Game Review: Bears!

"Sometimes you eat the b'ar, and sometimes the b'ar eats you"

Straight from the campfires, tents, and outhouses of Fireside Games comes a brand-new dice game called Bears! The perhaps inopportunely timed end-of-summer release has a woodsy camping theme that makes me think of s'mores, a crackling fire, and hard-ass feeling of logs and pebbles under my butt. Mmmm. Too bad s'mores weather is almost over. I mean, except for that inevitable dangerous snowy evening when I decide that s'mores can be made in my fireplace because June is just so far away. But earlier this year, it seemed a lot more timely and exciting at Origins when I first heard about the game. Fireside Games had a booth where one little demo set of Bears! was available, preorders were being taken, and people were elbowing to see what all the fuss was about. Okay, that was mostly me elbowing. But that's only because I never did get to demo the game, even on my eighth stop over at the booth. Finally, when my elbowing and glares failed to payoff, I took the plunge and preordered a copy sight-unseen.

This is a review of how that gamble turned out.

Play Scenario:

This review is based on about ten different plays of the game, each being about 15 seconds or less. Some of the plays were with four players, others with two players.

Game Objective:

It's not just you versus your opponents, it's you versus bears...and your opponents. Make fight-or-flight dice pairing decisions in a big hurry in order to escape (or crush) the bear population. You, as a poor camper, have been startled by bears, and must decide, in a big damn hurry, whether to grab yer gun and shoot 'em (hope you don't miss!), or run for your life. Oh yeah, and there's always the chance you'll get caught snoozing in your sleeping bag by the bears, in which case you're about the be shredded into fluffy down ribbons. Dice grabbing determines your fate.

Turn Mechanics & Game Play: 
Twenty dice are rolled in the center of the table, with each player concurrently rolling five personal dice. The moment the dust has settled, all players get grabby trying to pair the community dice, which have either bears or tents on them, with their own personal dice.

 On the personal dice, players will find a gun, running camper, or sleeping bag. Bears can be paired with guns, meaning you're looking to shoot yourself a b'ar. The running man and snoozing sleeping bag can only be paired with tents, meaning you're hoping to avoid the bears.

Each round ends when either all the bear dice OR the tent dice have been snatched, thus prompting an apoplectic shout of BEARS! by one or more panicky players. If the bears are left, and you're caught in your sleeping bag, then you're going to lose points. If everyone chased off the bears with their shotguns and you slept through the attack, then you are going to earn big points. Slacker chicken.

Points are totaled: 1 point for each bear you shot (TENT + BEAR), 2 points for each bear you outran (RUNNER + TENT), 5 points if you slept through a bear attack and the bears fled (SLEEPING BAG + TENT + no bear dice left in community pool), or -2 points if you got eaten in your sleeping  bag (SLEEPING BAG + TENT + only bear dice left in the community pool). People swear. No one likes to be bear trail mix. And then the next round begins. The rounds continue until someone reaches 50 or 100 points, which doesn't take very long at all.

Out of the Box:

This is a sweet little travel-friendly package. The tall, slender box has charming cartoonish artwork, and is made well. The ads for another Fireside Games release, Castle Panic, that have been plastered all over the inner box didn't even bother me much. Inside the box is pretty much just what you'd expect: A whole slew of dice, tiny rules pamphlet, and a couple scoring cards. Simple. Straight-forward. Probably they didn't need such a tall box, but I enjoy it because it can be used as a dice cup for your many rolls. Some thoughtful creativity clearly went into the design, and I really appreciate how portable the box is. Kudos, Fireside Games!

Praise:

+Shazam! What was that? Was that just another round? Man, this is one fast-paced game. Need to fill five or ten minutes while someone's answering a phone call, greeting the pizza dude, or using the bathroom? Break out Bears!

+Portability. True to its theme, this might be one of my top game picks to pack in my camping bag. Or for a picnic, party, long wait in movie theater lines, etc. This game can be played on just about any stationary small surface. Car trips and airplane rides aside, this game will travel really well.

+Cute and humorous theme. The whole funny premise of being eaten by bears, and running from your tent keeps the game light enough so you almost forget that you're getting stupidly railroaded by grabby friends.

