With Stamp Swap we did it, we're officially in the part of the hobby we can call Nerdception, a hobby within a hobby. You could try to argue that Wingspan was maybe the first, but it was about birds and not bird watching. Now with Jamey bringing in Stamp Swap to Stonemaier games, we finally have a nerdy hobby, wrapped up in another nerdy hobby and you're possibly Leonardo DiCaprio, or one of the other ninja turtles. I don't know. I'm not a nerd.
I'm not a nerd. But I would be philatered if you maybe called me one. Or I would tell you to stop flirting and show me your collection. Your collection of sticky backed pictures in a serious bond book that tell tales of small squares and rectangles of paper that were meant to travel somewhere, that were maybe meant to deliver important news, or a life changing package and instead they're present in a picture zoo and assigned a value and depending on their theme, or their colour will decide how valuable they are.
Go into any hobby seriously enough and it become fierce, go into an hobby enough and you'll discover the slight layer of cut throat and daggers clutched behind backs, ready to take down a rival, or at the very least ruin their chances of grabbing that prize piece they were always after. Stamp swap is vicious, even though it gives the impression that its just a group of people sharing stamps and adding it to their collection. Its a gentle selection game followed by a grabbing game that falls into the land of mitigation and organisation. Which is all very brave considering you're dealing with objects that have serrated edges.
Rounds are simple to play, but can be fiddly to set up as you have to lay out a specific number of stamps to create the pool. It's better just giving someone the task of set up every round. I kind of wish there was an easier way. Players then take turns selecting stamps from a shared pool. Stamps are of different sizes and themes and colours or are infinite in nature, or alternatively grab a specialist to assist you or gain a way of scoring more for your collection. On every round there's a slight change to how the set up is played out, thanks to the round card text. You'll sit proudly for two minutes with your new pile, until you realise you have to split them, and then some bastard will come along and take some of your stamps for yourself. In turn you'll be allowed to grab a group of someone else's possessions for yourself but put you in a tricky position of trying to keep the stamps you really want while seeding the pile you want to give away with little enticing offerings. It helps if you make faces and exclaim and curse when they go for the pile you wanted them to have anyways.
Once everyone has picked, you'll then place your choices on your own player board in a grid, grouping together colours and themes, or not grouping them together at all, because of prizes and tickets. Each player has three tickets, and they have a chance on every round to play their ticket and score on a selection of contests being run throughout the competition. It's there to add an additional way of pushing you up the score track, though it can leave you having to place a ticket on contest that does next to nothing for your numbers, while you are building up your tableau to score big down the line. At the end of the last round there's a final contest where everyone gets to score regardless. Its all very pointy.
It's also all very interactive, which let's face it, is often a concern levelled at previous Stonemaier Games. Wingspan, Tapestry and even Expeditions certainly have minimal contact with other players during a game. Stamp Swap is almost like Jamey flipping the table and then laughing maniacally, arms raised in the air shouting 'I'LL GIVE YOU INTERACTIVITY'. It bring with it a level of chaotic mitigation throughout the game that errs closely to the side of frustration at some points.
It can occasionally leave you feeling that you have less agency than you would like over your choices, as you are often having to make best with the stamps you've got to pick and then watch plans be dashed as players take the wrong stack from you during the secondary draw phase. On the flip side, the scoring opportunities have been left as wide open as possible, so there's always something that can be scraped together so you're not feeling too left behind the pack if anyone starts to draw away. It's going to annoy the planners and the schemers, but it encourages bluffing and a little bit of smack talk at the table as players attempt the art of persuasion, or light threats depending on the mood.
The artwork and presentation is up to the high levels you've come to expect from a Stonemaier product with everything from the stamps to the art work, to the player boards all showing a high level of production and thought. As you approach the end of the game, the individual player boards look splendid with their individual collections of stamps on each. I kind of felt while there was a strong effort to differentiate the different colours and themes, I felt it could have been bolder with the differences to avoid any doubt to the player in what they are picking. In a game where a major part of play is trying to to give away what you need for your board, having to spend anytime squinting to try to figure something out loses the secrecy of what your planning.
Stamp Swap is certainly a lot more complicated than it appears on first impressions, and the levels of interactivity where you're actively disrupting other players plans might have you deciding to keep the game away from those who bear grudges. You know who I mean. I'm glad its not another multiplayer solitaire where everyone has a really good time, but it doesn't matter how many other people you played with as it never effects you. There's enough variables in here to keep you coming back for more after the glue has dried and the albums have been put back on the shelf. It's not going to take up a full evening but it's got enough bite in it to keep it interesting. It is rather glorious to take stamps away from nerds. Who knew? I mean maybe another hobby isn't such a bad idea?
Designer - Paul Salomon
Art - Conner Gillette
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