Three Mini Card Games from Huch: A Closer Look at Meteo, Wall Street, and Blue Penguin

Introduction

Mini card games have a special appeal. They fit in a pocket, set up in seconds, and promise a complete experience in a tiny package. Huch has released three such games, all designed by Tobia Botta with art and graphic design by Lisa and Ariana Vertuani. The three titles are Meteo, Wall Street, and Blue Penguin. Each one takes a different theme and a different mechanic, but they all share a compact footprint and a focus on simple rules. The question is whether simplicity works in their favor or leaves them feeling too thin.

Meteo: A Weather Prediction Game

Meteo asks players to plan a last-minute holiday while hoping for good weather. The game uses a deck of cards, each showing a different weather scenario with a color that determines its scoring value at the end of the game. At the start, each player chooses one of the available color cards to look at, either from the lower or higher scoring options. Then the reveal phase begins.

The dealer reveals cards one at a time. At any moment, a player can call a stop and collect all the cards revealed so far, which represents going on a holiday. If the pile ever reaches five cards, anyone has the chance to collect them. If no one does, the pile wipes and the reveal starts over. After a player collects one set, they can look at another color card and the process repeats. The game ends when a player has collected three sets, representing three vacations, or when the deck runs out. Players then score based on the colors revealed, and the highest score wins.

The concept is straightforward, but the execution falls flat. Players receive very little useful information at the start, and even that information rarely helps once four cards are revealed that do not match the colors seen. The game quickly becomes a matter of randomly grabbing cards and guessing. There is also a tendency to avoid collecting cards when negative weather appears, which further reduces engagement. The result is a game that feels more like luck than decision-making.

Wall Street: A Trendy Wool Market Race

Wall Street takes on a stock market theme, but with a wooly twist. Players are trying to wear the coolest and most trendy wool colors while owning the most of those particular colors. It is also something of a race, as players bet on which color will finish first.

On a turn, a player reveals a card and places it in the row that matches its color. Then they choose to sell something to the market. The selling decision is based on a small piece of information from the beginning of the game plus what everyone else is doing. At the start, each player gets to peek at one of the bottom cards from the deck. That card is then shuffled into the cards that everyone else peeked at, and all of them are placed at the bottom of the deck. This peek gives a hint about the potential of that color being one of the finishers.

When a row receives seven of a kind, which is the total amount in the deck, it receives a point bonus. These bonuses range from 2 down to -2. The game ends once all rows have been completely filled and every row has a point assigned to it.

Wall Street is a step up from Meteo, but it still suffers from a lack of meaningful information. The initial peek is too vague to guide decisions, especially since a card seen could still end up as the second completed row and be worth a point. There is an attempt at bluffing early on, but the information available is simply not enough to read other players or make confident choices. The game has potential, but it does not deliver enough depth to be compelling.

Blue Penguin: An Introductory Trick Taker

Blue Penguin is the most promising of the three. It is designed as an introductory trick-taking game. On each turn, players place a card into the middle, and the player who played the highest number receives all the cards in the trick. Those cards are worth points at the end of the game.

In the basic setup, the smaller penguin is worth more and the higher penguin is worth less, with values in between spaced one point apart. There is also a variant where the scoring numbers are randomized, creating a mix of low and high values that changes how players approach collecting cards. Players work through the whole deck, each holding three cards, playing one, and drawing back up until the game ends.

Blue Penguin stands out because players actually have cards in hand and real decisions to make. The information available is meaningful, and choices are based on something tangible. The basic setup, however, is not very interesting. Players mostly try to force the person with the highest card to take all the negative low-value cards, which feels bad even when it works. The randomized variant is more engaging, offering more going on and more interesting choices.

That said, Blue Penguin is not a game that will keep players coming back. It works as an introduction to trick-taking mechanics and teaches some useful skills, but the choices in hand are limited and there is little room for reaction. Still, there is a real game here, and it earns a place as the best of the three.

Final Thoughts on the Huch Mini Card Games

All three games share a common issue: they are over-simplified. The scoring systems, particularly the -2 to 2 range, feel flat. Zero cards contribute nothing and do not feel good or bad, they just exist. More dynamic and variable scoring with a wider range could add interest. Additional rules or more opportunities to gather information could also help players bluff and make better decisions throughout the game.

The games are undeniably adorable, and the idea of fitting complete games into such tiny boxes is appealing. The artwork is charming, and the compact format is a real strength. But the gameplay does not live up to the presentation. With the same pieces and cards, better games could have been made with slightly more interesting scoring and a bit more depth.

For players looking for a very light, quick experience, these games might have some appeal. Blue Penguin is the strongest of the three and could serve as a teaching tool for trick-taking. Wall Street has a clever theme but lacks the information needed to make it engaging. Meteo is the weakest, feeling more like random guessing than a game. None of them are likely to become staples on a game shelf, but they do show that small boxes can hold big ideas, even if those ideas need more development.

Conclusion

The three mini card games from Huch are charming and compact, but they fall short of being truly engaging. Meteo relies too heavily on luck, Wall Street does not provide enough information for meaningful decisions, and Blue Penguin, while the best of the bunch, still feels limited. The scoring systems are too flat, and the games would benefit from more dynamic rules and more opportunities for player agency. For those curious about tiny card games, Blue Penguin is worth a look as an introductory trick-taker. The other two are easy to skip.