+Wide appeal. Serious gamers, party gamers, non-gamers, and everybody in between can easily jump into this game and enjoy it. I could probably play this with my mom. Ugh. But drunk people--and trust me, I have a little insight on this--probably won't do so well, and will just be eaten by bears. I hope bears like tartinis.

+Challenge. For all its silliness, there really is a serious challenge for players to exercise quick-thinking strategy. Just when you think it pays to be the fastest, you realize that sometimes hanging back is the best strategy. Players who care enough to put some thought into strategy will enjoy some creative, if lightly consequential, approaches to play.

+Works with different numbers of players. The game flows well and is equally interesting, I think, with either two or four players. Many will suggest that four players is best since it creates a party atmosphere and gets people laughing and competitive. But, I think with two players, the head-to-head style is still a lot of fun and does not suffer from lack of competition. Somehow, the game is more serious with two players, or at least it is when TGHITW and I play.

Complaints:

-I will start with the obvious: It's a dice game. There's a whole lot of chance involved, even though one can have unlimited rerolls of personal dice. Chance is so strong, there really can be no true mastery of this game, and your success is left to the fates. Mostly.

-Simple strategy. Once players have rolled just a few times, the strategy of stockpiling RUNNING DUDE + TENT becomes an obvious no-lose strategy. You can't win strictly on this combination, but it will get you far. Yes, the strategy can go deeper, but many players won't take it any further than that. And then you risk getting bored. Fast.

-Yes, it's just dice in a box. This isn't exactly Agricola or Twilight Struggle.

-Based on our assessment that the four-player party atmosphere is where this game shines, it's a pity that more than four can't play. Might there be a multi-player expansion idea in the works? Getting six, eight, or more people involved could make this riotous.

-Honestly, I don't think I could get endless hours of enjoyment here.The game will get pulled out now and then for a little peppy infusion of gaming laughs, but this is not solid enough to be the backbone of your evening of gaming fun.

Overall:

This is a light, fun game to tote out for some levity and great summer fun. Snowy weather, hopefully, won't detract from the summery theme, and certainly has a mass appeal. I will, no doubt, get hours of laughs out of this wacky, manic, frenzied game. And I'm grateful for a new portable selection for my tote bag. But its poetic simplicity keeps it from being anything truly brilliant. Don't expect too much from this game, and you won't be disappointed. It's pretty much dice in a box.

Yes, I think the game is a fun addition to any gamer's collection for its quickness, levity, and broad appeal. Not every game can be Diplomacy or Dungeon Lords. There is a place for simple games like this, and I'm glad it fills a certain gaming niche. I'll proudly play Bears! for some time to come, and I am patting myself on the back (whap, whap, whap!) for taking a chance on this game. The reason it doesn't receive a higher grade is only because it's dice in a box. And it's $20. At a lower price, the bargain value may make it even more attractive to a wider audience. Plus, I have to reserve the highest grades for games that have a rich complexity and brilliance to them. Is this game brilliant? Maybe not. But is it fun? Most certainly.

Pimpability:

Not so much. I mean, one could get cutesy with little tents, or bear minis, and such. But really, no one's going to put too much effort into pimping this game. It's just fine and simple on its own.

Game: Bears!
Designer: Anne Marie De Witt
Published by: Fireside Games, 2011
Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 10 minutes
AIBG (that's us!) Age Recommendations: 8+
Average Retail Price: $20

Grade: B-

Dueling Board Game Reviews, Part II: Say Anything

After several rowdy games of Wits & Wagers, we took a peanut butter cookie break, regrouped, and began eying the next game on our list: Say Anything. Another party game. How would it hold up, though? Wits & Wagers had already been a fairly solid success that evening, but we knew it probably would be. We had more familiarity with Wits, and frankly, knew almost nothing about Say Anything.

Well the good news is that, as is the case with most party games, a 10-minute perusal of the rules is all it took before we were off and running with out first game. Here's how it went.

Disclosure: The makers of Wits & Wagers and Say Anything, North Star Games, contacted this blog's author about creating this review, and for the purposes of making these reviews possible, copies of the games were provided by the game manufacturer.

Play Scenario:

This review is based on three initial plays of the game, with four players for each game--two men and two women. Served with cocktails. But no ice. It had melted.

