When? That is the Question.

Designers: Reinhard Staupe and Walter Jannik

Artist: Oliver Freudenreich and Sandra Freudenreich

Publisher: KENDi Games

I usually go for games where I’m familiar with the designer—a known quantity. It doesn’t always guarantee a hit, but it greatly increases the chance I’ll enjoy the game. Such is the case with Quando. The game itself was new to me, but its designer, Reinhard Staupe, is well known for clever card games, many of which I’ve enjoyed. Worth noting, Walter Jannik is also listed as a co-designer.

Quando uses a 55-card deck, double-sided with values ranging from 0–10. Each card is unique, with no repeated numerical pairings. The setup feels somewhat similar to Scout, the popular trick-taking game by Kei Kajino—except that Quando does include zeroes, which Scout does not.

The goal in Quando is simple: exit the round as early as possible while keeping your score as low as you can. The winner of the round ends with zero points—which is good, since in this game, points are bad. After several rounds, the first player to hit 50 points triggers the end of the game, and the player with the lowest score overall wins.

How It Plays

Each round, players are dealt a number of cards based on player count. On your turn, you must shed cards by playing either a single card, a pair or triplet of the same value, or a straight of exactly three cards (e.g., 2-3-4).

After playing cards, you must draw. You can either take the top card as-is, or gamble by flipping it to see the hidden value on the reverse side.

A special twist comes with triplets: whenever someone plays one, all players (starting with the active player) must either flip a zero in their hand—accepting whatever new value it becomes—or draw a new card. This usually hurts everyone but the active player, since adding or flipping cards makes it harder to shed your hand.

There’s some late-game tension, too. If a player’s hand consists only of zeros after their turn, they immediately reveal their hand and claim victory. Otherwise, a player may “knock” at any time, betting they hold the lowest score. The gamble is that all other players get one final turn to improve their hand. And if someone plays a triplet in that last round, even the knocker is forced to draw or flip—often painful.

If, after the dust settles, the knocker still has the lowest score, they win the round with zero points. If not, another player claims zero, while the knocker and all other players suffers their total card value plus a five-point penalty. That’s the risk of knocking too soon.

Impressions

The key to Quando is right there in the title—“quando” means “when” in Italian. And indeed, the heart of the game is knowing when to knock. The urge to do so is constantly held in check by the fact that you always draw after playing. Even if you’re down to one card, you must pick up another, meaning your hand is never truly empty. Victory often depends on the whims of the draw deck: a lucky pull invites a knock, while an unlucky one can drag the round out.

Of course, the dream finish is a hand of zeros. You can aim for it, but luck plays a huge role. The more common path is knocking, and while the five-point penalty for failing is not trivial, it isn’t crushing either—especially since most hands score in the single digits anyway (because knocking with double digits is a losing proposition).

As rounds near their end, tension builds. Knocking forces everyone to think carefully about their last move. Sometimes you’ll see players try to punish the knocker with a triplet, but this backfires if the new draw is worse than what they already had. More often, players simply pass (which is allowed in the final turn) or toss out high cards to reduce their score.

Since there’s no official English rulebook from Kendi, I had to piece the rules together from online translations and video reviews. Now that we’ve played several times with the correct rules, I’d say Quando a decent family game. With three players, it flows best. It’s lighter and luckier than most card games in our collection, but that actually makes it more appealing for family play.

My kid loves games with a higher measure of luck and chaos, and the groans that erupt whenever a zero is revealed from the deck are hilarious. The complaints about “bad draws” always spark laughter, and the game’s quick pace ensures it never overstays its welcome. It’s not meant to be taken seriously—lean into the silliness, and it works.

Final Thoughts

Average. Quando is, in a word, average—but in a good way. It’s quick, light, and luck-driven, perfect for family gaming sessions. Kids can grasp it easily, and the chaos keeps things lively. The tension of flipping a card, holding your breath for a low value, and deciding when to knock is the highlight. Early rounds often feel inconsequential, but as hands shrink, the game sharpens into a tense, fun finale. Quando won’t blow you away, but it delivers laughs, suspense, and plenty of schadenfreude—exactly what you want in an easy breezy family card game.