Ever fancied running your own Big Top? Now you can, thanks to Matagot’s very own Meeple Circus! Daring balancing acts are staple ingredients of any circus act. The crowds paid good money to be here tonight, and they demand to see something breathtaking! That’ll be you – trying to balance Carcassonne-sized meeples on top of one another. Meeple Circus is a dexterity game that takes place over three rounds. Players aim to build and balance wooden shapes in specific layouts to earn points. First they draft, where players take turns to select which circus employees they’ll use as part of their act. These could be barrels, balance beams, elephants and other animals, or blue, yellow or red acrobat meeples. (Or should we say, ‘acrobeeples’?) Then, in simultaneous fashion, players have to balance their pieces against the clock. Each round, four cards show specific set-ups (a seal balancing a ball, or two meeples holding a beam, and so on). Each are worth points, if you can complete said acts before the time runs out. Bonus points are up for grabs too, for placing different coloured starter meeples in specific ways. You also score points for how tall your act is. The higher you go, the more the audience clap. The more they applaud, the more points you earn. The timer mechanism works with a smartphone app (or visiting the website). It plays recognisable circus music. It might sound like a silly addition, but you’ll be amazed at how it ratchets up the tension. Everyone rushes to place their pieces to the beat of the slapstick riffs pulsating in the background. It’s the kind of game where passing observers of the game get just as much of a kick out of it as the participants! Do you like light-hearted dexterity games like Jenga? If so, then you’ll thrive on the intricacies at play in Meeple Circus. Player Count: 2-5 players Time: 45 minutes Age: 8+