Game Objective:

Say Anything has one prime objective: Guess what your game mates think and feel about different questions. On your turn, you become the "Selector" (which, when pronounced just right, has a very cyborg, Schwarzenegger sound to it.), draw a card from the (smallish) deck, and choose one of the questions to read to the group. "What's the best movie sequel of all-time?" or "What's the most useless thing students learn in school?". Most of the questions are based on entertainment and leisure topics, but a handful can be politically charged or more pointed. All the players then use dry erase pens and mini dry erase cards to write down what they think the person asking the question would give as an answer. Very Apples to Apples-ish. Except that instead of the "Selector" simply choosing the answer that's best suited to his/her tastes, the group also votes on which is most likely the best match.

I hope you know the people at your game table! Or this could be an awkward night...

Turn Mechanics & Game Play: 

The game starts once everybody has picked a color (which, by the way, comes with an associated icon that can be very disappointing to people who, say, like purple, but don't want to be the "shoe person" all night) and received a dry erase marker and writing board. After the "Selector" chooses their favorite question and reads it aloud, everyone scribbles an answer that best kisses the Selector's ass best matches the Selector's personality, and passes their writing boards into the center, where they are all read aloud.

Next the Selector uses the SELECT-O-MATIC 5000 (read: the little cardboard spinner) to secretly vote for his/her favorite answer. Then everybody uses two player tokens to rate which answer most likely pleased the Selector. Once the judgment is revealed to the whole table, points are distributed and recorded on a dry erase scoreboard. This continues for 12 rounds, when the game ends and the person with the highest point totals wins!

Dan's Question: "What organization would we be better off without?"

Out of the Box:

It's very evident that a similar level of care was put into the game design for Say Anything as there was for Wits & Wagers. The dry erase boards are thick and sturdy, including the score card, which is a refreshing and eco-friendly alternative to traditional scorepads of paper. Hooray! No more worrying about replacement score sheets either. Hooray!

The markers are perfectly nice, just as they were for Wits & Wagers. For details on their quality and their likelihood to cause freckling on your kitchen table, read our Wits & Wagers review HERE.

There were two major design issues with the game, though. First, was the lack of cards. I griped about this with Wits & Wagers, too. For such card-reliant gaming, it seems like players get about half the number of cards they really should. The deck will suffice as-is for a while, but if I want this game in my closet for years, or even decades, I'm going to run into problems. Meaning this game already has a shelf life....unless I can purchase expansions down the road.

The other major design flaw was the SELECT-O-MATIC 5000. Gods bless the name. It's a great name for a silly cardboard spinner. It really is. Someone had to have a strange sense of humor to come up with it. But really, it's just a cardboard circle with a flimsy plastic arrow that falls off easily. If future editions can secure the arrow to the cardboard better (a simple piece of plastic on the reverse side could anchor it nicely), then the issue would be resolved. Otherwise I have no other quibbles with the orange slice cardboard dial. Okay, maybe just one: What if we made it a little more scary sci-fi looking? You know, to match the name. Killer robots? Mind control helmets? No? Well, think about it. Get back to me.

Praise:

+The questions are delightfully specific--asking for the best beer, the most overrated song of all-time, or what you dreamed about last night. This is where similar party games have failed in the past. Vagueness leaves the door open for a wide range of answers, but more often the humor is in the details. The writers did a nice job.
+Since the beginning of time, party games have served one primal function: Break the ice at parties. Get people talking and introduce each other. Well this game is good at doing just that. If you ever want to get to know family and friends better, you'll learn all sorts of quirky nuances after playing a few rounds. And I have to say, it's less disturbing that I feared!

+Did I mention the silly cardboard spinner is called the SELECT-O-MATIC 5000? Yeah, that's pretty fantastic.
+I'll repeat that the use of a dry erase scoreboard is both healthy for our planet, and kind of fun. Just pick someone with legible handwriting to keep score, m'kay?
+The women had a ton of fun with this game. Call this a sexist observation, but the women seemed to have a keener insight (or maybe just more imagination?) into the minds of the other players. Well, we were certainly the loudest and the rowdiest. (The men were still debating the Wits & Wagers answers.)
+Things got a little....shall we say, blue? Yes, a tad inappropriate at times, but that was half the charm. When you're all adults, you can bend the questions in naughty ways. On its own though, the game is very PG, and can work for mature kids.
+On that same token, blue or not, the game can be downright FUNNY. If players are into this game, expect a lot of laughs. Example: One of the men (Dan) asked "What is the most annoying thing about being a man?" All the answers were submitted, and damnitall, we all answered "Being right all the time". Though it was noted that possible back-up answers included "ball itch" and "women getting the vote". (Hey, the latter was meant to be ironic considering these are two of the most forward-thinking men I know. I swear.)

