Partners

About this board game

Partners is a team-based board game for 2-4 players, played in teams of two, with a listed play time of 60 minutes. Originally released in 1998, it challenges partnerships to move all of their pawns into their finishing zones before the opposing team can do the same.

Players use cards to move their pawns around the board and advance toward their destinations. At the beginning of each round, partners swap cards, creating opportunities to improve each other’s hands and strengthen their position in the game.

Progress is not always straightforward. Opponents can combine eating, blocking, and swapping to interfere with your plans and sabotage your forward progress. The result is a contest where helping your teammate is just as important as advancing your own pawns.

• Card-based pawn movement
• Team play with partners
• Card swapping at the start of each round
• Eating, blocking, and swapping as disruptive tactics
• A race to place every team pawn in its finishing zone

Communication and timing matter as each partnership works to make the best use of its combined cards. A well-timed swap may improve a teammate’s options, while an opponent’s interference can force a change of plan.

The first partnership to get all of its team’s pawns into its finishing zones wins. Partners is very similar to DOG and can be described as a slightly simplified version of that game, offering a focused team race built around movement, cooperation, and disruption.