59 Seconds

Today's review is of the 2007 release, 59 Seconds.  For 2 players, it takes . . . 59 seconds.  Okay, more like 10 minutes.

Overview
The dealer deals four piles of cards, two for each. Each player gets a 5-card refresh pile and 1-card action pile.  Then both players get a 21-card draw pile and take the first five.
 The dealer flips the timer, and it all begins- each player flips their action pile card and plays a card from their hand on top of EITHER action pile that is one number higher or lower than the printed value. Anyone playing a card immediately draws back up to five

If neither player can play a card, the top card of each refresh pile is flipped and play continues until time's up or the piles are empty. First to get rid of their cards gets 10 points (or 5 if over a minute). Then a new round starts and play continues until a player has 50 points.

Review
This is a bad game.  Wish I could sugar-coat it, but I can't.  The obvious problem- which happened both times I played- is what do you do when your hand has no cards you can play? The refresh piles were quickly exhausted and we still weren't through.  It's not addressed in the rules, and it happens relatively frequently.  Can't believe this got through playtesting as-is.

Rating: D