Jen's Question: "What doesn't taste better with ketchup?"

Complaints:

-I'll start with the obvious and beat the dead horse just one more time: The SELECT-O-MATIC 5000 falls apart pretty easily. And despite it's humorous name, it's kind of a puzzling choice for the mechanic of selecting a favorite answer. I'm not sure if I love it or hate it...even if it didn't fall apart. Maybe if we had more killer robots...
-Once again, I think we get a bit short-changed with the deck of cards. There it is.
-Players who have a spouse or best friend seated at the game table hold a distinct advantage. Because our game table was comprised of two married couples, our betting rounds became pretty routine: Vote for the spouse's answer. That betting had a 90% success rate for the most part. This really blunts the tension and impact of the voting round, and could've been easily eliminated from our game if we wanted to go more casual. Outsiders and third wheels will find this awkward and possibly annoying.
-Yeah, it has a pretty bland title and theme. I have to keep glancing at the box to remember what it's called. I think with a creative and energetic theme, they really could've tapped into something quirky, weird, and funny. I think it was even on the tips of their tongues with the whole SELECT-O-MATIC thing. They just needed to run with it and let their freak flags fly a little more instead of being so generic.
-It's not a terribly unique party game. We've seen its ilk a few times before. I like some of the new twists, but this isn't revolutionary.

Overall:

Compared to Wits & Wagers, there was a LOT more laughing with this game. It was more casual and conversational, and really filled the role a party game is meant to fill. We had a blast. So with that noted, it's really hard to harp on some of the things I didn't like when I started to pick apart the experience the next day. Yes, it's not terrifically unique. Yes, the damn spinner falls apart. Yes, there are some flaws based on relationships and intimate knowledge of a partner.

But we had a good time!

And at the end of the day, for a party game, sometimes that's all that really matters. So yes, I'll be keeping this (wait, what's it called again?) Say Anything game in the Board Game Closet of Doom for quite some time. It'll be a lot of fun at holidays with the family, and sometimes if I need to lighten the mood with gamer friends. And I'd definitely serve this with cocktails every time. Just be prepared that if you do so, gamers are likely to draw some very rude pictures on their dry erase boards in between rounds. Which kind of makes the game even better....

Pimpability:

Oh, truly there is just one thing that is ripe for pimpin' in this game: SELECT-O-MATIC 5000!!! Let's attach this to a snarling robot head, or some funky piece of artwork. Ooh, or better yet, steam punk it! Yes! Throw away the plastic spinner and use copper wire and old dials. Lots of possibilities.

Game: Say Anything
Designer: Dominic Crapuchettes and Satish Pillalamarri
Published by: North Star Games, 2008
Players: 3-8
Playing Time: 30-45 min.
AIBG Age Recommendations: 13 and up
Average Retail Price: $25

Grade: B-

Dueling Board Game Reviews, Part I: Wits & Wagers

Here we go. The mood is set. We're ready to play an award-winning party game that has stuck in our brains since we first saw it at a small local game con last summer: Wits & Wagers. Last time we played it was amongst a group of about 10 other people who would shuffle in and out of seats between turns. This time though, we're on home turf in our own kitchen ready to play with a smaller group. How will the party game hold up? The people sitting down to play aren't the typical Aunt Harriet party game players who hoot and howl at the antics of  Scene It! or High School Musical: The Game. We're seasoned gamers who know board games and party games inside and out. So let's see just how Wits & Wagers stands up to our very snooty standards.

Disclosure: The makers of Wits & Wagers, North Star Games, contacted this blog's author about creating this review, and for the purposes of making these reviews possible, copies of the games were provided by the game manufacturer.

Play Scenario:

This review is based on three initial plays of the game, with four players for each game--two men and two women. Served with cocktails. On ice.

