Running a theater is more than just firing up a movie reel. Popcorn is a bag building game that allows up to four players to run their own cinema house. You’ll choose which movies you show, curate your customer base, improve your seating, and ultimately try to earn more popcorn (victory points) than your opponents. Popcorn was designed by Victor Saumont and published by IELLO Games. Let’s dig in and see if this game is a box office smash.
Movie Premiere
Players start off with a single movie placed in the first slot of their theater board. You’ll receive a variety of guest meeples in your player bag and a couple meeples in the exit area of your board. Each theater board can support with up to three movies that are categorized by their card color.
Each round starts with players getting a chance to spend money to add new movies and/or upgrade one of your three theaters. Some movie cards will be considered “premium” and earn you a bonus guest of the same color. You’ll pay a little more, but getting this synergy might be worth spending coins on.
Movies are slid into the top slots of your theater board and have movie bonuses along the left side. The movie cards are parodies and puns of movies that most players will recognize. You can add a new movie to an empty theater space OR choose to “archive” a movie and swap out the card in your board. These archived movies will still count for end game bonuses which we’ll talk about later.
Let’s Go to the Movies
After everyone has taken a turn around the table spending money, the next phase of the round is simultaneous. Players draw guests from their bag based on the number shown on their “audience track” at the bottom of their theater board. This ticket track will allow you to pull more guests as the track increases from left to right. Some spaces even offer bonuses when they are reached.
Each player pulls their guests and decides where they will seat them. At the start of the game, players only have 1 open theater but can add more as they buy movies to slide into their board. Players must fill seats in a theater from left to right. You’ll place the meeple on the open seat, earning a seat bonus if the meeple matches the seat color.
When your guest color matches the movie they watch, you’ll also receive a movie bonus. Players want to build a bag that is going to align with the movies they are showing, earning bonuses each turn. As your audience track grows, you want to grow the number of seats in your theater. Guests that cannot be seated will wind up in your exit area of the theater.
Movies won’t stay in theaters forever. Movies will age after each round, changing the bonus that is earned from round-to-round. Eventually, your movies will stop giving movie bonuses, meaning it’s time to introduce a new hit film. I really like how this aging process forces players to adjust their strategy.
Head to the Exit
Once you’ve played two or three rounds, Popcorn has a really straight-forward gameplay loop. The simultaneous portion of each round means that gameplay moves quick. The coins you earn in the game will help you afford upgrades and new movies, but you ultimately need to earn popcorn which are the victory points in the game.
Popcorn has some limited player interaction which I really like. During the first phase of the round, players can add new guests through an advertising track in the game. This allows you to place up to three tokens on this track, gaining meeples of specific colors. If that meeple color isn’t in the general supply, you can pull a meeple from another players exit area on their board. Since guests will all hit the exit space before you refill your player bag, you need to watch out as your theaters exit fills up. This is a little interaction that feels really thematic as you pull guests away from competing theaters and attract them to your theater.
Earlier I mentioned archiving your movies. Each player is given an award card to start the game and can earn more of these end game goals throughout. Awards are goals that you can meet to increase your points at the end of the game. This includes collecting specific genres of movies and attracting specific guest types. This gives players something to work toward that is hidden from their opponents. Leaning into multiple award cards or having cards that overlap with award goals can be a big boost to your end game points.
Skip the Previews?
I have one gripe with Popcorn and it deals with a luck factor that has been brought up every time we teach the game. Each round starts with players buying new movies and upgrades to their board. There will always be six possible movies for players to buy at the start of the round (these get wiped at the end of the round). The first player has loads of options. In a four player game in rounds where everyone buys a new movie card, the fourth player is often left with a terrible choice or an overly expensive movie.
Since the first player moves around the table, being last only happens a couple times during a game. In these four player games, your strategy is usually shot when you are the last to purchase in a round. The movie color that you want may not show up and the options may be terrible. These are the moments in the game where you have to pivot and possibly spend money on upgrades or show a different genre of movie.
The first player in the round always has a clear advantage and all players will get an equal number of chances to be the first player. It can be frustrating to have limited options just as your theater is on the cusp of greatness.
Final Thoughts
Popcorn does a great job with carrying the theme of running a theater throughout the game. The components are some of the best we’ve seen from IELLO with dual-layer boards, player popcorn buckets to hold victory points and punny artwork on each movie card. I really enjoy games that can carry a theme. The game reminds me a lot of why I enjoy games like Meeple Land and Funfair, two amusement park games that are still in our collection.
Popcorn is a game that I’d absolutely share with my gamer friends who are into lighter, family-weight games. I like that it’s slightly heavier than a gateway game and there are some meaningful decisions throughout the fourty-five minutes of play. Players who don’t mind the random nature of bag building and the limitations when they are last in the turn order will have a lot of fun with Popcorn. This is a movie that I’ll be back to watch again.
You can pick up Popcorn at your local game store or online through Amazon today.
This game was provided to us by the publisher for review. Read more about our review policies at One Board Family.
Highs
- Excellent components and art carry the theme well
- The aging of the movies forces players into switching things up
- Leaning into award cards can take your opponents by surprise
Lows
- Being last in turn order feels so limiting at times
- Multiple players targeting the same opponent can be rough
Complexity
Time Commitment
Replayability
