Board Game Arena

Is going for 8 ever worth it?

For only one point more than a 7 and it does not count towards a column bonus, I can't see that it is ever worth it. I have not seen anyone do it either.

yeah it's a bit weird.

I only assume they thought that at the end of the game, once you have filled the other boxes, that the 8 will be the cherry on the top. But that never transpires, you always have some boxes left, someone gets their nose in front enough to push over the -5 for the win. So I'm with you - it's a red herring. It would be better if it came with a +2 bonus or something.

Still an excellent game, so I'm willing to look past it

I don't think I've ever taken it even when I had the chance to do so. I'm glad the option is there though. Without it your maximum possible score would be 92 instead of 100, and the latter is a nice number.

I had a game where I would have won if I'd taken it. Not sure it was correct to do so, but the game ended quickly and I couldn't get the set completed. That 1 point was the difference between drawing and winning. It was this game, though the replays don't really work for Number Drop:

https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=222084686

So yeah - it's definitely worth considering, though it'll be rare that you actually do it.

It can be worth it at the end of the game if you're not able to complete a column and need points. Also it could surprise the opponent if they don't look carefully at your board. Sorry I will not give more advice for now, I want to keep my high rank . Also it's always interesting to find out by ourselves the little tactics
But it's not very used indeed and this is for sure , not a priority.

Enjoy!

I definitely keep it in mind and have used it to win at least once. But it is very much as it was intended: a bonus scoring option rather than main game strategy.

I'll see if I can find a recent game where I scored it in my last move to snatch a win as I can remember doing this... Yes, in this game I used it. I already had all sequence combos and made an 8 sequence to get enough points to win after taking the -5 points to end the game

https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=353694937

What interested me recently was realising that you can only score the 8 bonus once. There are enough squares in the board and it would theoretically be possible to achieve all combos including both 8s. But as Steve5332 mentions it is nice that the max possible score is a round 100. It would be 108 if you could score both.