Game Objective:

This is a highly interactive party game in which players are asked a question, testing their trivial knowledge of all things numbers-related--from measurements and time spans to famous dates in history and popular opinion percentages. For example, "How many pounds did the heaviest ever sumo wrestling champion weigh?" or "In what year did Michael Jackson first perform his 'moonwalk' dance?" Guess the closest, without going over (Price is Right style!), and you score chips. That's the first element of the game. The second element is betting. Once everyone has submitted a guess, you have to bet on whose answer you think is most likely to be correct. Collect the most chips by game's end, through clever guesses and strategic betting, to win the game.

Turn Mechanics & Game Play: 

As with many party games, there is an "it" person who acts as emcee for the current turn. In this case, it's the "Question Reader". (Kind of a boring title, right? I mean, compared to games like Pictionary where you get to be called a "Picturist"! Much cooler. Professional sounding. Like you had to go to Picturist school and get a Picturist degree.) Anyway, the Question Reader draws a card and reads the question aloud to all of the players, who then secretly write their best guess on a mini dry erase card (dry erase markers included). Even the Question Askerist (??...I'm trying) gets to participate.

Once all the dry erase cards are submitted to the center mat, they're revealed, (note that I'm using "reveal" as a verb here. Listen to me people, it is NOT a noun. Do you hear me? "Reveal" is Not a Noun.) and then sorted numerically and placed on the green betting mat. Notice in the picture that the betting spread changes depending on how far out your answer is. It's a nice touch.

Next comes the betting. Everyone places their bets, to start with using two marker chips matching their player color that can never be lost. Bet with confidence since they'll always come back to you no matter how much you blow. Place your chips on whatever answer sounds the most reasonable (spreading your bet on up to two different guesses). There's also a space at the end of the mat for betting on "Smaller than the Smallest Guess"...just in case you think everyone overshot (it's like bidding $1 on The Price is Right). No rule says you have to bet for your own answer, and let's face it, I often didn't.

When the correct answer is revealed by the Questionologist, the person acting as banker pays out plastic poker chips, which can then be re-wagered to make your bets as ballsy as you dare, or can be made into neat and tidy stacks right in front of you. Then game play continues for a total of 7 rounds of questions. That's when the game ends and all chips are totaled.

Out of the Box:

This game has a pretty nice production value. The glossy dry-erase cards are thick and sturdy cardboard, and some care clearly went into the design of the logos and graphics used on all the pieces.

The felt betting mat is an especially nice addition, though (as you can see in photos), it does tend to crease and wrinkle due to natural folding in the box. In the future, instead of folding it tightly to fit in its designated box space, I may wrap it more loosely and set it on top of the set, even if it means the box top floats a bit. It would be worth it if the game mat holds up for that many more months or years.

The dry erase markers worked very well...even if the (unnecessary) pen clips snap easily when fiddled with. Fair warning to doodlers though, that ink really is strong stuff! Someone who, say, decided to hastily jot game notes on a Christmas napkin for the sake of a game review, might find later that the marker ink bled through the napkins and stained the wooden table underneath. I've scrubbed for two weeks, and my table's still freckled with black ink. Gaming scars. I guess I'd rather that, than having wussy markers that dry out quickly. Heavily used dry erase cards will start to develop that cloudy gray residue that never quite erases. No big whoop.

Praise:

+This game is intellectually stimulating. And unlike so many other party games that test your mental prowess, this one leaps beyond the boundaries of vocabulary. A fundamental knowledge of math, measurements, geography, history, and pop culture will aid your game.
+On the flip side, expertise and knowledge are not required. Most of your guesses will be wild stabs in the dark, so it's hard to look like a dunce (but not impossible!).
+The betting portion of the game is a natural fit and, frankly, elevates the game. Not only must you make a decent showing of guesstimating your answer, but then you have to gauge your opponents' abilities and can win or lose based on how much you trust the knowledge of the people at the table.
+The betting payout system is another elevating factor. By increasing the payout for people who take bigger risks, the game becomes more strategic and risky. It was a smart mechanic to add.
+The game plays well with four people, even though the instructions hype that the game is best with six or more. Pshaw, I say! Four works pretty darn well. (Three might be iffy though.)
+The timer with the green sand was a nice touch. It tickled me that it matched the betting mat. Hey, sometimes it's the little things...
+This is a party game that is appealing to men. In my anecdotal experience, I find women tend to gravitate toward party games much more than men. In this case, the chest-thumping men enjoyed the game the most. There were a lot of evil laughs and plenty of smack talk. Especially from Dan, who, frankly, ran away with all the games we played. 

