Get a Load of This One! [Family Game Night WriteOff]
Written: Jul 08 '01
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Pros: every game is different, virtually all ages can play together with little advantages
Cons: can take a while to finish, especially the more people involved
The Bottom Line: fun for the family, friends, or function... a great way to have laughs, intelligent discussion, and enlightening into each other's thought processes
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| manky's Full Review: Loaded Questions |
I stumbled upon Loaded Questions, during one of my many treks to the Goodwill, filling my home up with games. I grew up with a tried and true "Game Night" at my dad's. At my mom's house we played games as well, yet more randomly (mostly attached to friends coming over, family gatherings, etc.) I have even spent a great deal of time with my friends (now as a young adult) playing games. Games bring people together, stimulate the mind (ok, most of them try at least,) and create a horrendously fun atmosphere as far as I'm concerned!
Lucky for me, Loaded Questions was quietly discarded by someone, only to be rescued and brought back to life by me! For only $1.99, I was on an adventure to figure this new game out, and test it on every victim I could find. Sure enough, I found many a willing soul and have proven this purchase worthy time and time again.
The Players:
Loaded Questions is deemed for 3 to 6 players. Once you understand to concept of the game, you may understand why I beg to differ with this. I can't imagine much of the fun of only 3 players... as you would have a simple elimination process that defeats most of the game. Also, I've played with more than 6 people at a time. It may get a bit hairy, and take a while (plus you'll have to come up with other playing tokens,) but if everyone is interested and patient... it can happen!
Once again, Loaded Questions is deemed for ages teen to adult. I can see where this is coming from. Yet still believe that any group willing to work with a younger child (who can at least read and write for the most part,) can make it happen. Since questions are open ended, it's all up to interpretation, and young ones can surprise you if you let them!
Game Play:
The idea behind Loaded Questions is that you go around asking open ended questions. Everyone answers anonymously, and each player's goal is to decide who answered what. This sounds complicated, but after you see it in play once, it's a simple concept.
Play proceeds as follows:
You roll the die and move the corresponding numbers of spaces along the board. You read the question pertaining to the color of square you've landed on. As each other player writes their own answer down, they pass their papers to the previous player. The previous player reads all answers aloud, as you aim towards deciphering who answer what. Depending on how many correlating answers and players you can deduce, you advance even more along the board, being rewarded with an entire extra turn (and roll) for matching absolutely everyone with their answers.
There are some courtesy things to remember, as well as some helpful strategies to enjoying the game longer. Such as:
-As the reader of all the answers, be sure you understand everyone's answer (ie writing and/or pronunciation) before you begin reading. So as to avoid anyone saying something, or reacting in a way that would aid the player in knowing who's answer it was.
-Allow the player to talk out (or even write out) who they see fitting with each answer. Let the reader repeat as necessary.
-Make sure the player has come to a complete and final decision about their matches before revealing whether any of them are true.
As you become more and more familiar with this game, you will catch on to it's quirks and strategies, and how it all works best for your situation.
The Questions:
Divided into 4 categories, Loaded Questions comes with over 500 questions in total. Each with no right or wrong answer, there are endless possibilities to be discovered.
Hypotheticals put you in a situation, and ask you to elaborate on it
"If you became president of the US, what is the first measure you would enact while in office?" or "If you could choose any name for yourself, other than your own, what would it be?"
Anything Goes are a rich potpourri of things that are funnest when answered with the first impulse of a thought!
"Where is the most embarrassing place to be caught naked in?" or "Fill in the blank - I am so much smarter than _________."
No-Brainers are pretty simple straight forward ones, where you shouldn't even have to strain towards an answer. This is where knowing your opponents well is to a major advantage (as if the whole game wasn't about that very point!)
"What is your favorite form of potato?" or "How many bones have you broken in your life?"
Personals dig deeper into your own identity, ego, and thoughts... or not!
"On a scale of one to ten, how proficient are you in typing?" or "What color underwear are you wearing right now"
Each card has one question from each category.
Twists and Turns:
Aside from your simple colored squares corresponding the question categories, you can somehow land on a Happy Trail (ok sing with my guys, "Happy Trails to-o-o you!") and zoom ahead of the competition, skipping a stretch of the board. Also there are a few wild spots, where instead of a determined category, you can skim the card and choose the one you pick out of all 4. Finally, there are the reversal squares [insert gloomy horror music here.] These can get a bit hairy. Instead of everyone answering for themselves, they answer what they think the player would answer about the player's self. The player also writes his answer downs, reveling it only after everyone is finished. In this situation both sides are given the opportunity to advance along the board with a match.
Winning the Game:
At the end of the board is another wild spot. In order to win, a player must correctly match all of the answers given with the other players on their turn. This can be difficult depending on the number of players and variety of answers. At least here you get the chance to have a say as to which question gets thrown out for your opportunity!
My Experience:
In case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit gung-ho about this game. Sure I've run into a few who weren't too thrilled about it, but you must take into consideration that both of the aforementioned aren't too thrilled about games in general, nothing specific towards this game in particular.
I love the idea of never ending or repeating fun for all ages. Here you get to dive into people's minds. Laugh at their interpretations and even more so at your own. From the things people say, to who you think might have said them... nothing could be more baffling and simple at once!
I have not actually played with anyone younger than 14. However, I know my family, and I know that even the youngest cousin (Emily at 7 years old) would do fine with this game and a patient family to boost her along her way. What child doesn't want to play such a game with the adults? I know I blush just as much as they might with the "getting caught naked," and I'm 23! It all is in how the rest of the crowd reacts. We all play other open ended writing and reading games (think Scattergories) with the whole family, why not this one too?
Epinions Note:
This review was written as part of Wanbli_Gleska's "Family Game Night" WriteOff! To see the other entries, entrants, or more info, go to Argonut's homepage [http://mynook.com/writeoff/index.asp?WID=3]
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1.99
Type of Toy: Board Game
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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Epinions.com ID:
manky
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Amancay Maahs
Location: Hood River, OR
Reviews written: 85
Trusted by: 45 members
About Me:
Young woman from Oregon... spent time in Argentina learning the language, and to love life!
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