Junk Art Board Game [Pretzel Games]

As a long-time gamer, I can say I didn't know what to expect from this game because it's not the typical game I or my game group would play, but everyone has become a fan. It's like a more exciting, colorful, strategic version of Jenga. Tyically, everyone has a base and will get random cards given to them with a colored, unique piece on it and they must incorporate that piece into their structure that will sit atop the base. As your structure gets taller, it becomes more tricky, fun, and wonky to look at. There is a great sense of anticipation and excitement as each piece starts making your structure wobble and people start yelling at each other to stop breathing on it or stop shaking the table. I appreciate that no game is ever the same because the object of the game changes depending on what "World Tour" cards are drawn. Sometimes it's about having the tallest structure, other times it's about being the last to fall, or to incorporate the most pieces, work together on one structure, etc. I definitely recommend for gamers looking for something new, unique, and anyone that enjoys a tactile experience.

If you do not own a dexterity game, Junk Art is definitely one to pick up and is an absolute blast to play! We had all age groups (7-67) playing this stacking game and it kept everyone involved and entertained the entire time. That being said, the quality of the wooden pieces could be better. For a game above $60 - I am very disappointed in how many pieces were warped/not flat which put some players at a disadvantage for stacking. Please see attached images/video for examples. The game is definitely 5 stars at its best, however, the one I was shipped has its production flaws. Our family initially discovered Tummple (another stacking game); it very enjoyable and something different than what we were used to. However, the rules were really simple and there wasn't a lot of depth to it. After looking around we narrowed it down between Bausack and Junk Art. The different modes with the interesting shapes of Junk Art is what lead us to our decision. Whether each player is stacking pieces on their own base to see how fast/high they can build their works of art or taking turns playing on a centralized base - this game keeps everyone engaged the entire time. There is no game killer like long periods of down time in between players taking their turn - Junk Art, however, is not one of those. It will having you holding your breath while others attempt to place a piece on an impossibly leaning tower - or preparing that final piece for a player to lead them to their ultimate demise (and laughing/apologizing the entire time). To sum everything up: this game keeps you engaged, is fun for all ages and you do not have to be a huge fan of board games to find it entertaining!

This is an fantastically simple game to play! All the pieces are well thought out, and the game modes are quite fun as well. We started making up our own games on the side, and everyone was enraptured with stacking, even before the game started! The downtime is less harsh since people can just have fun stacking on the side. The only complaints I have are that some of the pieces are not completely straight (which affects gameplay), and that some of my fan pieces were actually stuck together (so there are 2-fan pieces). However, this game can be played with many different groups and I'm sure will be a hit in the future no matter what. Sidenote: I'm waiting to play this as a drinking game - I reckon it'll work really well for it!

My wife and I played this game at a game cafe and fell in love with it. We came home and immediately got on Amazon to look at it. We noticed that there were two versions (wood vs plastic). We decided to splurge and get the wood version which is quite a bit more expensive but is higher quality (or so we thought). We got the game and several of the prices are crooked and will not stand on their own which makes this game nearly impossible to play. I am very disappointed considering we played the exact same version at the game cafe and theirs was not crooked like ours. I tried to contact the game manufacturer to see if they would just send me some replacement pieces but after two weeks of no response, I decided to just go ahead and write my bad review. I hope you all have better luck in your game quality!

Edited review: The gameplay is quite nice; the quality control and customer service from pretzel is really bad. It took researching on BGG website to find the proper hoops to jump through to get the replacement pieces. In the end I got them but they’re not great either (though they are much much better and don’t render the game broken like the originals had). Were I to order this again I would without hesitation order the plastic version. Upgraded from 2 to 3 stars. Original review: 5 warped / poorly assembled pieces, this is extremely unfortunate in a game like this. I’ve email Pretzel Games twice in the past 3 days detailing the issue with a photo; no response whatsoever. We shall see, I’ll give them a couple more days. If they respond and remedy the issue I will alter the rating. Pretty inexcusable quality controls for the price of the game imo.

Just got this in today. I bought it since my girlfriend and I love art and junk. We spent a few hours playing it. The components are fantastic! All are made of wood including the box itself so it gives it an heirloom kind of feel. You have the base game rules and then you have these city cards you "visit" that have their own house rules. So it's like you get many games in one. Most of them invole stacking the many odd shaped pieces that come in the game. I would say if you're a fan of jenga or family type games then you'll love this. It's great for two or more. Can be turned into a great drinking game!

