Jalape-No!

I’m not a huge foodie, but I know what I like. When it comes to spicy food, less is definitely more. My taste buds don’t handle heat well. That’s why Jalape-No! hit the spot for me. In this game, you play as a chef crafting delicious dishes while trying to avoid the burn of even a single jalapeño! But if you catch one, you’ll want to pass it off before the game ends.

Jalape-No! is a fast and sizzling hot trick-taking game. Designed by the legendary prolific duo Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer, Jalape-No!‘s art is by Danny Aldana. This 25th Century Games title supports 3–9 players, plays in under thirty minutes, and is recommended for ages 10+.

Setup

Use only the cards marked for the desired player count and return the rest to the box. Shuffle and deal 12 cards to each player. Anyone dealt a Jalapeño card places it face up in front of them; it counts as negative points if they still have it at the end of the round.

Gameplay

The starting player plays a card from their hand or one of their face-up jalapeño cards to the center of the table to begin the trick. This establishes the lead color. Play proceeds clockwise, with players required to follow the lead color if possible. If a player cannot follow suit, they may:

• Play a jalapeño card that matches the lead color
• Play a card of a different color
• Play a jalapeño of a different color

Players must follow suit if they can. Jalapeños offer flexibility, but if a player ends the round with one in front of them it will cost them.

Taking the trick

The highest-value card in the lead color wins the trick. Cards that don’t match the lead color are ignored when determining the winner. Any jalapeños in the trick go face up in front of the player who took it. All other cards go into that player’s facedown win pile.

But winning tricks doesn’t win the game! All won cards run the risk of costing players negative points.

The trick winner leads the next round.

End of round and Scoring

Play continues until one or more players have no cards left. Then, after the final trick, each player adds the remaining cards from their hand to their facedown won pile. Scoring is as follows:

• Each jalapeño in front of a player: –2 points
• Each card in the won pile with a matching jalapeño for that player: –1 point
• All other cards: 0 points

That’s right, if you don’t have any jalapeños, you avoid penalty points for them entirely! To set up the next round, gather all the played cards and shuffle them, keeping jalapeños in front of the players who earned them. Deal 12 cards to each player. The player with the most penalty points starts the next round.

After five rounds, the chef with the highest score (the fewest negative points) wins.

Impressions

Jalape-No! delivers the kind of tension I love in a trick-taking game. Every trick feels like a little gamble: can you dodge the jalapeño, or should you risk striking at just the right moment to pass it off? Slipping past a trick feels like narrowly dodging the burn of a fiery pepper. You can’t help but celebrate with a fist pump or a quiet exhale when your risky play works out.

I recently hosted a game day and played Jalape-No! at a full nine players. The table buzzed with energy—groans, laughter, and shocked reactions erupted every round as players unexpectedly got burned. It brought a ton of joy to the table, even for those of us with the worst luck (myself included). I ended up with a brutal score of –45, while three players tied for the win with zero points!

Strategically, I’m still peeling back the layers. But honestly, that’s part of the fun. I saw some players hold onto their jalapeños until late in the round, hoping to pass them when everyone else ran out of options. I leaned into shedding high cards early, especially when I couldn’t follow suit. Ditching dangerous off-suit high cards felt crucial to dodging tricks.

Surprisingly, some players were crafty enough to make it through an entire round without taking a single trick. The flow of play is easy to pick up, but there’s a lot of subtle timing and sneaky card management hidden underneath. That’s what gives Jalape-No! such strong replayability—it’s not a game that needs alternative variations. It’s perfect the way it is.

Cute Art, Best for Younger Eyes

The artwork deserves a special shout-out. It’s vibrant, colorful, cute, and full of charm—I would absolutely wear a t-shirt featuring these playful food-based characters!

The bubbly font for the card numbers did give a few players with older eyes some trouble. It wasn’t a major issue, but it did come up during our game. On the bright side, the game uses a bold shape for each color, and it works perfectly. Two colorblind players at our table jumped right in and had no issues at all.

Final Thoughts

If you enjoy the tension of dodging unwanted points in trick-taking games, you might also want to check out Stick ‘Em where you also try to dodge penalty points tied to unwanted colors. Interestingly, Jalape-No! is a reimplementation of Peppers, originally released in 1998, now refreshed with vibrant art and a lively, spicy twist that feels right at home today. I love seeing older titles like this get a second chance to shine at the table.

Ready to play a game of hot potato—well, hot pepper—and try to avoid singeing your tastebuds while slinging tricks? Pick up a copy of Jalape-No! directly from 25th Century Games, on Amazon, or at your friendly local game store.

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The Family Gamers received a copy of Jalape-No! from 25th Century Games for this review.

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