Well, okay, it didn't change my life. But it certainly changed my attitude towards board games! I had never been a huge fan of board games and my friends/family aren't the types to sit around on a Friday night playing Monopoly or Scrabble. But then I got Cranium on a whim Christmas 1999 . . . it's been over a year and I'm still addicted to the game. I even keep a copy of Cranium in my car for when friends invariably ask "Did you bring Cranium with you?" when we're all hanging out or at a party.

The game is very easy to play and moves quickly. The only drawback is that the included rule card is vague and situations pop up where you either have to log onto www.playcranium.com to get the 'official rule' about that situation or make up a 'house rule'.

Even though it’s an easy game to play, the activities range from challenging to simple to just plain silly. There are four categories of activities in Cranium, which is part of what makes it so fun. They are:

Yellow/Word Worm: Within Word worm you have subcategories that require you to define words (Lexicon), spell words (Spellbound), spell words backward (Gnilleps), rearrange letters to find the answer to a clue (Zelpuz), and fill in the blanks to answer a clue (Blankout). An example is having to spell ‘asparagus’ or ‘zucchini’ backward, with no false starts or writing in the air, etc. Try it – it’s harder than you’d think!

Blue/Creative Cat: Within Creative Cat you have subcategories that require you to draw a clue (Cloodle), draw a clue with your eyes closed (Sensosketch), and sculpt a clue out of Cranium Clay (Scultptorade). For example, try sculpting ‘DNA’ or drawing ‘downtown’ with your eyes closed!

Red/Data Head: Within Data Head you must answer trivial pursuit type questions (Factoid), multiple choice questions (Selectaquest), and true/false statements (Polygraph). For example, one question requires you to determine which children’s song is represented by four measures of notes shown on the card. Another asks you which is the largest animal ever to inhabit the earth.

Green/Star Performer: These are my favorite! You have to hum/whistle a tune to get your teammates to guess title and artist of a song (Humdingers), act out a clue -- basically charades (Cameos), and impersonate a famous person (Copycat). I’ve had to pretend to be Marcel Marceau and act out ‘bike messenger’. One team drew “Monica Lewinsky” and ended up passing when their ‘actor’ turned bright red and exclaimed, “I can’t do *that* in mixed copmany!!” =)

Basically the board has two tracks of colored 'squares' – really little creatures of some sort -- going around the outside. One track is twice as long as the other. You roll a colored die to move onto a category and are given an activity from that category. You have to complete it correctly to be able to move forward. Then it's the other teams turn. There are four purple craniums evenly spaced around the board where you have the opportunity to go on the fast track by correctly completing an activity from a category of your choice. The first team to get to Cranium Central and complete an activity from each category is the winner.

We typically play 2 or 3 times in an evening since it's such a fast paced game unlike games like Monopoly that sometimes requires finishing the game the next day. Plus, teams are never 'knocked out' so everyone gets to play through the entire game instead of sit on the sidelines.

It’s a great game for parties, rainy days, camping, family gatherings, weekend retreats, etc. Although most of the pop culture questions are best for those of us who attended high school in the 80's, it works with all ages. Multi-generational teams work best if you have players ranging in age. We like to play either men v women or pit couples against each other.

I brought Cranium with me to a church retreat and ended up gathering 16 strangers together for an hour or two of silliness. It’s a great way to break the ice and get people relaxed with each other since you can’t be overly worried about how people are perceiving you when you’re flopping around on the couch pretending to be a mermaid.













Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 35
Type of Toy: Board Game