Your Choice

The newest game from Looney Labs, best known for the Fluxx family of games and the time manipulation card game, Chrononauts is Choose One. This is a party style game much in the vein of Apples to Apples or Say Anything in that it is all about knowing your friends and the answers they might give to certain questions or matches. It plays quickly and easily with simple rules for between three and ten players; a game should last no longer than forty minutes and can be picked up and understood within moments of opening the box and reading the rules sheet.

Choose One consists of ten sets of pairs of Choice cards, three hundred Topic cards, a Score Board, and a mix of scoring tokens that fit in a little cloth bag. The scoring tokens are really rather nice and include a metal nut, a plastic brain, a wooden heart, and even a button! These are used to indicate each player’s score on the score board and provide some pleasing individuality. The Score Board is solidly mounted and is marked from one to ten and then a “Winner!” space. The Choice cards are used each round to indicate a player’s choice and come in a pair one blue and one white card. The Topic cards each have a blue and white section and have single word or phrase in each, for example, “an evening home alone” or “attending a party” or “Lost” or “Gilligan’s Island”. (It should be noted that the blue on both the Topic and Choice is a very purple shade of blue).

At game’s start, each player is given a set of Choice cards and receives a hand of five Topic cards. He chooses a token and places on the Start spot on the Score Board. Then play begins. Each turn, one player is the Chooser and picks a Topic card from his hand and shows it to the other players. They have to decide which of the two choices the Chooser will select. The Chooser indicates his choice by holding either his blue or white Choice card, face down. In doing so, the Chooser has to make a truthful choice. In other words, he cannot bluff. The other players will also select one of their Choice cards and hold it face down in front of them. Once everyone has made their choice, the cards will be revealed. If nobody’s card matches the Chooser's answer, then the Chooser gets two points. If any player’s card matches the Chooser’s answer, then both they and the Chooser are awarded a point. If nobody guesses correctly, then nobody gains any points. Points are tallied on the score board and the next player becomes the Chooser. The first person to move their token onto the Winner's Circle – having scored eleven points – is the winner. (Having to score eleven points to win makes the game slightly harder to win, as does the fact that somebody has to make the wrong choice for anybody to score points).

So for example, Richard is the Chooser and plays the Topic card that has “candles” in the white portion of the card and “Lava Lamp” in the blue section. He reads the entries out and makes his by placing a Choice card down on the table. James, Nick, Matt, and Bill take a moment to decide which they think of the two options that Richard will choose and play a Choice that they think will match the one played by Richard. Everyone reveals their Choice card. Richard’s Choice card is Blue, that is, he chose “Lava Lamp”. As did James, Nick, and Bill, but not Matt, who played a White Choice card thinking that Richard’s choice was “candles”. Richard, James, Nick, and Bill are all awarded one point, but Matt scores nothing.

Choose One is a nicely appointed game. It comes in a small box and is thus easily portable. Its rules are simple and the game is easy to play – undemanding in fact. Its Topic cards are American, but then so is the publisher and the game’s intended audience. Given that the game’s tag line is, “How well do you know your friends?” it is no surprise that it plays better with people that you know and people that know you, be they friends or family. Overall, Choose One is a pleasing party filler that tweaks a familiar format.

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Wicked. Witty. Wrong.

Cards Against Humanity is probably the least politically correct card game I have ever played.

Cards Against Humanity is probably the funniest card game I have ever played.

Cards Against Humanity is probably the vilest card game I have ever played.

Cards Against Humanity: A party game for horrible people is an incredibly simple game of answering innocent questions with horridly hilarious and impishly inappropriate answers. It is easy to learn, plays for anywhere between thirty and ninety minutes, and can be played by between five and twenty players. In playing you will probably either overawe or offend your friends, if not both with the obscene nature of your answers.

Published by Cards Against Humanity, LLC, Cards Against Humanity comes in a chunky little black and white box inside of which can be found a simple rules pamphlet and approximately six hundred cards. Some ninety or so of these are Black Cards, each of which contains a question or statement such as “What did I bring back from Mexico?” or “Alternative medicine is now embracing the curative powers of _____________.” Some Black Cards have two blank spaces, such as “That’s right, I killed _____________. How, you ask? _____________.”. The remaining cards are White Cards, each of which contains a word or phrase, such as “The Chinese gymnastics team,” “Guys who don’t call,” and “Binging and purging.” The White Cards are used to answer the question or fill in the blank, or blanks if the Black Card has more than one, presented on the Black Cards.

Game play is very simple. At game start, each player is dealt a hand of ten White Cards. One person starts the game as “Card Czar” and draws a Black Card and reads out question or phrase on the card aloud. Every other player selects a White Card from his hand which he thinks is the most suitable – the wittiest, funniest, most offensive, or will be appreciated the most by the Card Czar – and passes it to the Card Czar face down. The Card Czar shuffles the White Cards that he has been given and then reads out the question or phrase on his Black Card, each time answering the question or filling in the blank in the phrase with a word or phrase from the White Cards. Once all of the White Cards have been read out, the Card Czar chooses his favourite answer from the White Cards. Whomever played the winning White Card receives the Black Card as an Awesome Point. Then the next player becomes the Card Czar, everyone draws back up to ten White Cards, and a new round begins.

So for example, as Card Czar, Michelle draws a Black Card and reads it aloud: “Life for American Indians was forever changed when the White Man introduced them to _____________.” Going round the table, Dave plays “Unfathomable Stupidity.”, Anthony plays “Cheating in the Special Olympics.”, Hugh plays “A Gypsy curse.”, and I play “Britney at 55.” Michele takes these White Cards and after shuffling them, reads them out as follows:

• “Life for American Indians was forever changed when the White Man introduced them to ‘Cheating in the Special Olympics.’”
• “Life for American Indians was forever changed when the White Man introduced them to ‘Unfathomable Stupidity.’”
• “Life for American Indians was forever changed when the White Man introduced them to ‘Britney at 55.’”
• “Life for American Indians was forever changed when the White Man introduced them to ‘A Gypsy curse.’”

