Hit the Silk! Preview
The old adage that there is no honour among thieves is about to be put to the test. Following on from the rip-roaring success of Stop the Train, Escape Plan Board Games are back with another Kickstarter campaign. Stop the Train was one of my favourite games of last year so this follow up was eagerly awaited by me. Hit the Silk! swaps the steam locomotive engine with the failing engine of a light aircraft.
The backstory is that you have got into a gambling debt with the sort of people your mother warned you not to hang out with. Therefore, you, and your other unsavoury mates, have just pulled off the heist of the century and are escaping on a plane to repay the casino owners. With the sort of luck Alanis Morissette would’ve sung about, the plane is in trouble and losing altitude fast. It’s at this point you realise you have to hit the silk – but you discover there is not enough parachutes to go round… it’s time to collectively get enough money and a parachute to win the game.
Can you tell me more about the game?
Hit the Silk! is a 3-6 player card game, with a good amount of take that, double-crossing, voting, and some other twists and turns along the way.
Players will always have four cards in their hand. They can swap one card per turn and use as many of the others as they want. Discarded cards are available for all to see and help establish what people may be holding. This is handy as you can never disclose your hand fully. Any cards that are used get replaced with flannel cards, which are as useless as they sound, although in a scenario like this you may be grateful for something to dab your brow! In addition, players can trade cards at any time. Beware, these are scoundrels you are dealing with and the promised parachute may unexpectedly turn into a flannel! The idea is for the majority of you to leap from the plane with a parachute and enough money to pay off your debts. This is activated after a vote at certain altitudes. Any profit on top is a mark of your success. Oh, and if it all goes horribly wrong and you are left on the plane, you still have a chance to land it!
Final thoughts on Hit the Silk!
There is a lot of mayhem, amusement and take that packed into the deck of cards. Expect poison, handcuffs, kung-fu chops, knife fights, antidotes and plenty of thievery!
Escape Plan Board Games really know how to imbue theme into a game. In Hit the Silk! you feel every stab in the back, grumble at every hindrance bestowed upon you and laugh at other player’s misfortune. You really do want to jump from the plane with a parachute AND enough money. Being left on the plane while everyone else jumps is like being picked last for a team game as a kid – no one wants that!
I know the creators are still tinkering with the nuts and bolts of the aeroplane, fine tuning it for nail-biting finales and even more entertainment. From my plays of the prototype, it is certainly worth your attention when it takes to the dizzy heights of Kickstarter on 9th March 2021. Hopefully it will be a flyaway success as I can’t wait to see what the campaign has to offer!