Complaints:

-The game needs a round counter. See, each time a new round begins, the Questioneer needs to read the question number that relates to which round it is. (ie for Round #3, read Question #3.) When your group is rowdy and unfocused (as a good party game night should be!), it's so easy to lose track, and it gets annoying trying to figure out which round it is. A simple round counter would be easy enough to include (maybe printed right on the betting mat?). We ended up using a 10-sided die as a counter in later games, and I recommend the same to any rowdy gamers.
-The game only comes with 700 questions. It sounds like a lot, but that's a pretty small stack of cards. It's not surprising that the game maker advertises right on the box body that you can keep playing with their "Expansion Pack 1". Harumph. I mean, I'm glad that expansion packs are available, but I would've expected the game to come with double as many cards as it did.
-Wits & Wagers requires just enough basic knowledge that truly stupid people will be exposed as such, and will be embarrassed. At the game con where I was introduced to the game, someone guessed that the Civil War ended in 1920. Oops. Yeah, that was awkward. I shouldn't have laughed outloud. Don't play with really dim bulbs.

Overall:

This is a great party game for a wide variety of occasions. Seasoned gamers will have a blast busting this out to mix things up and have a more casual game night, but it will also work well for non-gamers. Families will bicker, laugh, and play together over this game, and it is well-suited for most parties. In fact, I'd recommend it to most guests, provided they're sans children. There's no adult content that prohibits kids from playing, but wee ones (I'd say even as old as 13) probably won't have the guesstimation skills needed to make a real go of it, and will get frustrated. Save this for grown-up time.

So, good for the masses. With all of that being said though, I'm a little leery of how quickly we'll burn through the deck of cards that come with the original game set, so that may prevent me from pulling out the game as quickly as I might otherwise. It's like Elaine and the Sponge--I have to save the cards for gamers who are really worthy.

The bottom line is that this game's a keeper. It's a very accessible, thinking person's party game, and it is likely to stand the test of time and be just as playable and fun for years and years. Unlike so many other party games, this one will challenge and push you without nervous buzzers or ticking timers. And because it's so interactive and starts a conversation so well, it will flow smoothly into an evening of socializing, instead of shutting down the party for a game break.

Now I just have to figure out how long I can hold out being cheap before getting the expansion packs...

Pimpability:

True, one doesn't normally pimp party games, but as mentioned above, a good D-10 aids the game as a round counter. I might also add a green visor and a bubblegum cigar for the dealer. Just for fun.

Game: Wits & Wagers
Designer: Dominic Crapuchettes
Published by: North Star Games, 2005
Players: 4-20
Playing Time: 30-45 min.
AIBG Age Recommendations: 16-60
Average Retail Price: $30-35

Grade: B+ 

Party Game Time!

So funny thing happened after volunteering for reviewing duty for the upcoming Crappy Birthday game--the people over at North Star Games actually found this blog! Who knew? Actually, it's still kind of a mystery how it even landed on their radar, but I'm not one to play at equine dentistry, so I'll just be glad and move on. Shortly after that, they contacted me and asked if I had ever considered reviewing a couple of their current party game titles. Huh. Why, actually....

The honest-to-gods truth is that weeks prior to all of this, TGHITW (The Greatest Husband in the World) and I had actually been out to a couple different stores looking to pick up Wits & Wagers--one of the two titles they recommended. And we had failed. Miserably. (All we could find was the "Family" edition, which involves no betting. What fun is that?) The game was already at the top of our list. So as serendipity would have it, I happen to now have in my possession a copy of both Wits & Wagers and Say Anything, both from North Star Games. That means it's party time.

Now for this kind of special board game review event, I had to call in some friends who not only love traditional board games just as we do, but also have some special expertise in the field of party games. So in advance, I'd like to thank Dan and Jen for sitting down to a critical night of gaming, analysis, and (of course) cocktails. The night was wicked fun, and I have to tell you, it's been a long time since I've laughed so hard.

What you'll see in the following reviews is, as always, my honest, blunt opinion about the games. Com'on, would I really ever play possum? Even for free games? Pshaw! Of course not. Probably not. Well anyway, watch for  Parts I & II of the North Star Games review challenge to be posted shortly.

