...the trippiest card board game ever.
I can´t really handle abstraction too well. Back in my elementary school days, my poor Arts teachers were one by one stomped into oblivion by my resolute refusal to "build elemental temples" from colourful strips of paper, "paint internal emotions" or, later on, give them my interpretation of the pieces of shi- I mean modern art we had previously seen in a gallery. Hell, even grasping a more complex metaphor used to be an issue.
I have always been the guy who feels comfortable when dealing with absolutes, with specifics and especially with reality, leaving abstraction and modern art to hipsters and those women in their early 40s who fill the void in their souls with mandallas, tarot cards and nimble samba instructors from Cuba. Now since this is the case, you might be wondering - why the fuck is this handsome badass reviewing a game that looks like this, then?
I have always been the guy who feels comfortable when dealing with absolutes, with specifics and especially with reality, leaving abstraction and modern art to hipsters and those women in their early 40s who fill the void in their souls with mandallas, tarot cards and nimble samba instructors from Cuba. Now since this is the case, you might be wondering - why the fuck is this handsome badass reviewing a game that looks like this, then?
If you have no fucking clue what to make of this, you´re probably not on drugs.
Well, because it´s damn creative, easy to learn, eternally replayable and drink-friendly! Let me elaborate - actually no, let me first set you up a bit so we have something to work with. This game is best-suited for 4-5 slightly high players, each of whom draws a set of cards he or she then keeps hidden from the others. They take turns in which one of the players is the "storyteller" who picks one of his or her (fuck that, I´m lazy, it´s just gonna be "him" from now on) cards, places it face down on the table and describes it with whatever he wants. It can be a word, a sentence or even a complete story (nobody would bother with that though) that somehow relates to the chosen abstract picture. The remaining players then choose cards of their own that could match the description given and likewise place them on the table.
The cards are then shuffled and turned face up. Each player (except for the storyteller, obviously) chooses the card that he believes best fits the storyteller´s description. Their goals are simple - the storyteller wants someone to guess the card correctly but his hint needs to be subtle enough so as few other players as possible do so. The other players want to guess correctly + to have as many people as possible choose their card instead. So everyone is basically trying to mindfuck everyone. Depending on your success in the mindfucking process, you are awarded with a certain amount of points. Your progress towards the target score is, of course, tracked using bunnies.
The cards are then shuffled and turned face up. Each player (except for the storyteller, obviously) chooses the card that he believes best fits the storyteller´s description. Their goals are simple - the storyteller wants someone to guess the card correctly but his hint needs to be subtle enough so as few other players as possible do so. The other players want to guess correctly + to have as many people as possible choose their card instead. So everyone is basically trying to mindfuck everyone. Depending on your success in the mindfucking process, you are awarded with a certain amount of points. Your progress towards the target score is, of course, tracked using bunnies.
The lead designer thought that the cards were not trippy enough so now you need to track your progress with colourful bunnies.
Even the bunnies are probably high.
Even the bunnies are probably high.
Now, if everyone mindfucking everyone is not your cup of tea, I pity you but you will not be able to fully enjoy this outburst of some hippy´s creativity. In fact, to fully enjoy this game, you need a bunch of creative, funny people you are comfortable around, moreso than for any other boardgame. With the right people, this is a wonderful experience where you´ll be collectively discovering the darkest corners of everyone else´s perverted psychés but with someone a bit too mundane or boring, this could be a trip to hell comparable to a meeting of Elder Ladies´Reader´s club on Pride and Prejudice.
What´s really important is that this game is more accessible than Huffington post´s HQ. It´s very easy to learn, there is nothing to "master" as it doesn´t really have much depth despite its infinite replay value, and those who consider boardgames too "geeky" and "for kids" (I´m looking at you, women of the world) tend to be intrigued by the art style, I would even say that this is one of the best introductions to the world of boardgaming there is and should be used as such.
What´s really important is that this game is more accessible than Huffington post´s HQ. It´s very easy to learn, there is nothing to "master" as it doesn´t really have much depth despite its infinite replay value, and those who consider boardgames too "geeky" and "for kids" (I´m looking at you, women of the world) tend to be intrigued by the art style, I would even say that this is one of the best introductions to the world of boardgaming there is and should be used as such.
Courtesy of BoardGameGeek.
To sum it up, this is a good buy, especially if you have the right sort of crazy friends to play it with or if you want to hook your muddle mates on some boardgame-y goodness. Or if you do drugs, then this might be like the boardgame version of Teletubbies to you, I guess. Mild drinking also hleps. There´s also a FUCKTON of expansions, adding more cards and variability into the game.
So... yeah. Go for it.
So... yeah. Go for it.