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Push Your Luck
ClaimedGames using
128
Median complexity
1.49
0–5
Median rating
6.09
bayes
Tabletop fit
0.615
weight-controlled
Definition
From BoardGameGeek
Players must decide between settling for existing gains, or risking them all for further rewards, in a game with some amount output randomness or luck. Push-Your-Luck is also known as press-your-luck.
Curator notes
Push Your Luck / Bag Building
- Definition: draw with replacement until a stop condition; sometimes paired with bag composition you control between rounds
- Canonical: Quacks of Quedlinburg, Can't Stop, Cubitos
- MDA aesthetic: Sensation (the dopamine of "one more pull") + Challenge (when to stop)
- Mobile descendant: Balatro rhymes with this loop, Luck Be a Landlord is a closer relative
- Translation difficulty: Easy-Medium — pull mechanics are great on touch. The bag-composition meta is the hard half to design.
Top games using this mechanism
By BGG bayes rating, top 50.
| Game | Year | Rating | Wt | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Feast for Odin#27 | 2016 | 7.94 | 3.9 | 120m |
| Arkham Horror: The Card Game#32 | 2016 | 7.89 | 3.6 | 120m |
| Heat: Pedal to the Metal#47 | 2022 | 7.79 | 2.2 | 60m |
| Quacks#78 | 2018 | 7.67 | 1.9 | 45m |
| Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure#98 | 2016 | 7.60 | 2.2 | 60m |
| Ra#115 | 1999 | 7.55 | 2.3 | 60m |
| Clank! In! Space!: A Deck-Building Adventure#162 | 2017 | 7.43 | 2.6 | 90m |
| Ticket to Ride: Europe#178 | 2005 | 7.40 | 1.9 | 60m |
| This War of Mine: The Board Game#213 | 2017 | 7.34 | 3.3 | 120m |
| Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries#238 | 2007 | 7.30 | 2.0 | 60m |
| Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game#251 | 2014 | 7.27 | 3.0 | 120m |
| Ticket to Ride#256 | 2004 | 7.26 | 1.8 | 60m |
| Near and Far#278 | 2017 | 7.23 | 2.9 | 120m |
| Goa#310 | 2004 | 7.19 | 3.4 | 90m |
| Galaxy Trucker#315 | 2007 | 7.18 | 2.3 | 60m |
| Ethnos#335 | 2017 | 7.17 | 2.1 | 60m |
| Lost Cities#344 | 1999 | 7.15 | 1.5 | 30m |
| Nemo's War (Second Edition)#402 | 2017 | 7.09 | 3.3 | 120m |
| Dead of Winter: The Long Night#423 | 2016 | 7.07 | 3.3 | 120m |
| Abyss#438 | 2014 | 7.06 | 2.3 | 60m |
| King of Tokyo#490 | 2011 | 7.01 | 1.5 | 30m |
| Flip 7#522 | 2024 | 6.98 | 1.0 | 20m |
| Black Orchestra#533 | 2016 | 6.97 | 2.4 | 90m |
| No Thanks!#553 | 2004 | 6.96 | 1.1 | 20m |
| Fantastic Factories#559 | 2019 | 6.95 | 2.2 | 60m |
| Friday#588 | 2011 | 6.93 | 2.2 | 25m |
| Mystic Vale#590 | 2016 | 6.93 | 2.3 | 45m |
| Pandemic: The Cure#612 | 2014 | 6.91 | 2.1 | 30m |
| Las Vegas#620 | 2012 | 6.90 | 1.2 | 30m |
| Port Royal#628 | 2014 | 6.89 | 1.6 | 50m |
| The Grizzled#663 | 2015 | 6.87 | 2.0 | 30m |
| Freedom: The Underground Railroad#667 | 2013 | 6.86 | 2.9 | 120m |
| Take 5#676 | 1994 | 6.86 | 1.2 | 45m |
| Tobago#717 | 2009 | 6.83 | 2.1 | 60m |
| Medici#719 | 1995 | 6.83 | 2.2 | 60m |
| Coloretto#731 | 2003 | 6.82 | 1.3 | 30m |
| Francis Drake#753 | 2013 | 6.80 | 2.9 | 120m |
| Can't Stop#767 | 1980 | 6.79 | 1.1 | 30m |
| Formula D#770 | 2008 | 6.79 | 2.0 | 60m |
| Evolution#776 | 2014 | 6.78 | 2.4 | 60m |
| Sub Terra#791 | 2017 | 6.78 | 2.1 | 60m |
| The Oracle of Delphi#818 | 2016 | 6.76 | 3.0 | 100m |
| Escape: The Curse of the Temple#821 | 2012 | 6.75 | 1.5 | 10m |
| Oh My Goods!#833 | 2015 | 6.74 | 2.3 | 30m |
| Smart10#839 | 2017 | 6.74 | 1.2 | 120m |
| BANG! The Dice Game#876 | 2013 | 6.72 | 1.3 | 15m |
| Diamant#892 | 2005 | 6.71 | 1.1 | 40m |
| K2#896 | 2010 | 6.71 | 2.2 | 60m |
| Leaving Earth#922 | 2015 | 6.70 | 3.8 | 180m |
| Deep Sea Adventure#932 | 2014 | 6.69 | 1.2 | 30m |
Frequently combined with
Other mechanisms that show up in the same games. Click to drill in.
Related deep dives
Long-form design analysis on games using this mechanism.