"Tiger" Isn't An Amphibian That Starts With A "T"!
Written: Jan 11 '07
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Pros: Tons of fun, great for big groups and parties, everyone will enjoy it...
Cons: ...categories become repetitive, pads run out quickly
The Bottom Line: Scattergories is such a fun game. Grab your family and friends, put on your thinking caps and enjoy a few rounds!
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| donkee's Full Review: Scattergories |
For the past few days, I've been writing a short series of board game reviews, but despite the fact that Scattergories isn't actually a board game, it's so much fun that it deserves to be reviewed as well. Besides, after playing it with a group of people last night (it's one of the mainstays in "game night" with my friends), I have a very fresh opinion of it.
Scattergories is a word game that can be played with two to six people (We've brought together several sets of Scattergories and have played with about 12 people, though this makes the game a lot harder, but more on that later). The object of the game is to score the most points in three rounds.
The game begins with each player taking a folder that contains a pad of paper and category cards. There are 12 category cards (that are printed on each side) and each has a list of 12 categories (like "Things you can wear" or "School supplies"). The players all agree on a list use before starting, and one of the players rolls a 20-sided alphabet die (the letters Q,U,V,X,Y, and Z are excluded- thank God!) to determine which letter is used for that particular round. A three minute timer is set and the game begins.
The point of the game is to fill in words or terms that fit in each of the categories and starts with the letter that was rolled. For example, if the letter is "B" and the category is "Colors" then "Brown" or "Blue" would be acceptable answers. You are not able to use adjectives ("Very..." would be wrong) or adverbs ("Overly..." would also be incorrect), and a word must always start with the letter that was rolled. If you use the rolled letter twice (for example, "Belly Button" if the letter was "B"), you get double points. However, you're not allowed to use the same word twice (You can't use "Ice cream" and "Ice cube" on the same round).
After the three minutes are up, everyone must stop writing and compare lists. Your opponents get to choose if your answers are valid or not (last night I got called on listing "Lemon juice" as a baby food; but hey, I was in a crunch!), and each correct answer gives you a point. Also, if someone has used the same word as you in the same category, neither of you receive a point (Obviously, if the answers are exact matches, they are both void, but also using the same beginning letter word would disqualify you both; if the category was "Sports" and someone listed "Ice hockey" while someone else listed "Ice skating", both would have to cross off their answers). Once everyone has read off their lists and added up their points, the die is rolled again, and a new list is chosen as the second round starts.
If Scattergories doesn't sound like a fun game- trust me, it is. I'm a big fan of word games to begin with (Boggle or Scrabble, anyone?), and this game is a wonderful one. It's always fun to see what great answers (or not so great ones) your friends or family will come up with. Even people with the biggest vocabularies will freeze up under the pressure of the ticking timer and won't be able to think of even the simplest answers (the title is an example of one of my most famous fumbles!). Sometimes the game becomes outrageously funny, especially when people resort to desperate answers to fill up their sheet (like my friend trying to suggest that a "Lexis hood ornament" really was a thing that starts with a "L" that is found in the ocean) or when the brain doesn't really seem to work properly (which was the case for my friend Joe last night, who truly believed that "Janbo" was an instrument that started with a "J"; he later realized he was thinking of "Banjo").
The game is great for parties or nights with the family, though it's probably better to bring out once the younger children have gone to bed (but middle schoolers and up will have a blast playing the game). The game doesn't come with many accessories or pieces (just the lists, timer, pads and die) and is extremely easy to set up and game play is relatively fast (a game usually lasts about 20 minutes, but depending on how many rounds you want to play it can be longer).
The lists, however, can become a bit repetitive after a while. As there are only 12 lists, you’ll end up reusing them eventually, and sometimes you might even end up rolling the same letter. Fortunately, it’s somewhat hard to remember exactly what was used the last time you played with that particular list, so in a way, it’s like seeing it all over again. One of my friends suggested that we actually make our own lists once we get tired of the using the ones that came with the game, which is a great idea.
The pads also run out very easily. Like other games that come with pads (Clue, for instance), your best bet is to probably photocopy a few sheets ahead of time. It’s also fairly easy to just take a lined sheet of paper and number it from 1 to 12, or you can again order replacement or refill sheets.
Scattergories is a wonderful game that anyone can enjoy. Just remember to ignore the timer or your answers might be as scatterbrained as some of my friends.
More Fun Games:
Life
Clue
Monopoly
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 23.99
Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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Epinions.com ID:
donkee
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Member: Brittany
Location: Your Heart ♥
Reviews written: 185
Trusted by: 55 members
About Me:
On a 2-3 week hiatus to work on a creative writing project! Be back soon!♥
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