The Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…Great Party Games

There are a group of party games available that follow a similar style of play and yet feel very different when they are played. These games have the same game mechanism – one player poses a question, the other players select an answer and then the questioner picks the answer they most like. While this may seem overly simple and may not sound like fun, I guarantee that laughs and banter will plentiful if you pick up one of the following games.

Apples to Apples

Out of the Box Publishing

4-10 players

Age 10+ (but there are junior and family editions for younger ages)

30 minutes

Apples to Apples is one of the most popular party games available. It is readily available at most stores that sell board games. Each round, one player takes on the role of referee and draws a green Descriptor (adjective) card. The other players look at the Descriptor card and then look at their hand of red Thing (noun) cards. The players choose the Thing that best – in their estimation – matches with the Descriptor card played. The Things are then shuffled and turned upwards on the table. The referee then selects the Thing that they think best matches with the Descriptor. The player whose Thing was selected receives the Descriptor card as a reward. The role of referee now moves to the next player. The person with the most Descriptor cards at the end of the game wins! The game is only restricted by the players’ imaginations!

This game is so popular that now there are several editions including family, junior, Disney, Jewish, British Isles, etc, etc etc… If you don’t have a copy of this game then you should rush out and get one! This is a classic that every family should own!

Snake Oil

Out of the Box Publishing

4-9 players

Age 10+

30 minutes

Published by the same company as Apples to Apples, Snake Oil takes a similar style of play and adds an extra wrinkle of creativity. In Snake Oil the players are propelled back to the Wild West where they take on the role of a Snake Oil salesmen. Each turn one player takes on the part of a customer and reveals their identity to the other players, the salesmen. The customer could be a pregnant woman, a zombie, a cheerleader, a dentist, a DJ or one of the many other roles included in the game.

Once the customer is revealed, the other players look at their word cards and combine two cards to create an item that the customer needs. In turn the Snake Oil salesmen pitch their goods to the customer: For example, (to the pregnant woman) one player selects two cards with the words pillow and belt and starts her pitch, “You must have a pillow belt! With a simple adjustment this belt converts into the most comfortable pillow in any situation!”

After all players have made their pitch, the customer selects the best item and awards the winner with the customer card. The player with the most customer cards collected at the end of the game wins! This is a hilarious game! A great game to play with kids and adults. It was a hit in my household this Christmas.

Say Anything

North Star Games, LLC

3-8 players

Age 10+

30 minutes

Say Anything adds a little opinion and fun betting to the mix. In Say Anything, as with the previous games, players take turn being the referee and players.

In this game the referee chooses a question card. The question card has several questions from which to select (see example below). The referee reads one of the questions out loud and then the players answer on a small dry erase board. Once a player has written their answer they place their board face up in the middle of the table. Once everyone has answered the referee then secretly selects the best answer (in their opinion) and locks it in on the dial provided in the game. The players then place tokens on the answer that they think the referee will select. Once all ‘bets’ have been placed, the referee reveals her selection. Players get points based on whether they selected the referee’s answer and whether other players selected their answer. The player with the most points at the end of a predetermined number of rounds wins. The sheer number of questions will allow for this game to be played again and again, and every time you play this with a different crowd of people the game will change! You won’t believe some of the answers that people write down! A great game! A Junior version is available.

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