jo.com's Full Review: Sorry Game by Parker Brothers
Sorry, “The Game of Sweet Revenge” was one of the staple games in our house over the years. It is also in many classes in which I substitute teach. I still have it at home; it is one I kept when we moved, though I hadn’t played it in a long time until recently. Children really do love this game!
It is very similar to Trouble, if you are familiar with that game. Trouble, although it says it is geared for ages 5 and up, in my opinion, the "up" can't be too far up or it will be boring. Sorry is geared for ages 6-adult and although Trouble is fun, Sorry is just a little more sophisticated.
Made by Parker Brothers there are small parts so children under 3 should not be playing.
What you get:
~A 19 inch x 10-inch sturdy cardboard game board.
~ A deck of cards.
~16 pawns in 4 colors. 2-4 players can play this game and each person gets 4 pawns thus the 16. These are 1” plastic pieces and this is the part that is too small for young children to get their hands on.
The object:
The object of the game is to win! You win by getting all 4 of your pawns home first and this (Like Trivial Pursuit and Trouble) has to be by the exact count. So if you have 2 spaces to go and you get a 3, you don’t win yet.
How to play:
~ I am playing with Jared, Jamel and Jenny. We each take the color we want (I want red.) and put them on our start spaces. Each corner of the board has a start with the various colors.
~ My 5th grade student, Jamel, shuffles the deck and puts it on the “place pack here” spot, facing down. There is also a discard spot and those will get placed facing up.
~I’m the teacher, I go first! On my first turn I pick up a card which will let me move my first pawn onto the board. But wait, it isn’t a 1 or a 2 and that is what I need in order for me to move out of start. It is a 4 and says move backward 4 (spaces). Well I can’t do anything, so Jamel goes – we are moving clockwise – and Jamel takes the top card and gets a 2! Jamel moves his pawn 2 spaces following the arrows that are all around the board.
~ We’ll fast forward and Jenny is out on the board and Jamel has now advanced. Jenny picks a card that says move 4 spaces, but in order to do that, Jamel is in the way. Jenny can jump over Jamel but Jamel’s space is counted as one space for her. Now, this is when Sorry comes in because I draw a 3 and land on Jenny’s space. I get to kick Jenny off and she has to start all over by putting her pawn at the start gate and wait to get a 1 or 2. This is really aggravating (but fun) when you are close to the finish line. There are also Sorry cards in the deck that one of us can pick up and we have to move back to start so it isn’t always another player’s “fault” that makes the game fun.
There are a couple of variations:
~One is for adults in which you can play as teams. I have never played Sorry in teams. If I wanted a team game I would prefer games like Pictionary or Trivial Pursuit which are meant to be or can be easily played with a partner.
~The other variation is playing for points and keeping score. Various plays get various numbers of points.
My thoughts:
I really like this game. I think it is a lot of fun to play although it can be frustrating and aggravating. Hopefully no one will get mad at any one because he or she sent him or her back to the beginning. That is one way to win faster. If everyone has to keep going back to start and for some reason you don’t, you will win a lot faster. They will have a really hard time catching up. However, you too will get kicked back, most likely, so be prepared for some frustration.
Children will learn patience with this game. I wouldn’t call it educational – I would just call it fun. It requires no spinners or additional gizmos. I also like it because even the child with a short attention span can walk away for a few minutes and come back and not have missed anything that would ruin his chances of winning.
As I said I see this as a staple game. The children I have played with have wanted to play it over and over including my own children. It isn't one, in my opinion, that will sit on a shelf and never come down. Quite the opposite. I think you will find it coming down frequently when your kids want to play a board game and it is one you won't mind playing with them!
Where you can find Sorry:
You can find Sorry at any toy store or store that has a toy department. The price ranges from $14.99 at amazon.com and Toys R Us to $16.95 at Boardgames.com.
www.hasbro.com
Title of review comes from "I'm Sorry" sung by Brenda Lee.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 14.99 Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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