Gloom - number of cards in hand

Hi - just interested to find out what others are doing. We've been playing Gloom for a few weeks now and have been finding the hand of 5 cards to be very restrictive. We tried 6, which was better, and have now settled on a hand of 7 which seems to make the game altogether more fun. Seems to allow a bit more strategy and the chance to hold back a useful card for later rather than just being forced to play cards as they're drawn.

Have others tried this? What's the intended advantage of a 5 card hand?

Enjoying the game lots - certainly appeals to the morbid in my slightly gothic 10 year old daughter!

Cheers

Ian

You are not being forced to play cards as they're drawn. The rules say that you have 2 plays, and in each one you can play one card, or discard one card, or pass.

You could play one card and pass during your turn, and just replace the card you played, holding the other cards.

And I've never had the necessity to hold cards for too long. I actually like to discard cards that I'm not using to get more useful cards, instead of holding on to them and waiting for an opportunity to play. Discarding and replacing makes the game more dynamic (in my humble experience).