Drum Roll
- Players
- 2-4
- Best withThe player count this game plays best at.
- 4 players
- Play timeHow long a full game runs once everyone knows the rules.
- 90 min
- AgeThe minimum age printed by the publisher.
- 12+
- ComplexityHow demanding the rules are, from 1 (very light) to 5 (very heavy).
- 3.0 / 5
- Year
- 2011
About the game
Drum Roll casts players as early 1900s circus owners touring Europe to hire performers across five categories: Tamers, Acrobats, the Bizarre, Magicians, and Jugglers. Each performer demands different combinations of Rehearsal, Equipment, Supplies, Costumes, and Promotion to reach poor, good, or outstanding performance levels, with better shows unlocking greater rewards or valuable Prestige Points. Players draft performers and place workers to gather the resources needed to stage the best circus, while trailers, investments, and personnel upgrades further enhance their troupe. Careful planning of which performers to develop and how far to push their acts determines whose circus reigns supreme.
Hobbli's Notes
This is a niche worker-placement and drafting game with a genuinely distinctive circus theme that ties its resource requirements to performance quality in a satisfying way. The choice between chasing tangible bonuses or Prestige Points for outstanding shows adds a nice strategic wrinkle. It's a heavier, lesser-known title, so it's best approached by groups already comfortable with dense, systems-heavy Euro games.
What we like
- Unique circus theme ties resource requirements to performance quality.
- Worker placement and drafting combine for meaningful decisions.
- Multiple performer categories offer varied strategic paths.
- Trailers and personnel upgrades add depth beyond the core loop.
Keep in mind
- High downtime relative to its complexity may slow pacing.
- Niche theme and low profile mean less community support.
- Tracking multiple performance requirements can feel fiddly for newcomers.
Who it's for
Suited to experienced strategy gamers aged 12 and up, in groups of two to four, who enjoy worker placement and resource-requirement drafting games.
