HIGHLIGHT MAKER HOOPS: Nothin’ but net

I’m a big fan of Keith Avallone and PLAAY Games. I have several of Keith’s games, ranging from Second Season Football to History Maker Baseball, Hockey Blast and Red, White & Blue Racing. I love them all so I jumped at the opportunity to pre-order Keith’s latest offering, Highlight Maker Hoops. I am pleased to report that Keith and PLAAY Games have yet another entry in their growing catalog of outstanding games.

I must admit that there was some trepidation on my part while I (briefly) debated pre-ordering. This was a “highlight” engine and not something that was going to generate a full, or even partial, slate of statistics. Stats are the sine non qua for sports gamers, and I’m no different. However, as I was already fully cognizant of the talent and ingenuity of Mr. Avallone, I felt safe in taking the plunge.

BOXING OUT

What’s in the box you might? Well, you get the usual assortment of PLAAY Games goodies, all constructed of their typically solid quality materials.

Specifically, what you’ll find inside the now-standard colorful PLAAY sleeved box :

• The always essential, and well-written rules booklet
• A set of charts for determining the score
• Two sets of strategy cards
• A game board with boxes for each team’s lineup and bench, surrounded by the scoring track for each team
• A double-sided gamer’s aid board with one side for the FAC deck and discards plus three tables and the other side featuring the final minute “minigame” where you can play out the last 60 ticks of the clock using dice and the player cards.
• A set of player cards covering the final four squads in the most recently completed pro season.
• A note, hand signed by Keith, with notes about the game. My note, as a pre-order, had tidbits about the use of the strategy cards, which were inadvertently left out of rules booklet. 

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