjoyment of the game!).

• The price point, as with most alleycat games, was very reasonable and makes the game good value for money (current preorder price £19.99).

We’re still musing on whether we add Happy Home to our collection. Matt is leaning yes. I’m not as sure, as I prefer Dream Home, which we already have (similar theme, different mechanics but overall for me feels more satisfying to complete).

That being said, Happy Home is a fun, accessible game that’s light enough to play with family/non-gamers. If you like Patchwork or other cozy games you’ll probably enjoy this one!