As always, happy gaming!

Help Rate Game Prototypes? Ooh-ooh-ooh! Me! Me!

or "And a Very Crappy Birthday to Us All!"

No, it's not my birthday. But any chance to help behind the scenes with a board game's production is as good as any birthday. It turns out the game makers over at North Star Games are in the process of creating a humorous new party game called Crappy Birthday. If you take a looky-loo over at BGG, you'll find out that Crappy Birthday is an Apples-to-Apples-type game where players submit "gift" cards to the birthday judge. This judge picks the crappiest gift, and the giver receives a point. Now, contrary to my general snobbery and elitist attitudes about thinking games, I actually really do enjoy a good party game sometimes. As you've read here on this blog, I'm an Apples to Apples fan, and I thoroughly enjoy games like Taboo, Pictionary, and Balderdash. When I first heard about Crappy Birthday, I could instantly see the tables full of friends, I could smell the green apple tartinis, I could taste the M&Ms, and I could hear the slurred speech of rowdy gamers. This game has some serious potential. But will it work?

Well, that's what North Star Games is working on right now. They just advertised on BGG that they were in need of gamers to help rate the various "gift cards" according to how desirable (or crappy) each gift is, and whether or not it's likely to get people talking and debating. Specifically, they needed women (Hey! That's me!) to provide a balanced perspective.

One reply email later, and I'm now spending my evening scrolling through PDFs of card mock-ups and giving them a snarky rating...and a bit of proofreading advice. Hey, I can't help it. And for my [cough] work, my reward is a mention in the game's credits and maaaybe even a free copy of the game (breath not held). Man, I love projects like this. Now whenever I see that game on store shelves, I'll smile because I was a small cog in helping the game to launch. For us game nerds, it doesn't get much better.

So how are the cards?

Sorry, mum's the word. You'll just have to wait for the game's release in August to see. But if you find any misspellings, don't come crying to me. I was a total bitch about it. Promise.

Apples to Apples Saves the Day!

Hey there, friends. Are you having guests over tonight and don't know how to entertain them? Are you listless and bored? Do you poop out at parties? Well, if so, folks, have I got a solution for yooooou! Introducing the handy-dandy party saver in a box....it's APPLES TO APPLES!

Yeah, sorry. I thought I kind of had to sell it like that because I feel that kind of cheesy pulling out such a pedestrian party game, and that's what I did when some friends came over this past Saturday night. They're great people--another married couple our age (who have deliciously warped minds) and their teenage ward (long story). Just the five of us. And even with the wine flowing the conversation well dried up within the first 45 minutes. That's when I got desperate. Gilmore Girls fans out there know it was nearly Bop-It time, so I pulled out the Apples to Apples.

And let me tell ya, that game can save any party. So I'm going to give it its full due here for the thin slice of brilliance it really is. First of all, allow me to praise how simple it is to explain. When the teenage girl tried to "sit out" the first game so she could text on her phone, I had slurred out the rules faster than she could object to me shoving her into a chair. "There's a judge who reads a descriptive word, the other people toss out a card from their hands with a word that fits the description. The judge picks which card is the best, and that person wins a point. First person to seven wins." Boom. Game explained. (Take that, Puerto Rico!)

It's not just the simplicity that is attractive either--the game gets people laughing and bickering and brings out the best in a room full of casual drinkers. My favorite part of the evening (aside from when the husband pulled fresh-baked cookies out of the oven for mid-game munching) was when massive finger pointing followed a rash call that had something to do with: "Com'ON--vampires are NOT juicy! Yeah, the blood they suck might be juicy, but Alexander Skarsgard's intense sexual appeal aside, there is no frickin' way that vampires are juicy inside!....And are we out of the riesling already?!"

Yeah, the game gave us something to talk and laugh about, to break bread over, and to keep us up well into the wee hours of the morning. And I realized that Apples to Apples has never let me down. I've never met anyone who didn't enjoy playing it at least a little. If anyone out there has seen this magic party game fail, I'd love to hear how it happened and what went down. But without further proof, I'll just have to assume that this game is positively magical...and might just be worth picking up a new set where the cards won't be sticky with chocolate chips and wine.