Board games have been around us for centuries, but the modern concept of board games with its own box with all its components inside is pretty recent in comparison. Still, some classic games from decades ago can still go strong and this game is definitely the best proof of it.

Can't Stop is a 2-4 players game which consists of a dedicated board, four six-sided dices, forty-four colored tokens (eleven for each color) and three white tokens. The image below showcases all the contents, it's the 2007 reprinted version which has become the officially available version after the original 1980 version went out of print long ago.



In your turn, roll all dices and then select how you want to pair them. Let's say you get a 1, a 2, a 3 and a 5; there are three possible pairings: 1+2 and 3+5, 1+3 and 2+5, 1+5 and 2+3. The added result of the pairs determines the columns you'll place your tokens in, with the most common results having the longer columns and the least common ones the shortest. After you choose the results, place the white tokens in the columns and decide whether you want to roll again (if you can't stop, hence the name) or pass.

Should you choose to continue, remember there are only three white tokens so at most you can only progress in three columns in your turn. If you roll again and obtain a result you chose before, the token can advance further. If you pass, exchange the white tokens with tokens of your color and the next player rolls. Keep in mind that if you have no possible combination to place any white tokens (because you've already placed three of them and no result matches those columns, for example), your turn ends and all progress is lost, wasting the turn altogether.



As the turns pass, we get to a display similar to the image above. You might have guessed it: the point is to reach the top of three columns before anybody else does. This is why you must choose wisely where you want to advance, trailing players here is not as useful as in other games because you can simply climb up another column. But be careful, if you choose to progress too fast you might lose an entire turn!

When a player claims a column, it becomes blocked. Any other player who had tokens there removes them, and no new tokens can be placed there, meaning the result of that column is now unusable and leading to higher chances of bad luck rolls. In a 4 player game it's entirely possible to decide the game with just three columns available, so try to avoid such finale at any costs!

An addictive, simple, luck-based game that has managed to stay very much alive for 45+ years, and I'm sure you all know why now. Good for people who think board games are complicated, there's barely anything to do here besides competing for column progress (and blaming your luck on the dice rolls every so often) yet it's bloodily fun to play. And as you can see, it's not hard to create that game yourself because it needs very few materials.