Highly recommend

I love this game! It has great replay-ability and I doubt that it will ever be the same twice. The pieces are wonderfully crafted and the art work is fun. The instructions are clear and easy to follow so doesn't take anyone long to pick up. I think it works best with 4 players but is still easily played with 2. I haven't played with 6 but I imagine some rounds would be a real scramble with so many people all trying to find their pieces at the same time. It could be quite fun though too 😊 I would highly recommend this game to anyone who likes building games. Very enjoyable.

Un juego más que divertido y rejugable. Las piezas de madera son de alta calidad y la jugabilidad es exquisita.

In Junk Art schlüpft man in die Rolle von Künstlern, reist um die Welt und stellt in verschiedenen Städten seine Kunstwerke vor um möglichst viele Fans anzulocken. Ich habe einige sogenannte Stackinggames getestet (z.B. Riff Raff oder die Klassiker Bausack und Jenga). Junk Art wagt sich erneut an diese Brettspiel-Nische und versucht frischen Wind in das Genre zu hauchen. Zunächst zum Material: Z-Man Games bzw. der Ableger Pretzel Games hat hier wie bei ihrem Erstlingswerk Flick em Up ganze Arbeit geleistet. Die Spielschachtel selbst wurde aus Holz gefertigt. Das Spielmaterial selbst besteht ebenfalls aus Holz. Bei der Auswahl der Bauklötze wurden sehr viele verschiedene Teile getestet bis man sich schlußendlich für 15 verschiedene entschieden hat. Diese sind in 4 verschiedenen Farben vorhanden. (Die Farbwahl ist exzellent, nicht einfach nur ein 08/15 Rot oder Blau). Der Spielaufbau und Verlauf: Sämtliche Bauklötze werden in die Mitte des Tisches gelegt, so dass jeder Spieler sie einfach erreichen kann. Nun werden (im ersten Spiel wird empfohlen in Philadelphia, Monaco und Paris zu bauen) 3 Städte ausgelegt. Die Spieler erhalten jeweils ein schwarzes Holzpodest auf diesem die Kunstwerke errichtet werden müssen. Die Städte (10 an der Zahl) haben jeweils unterschiedliche Spielregeln. Jeder Spieler erhält z.B. 3 Bauteilkarten sogenannte Junk Art Karten (jede Karte enthält ein Bauteil in einer bestimmten Farbe), sucht sich eine davon aus und gibt die beiden übrigen an seinen rechten Nachbarn weiter, nun sucht man sich aus den 2 neuen Karten die man soeben von seinem linken Nachbarn erhalten hat die Abwechslung im Spielaufbau erneut eine aus und gibt die übrig gebliebene Karte an seinen rechten Nachbarn weiter. Schlußendlich erhält man seine dritte und letzte Karte wieder von seinem linken Nachbarn. Jeder Spieler sucht anschließend seine 3 gewählten Teile aus dem großen Haufen in der Tischmitte und beginnt auf dem eigenen Podest die Holzteile in beliebiger Reihenfolge zu verbauen. Danach werden wieder an jeden Spieler 3 Karten ausgeteilt und man verfährt wieder wie oben. Wann welcher Spieler ausscheidet unterscheidet sich von Stadt zu Stadt, was zusätzliche Würze in das Spielgeschehen bringt. Nach jeder Stadt wächst der Fankreis des Siegers um z.B. 5 Fans an, während der Drittplatzierte nur mehr einen Anhänger erhält. Am Ende gewinnt der Spieler mit der größten Anhängergemeinde. Das Spielprinzip ist relativ eingänglich und leicht zu verstehen. Konnte mit verschiedenen Alterklassen spielen. Anfangs war ich eher skeptisch, da Bausack bei uns nicht wirklich gut angekommen ist. Diese Zweifel lösten sich nach der ersten Runde in Luft auf. Wir sind von Junk Art total begeistert. Die Designer haben sich sehr viel Mühe gegeben, unterschiedliche Mechaniken einzubauen um so ein abwechslungsreiches Spielvergnügen zu bieten.

Was excited at the prospect of playing this game after seeing several positive reviews online. Sadly, my wife and I found several pieces that were faulty, to the extent that it ruins the game. A lot depends on exact placement and dexterity, so having deformed and crooked pieces ruins the game. Shame, because its a great concept.