Michelle looks the White Cards over and after a moment or two’s deliberation chooses “Britney at 55.” as the most appropriate answer. I get to keep the Black Card as an Awesome Point.

Play progresses in this fashion until the game ends. This can either be when all of the Black Cards in the game have been played, in which case the player with the most Awesome Points win; or when a player gains enough Awesome Points to reach a previously agreed upon total and thus win the game.

Physically, Cards Against Humanity is very simply presented. The cards are all two tone, black and white. None of them are illustrated. The text on each one is easy to read and the rules are similarly as easy to read.

Cards Against Humanity is huge fun to play, even if the examples given above do not wholly capture how much fun it is. Part of the issue with that is the fact that were I to include some of the answers given on the White Cards, I would attract undue attention from search engines. They can often be of an adult nature and that does not fall within the remit of Reviews from R’lyeh. That issue though is more to do with this site rather the game itself.

The most obvious fact about Cards Against Humanity is that it plays in a very similar fashion to Apples to Apples in that each turn one player has to match answers from each of the other player's hand to a given question. Which is something of a problem. Apples to Apples includes hundreds of questions and thousands of answers, so it offers plenty of replay value. Even then I tend to find its game play a little too light and unsatisfying if played too often. Cards Against Humanity contains fewer cards so suffers from the same problem, though probably to a greater degree, and playing it too often will spoil its crass charms. That said, in addition to the simple rules provided, the rule pamphlet gives rules for upping the stakes each round as well as eight house rules that can be added for variety.

One obvious problem with Cards Against Humanity is that it is an American game – then again, so was Apples to Apples originally, although it has since received versions in other languages and specifically for other nations. Some of the answers on the White Cards are specifically American such as “Dental dams.”, “Aaron Burr.”, and “Shaquille O’Neal’s acting career.” There is no way around this, bar creating your own cards, which is perfectly possible given that Cards Against Humanity can actually be downloaded from the publisher’s website and printed out for free. In the meantime, we will only have to wait for nation specific cards.

Further, its very American nature is not helped by its lack of availability. The game sells out very quickly it is true, but it is only available in the USA or in Canada. Where it is available internationally, the prices can be exorbitant. Nor is it available internationally via Amazon.com, which would have been the easiest of solutions to the problem. (In case you were wondering, I did buy it via Amazon.com and then had it shipped from the USA by a friend).

The biggest problem though with Cards Against Humanity is its humour. Putting the answers on the White Cards together with the Black Cards can give results that make you wince at their tastelessness and whoop with laughter at the same time. Many of the answers refer to sexual acts – hence the game having a minimum playing age of seventeen years – and other adult references. This is not a game for anyone of a “conservative with a small ‘c’” persuasion as Cards Against Humanity will easily offend them. Nor is it for anyone of a “Conservative with a big ‘C’” persuasion as Cards Against Humanity does have a Left Wing bias. Or at least the designers just have a deep and abiding hatred of Glenn Beck. (In all likelihood, to balance this out in a rare case of political balance, it appears from the rules that the game’s designers have hired Former Vice President Dick Cheney to handle their complaints and legal department).

Once you have a copy of Cards Against Humanity, you will chortle, you will cry, and you will cringe. Not necessarily a game to play with your family, Cards Against Humanity needs likeminded people who share its humour to get the most out of it, but it should not be overplayed or it will lose its appeal. Although slightly heavy to carry around, it works well as a convention game and as a pick-up game, possibly at the bar or just with a drink to hand. Going where almost no card game has gone before, Cards Against Humanity is a sublimely sinful satire.

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Pitch Me

The Big Idea: The Game of Crazy Inventions from French publisher, FunForge, is not a new game. Rather, it is a new streamlined and re-designed version of a game originally published by Cheapass Games in 2000. As a publisher, Cheapass Games put out titles that focused on game play over components, each design coming with enough components to play the game. This invariably made Cheapass Games exactly that – cheap! Out of all of Cheapass Games’ titles, The Big Idea was always a favourite as it required a degree of inventiveness upon the part of the players, and it is this aspect of the original that the new version focuses upon, dropping the share investment element of the original all together. This very modern update now comes in full colour and is very much a party game rather than a gamer’s game in which the players have to create and pitch the “best” inventions possible. Given that the reality television series Dragon’s Den is broadcast in more than twenty countries across the globe, most people will be familiar with the idea behind The Big Idea.

Designed for play by between three and six players, The Big Idea: The Game of Crazy Inventions comes in a slim box that contains two ninety-two card “Item” and “Description” decks, six “Medal” cards, and twenty-four “Blank” cards as well as a slim rulebook that can be read and understood in a couple of minutes or so. The green-backed “Description” cards give single expressive words such as Bulletproof, Edible, and Exotic, whilst the blue-backed “Item” cards give objects such as Butler, Hanger, and Shades, accompanied on each card by a simple line of text such as “It’s like a stylin’ pair of sunglasses…” for the Shades Item card or “…that bullets cannot penetrate!” for the Bulletproof Description card, as well as a pleasing illustration. The “Medal” and the “Blank” cards are used by the players to vote on the inventions that they like and dislike.

The Big Idea is played in a series of rounds – the number varying according to the number of players – during each of which every player will have the opportunity to create and pitch a new invention. After all of the rounds have been played, the player with the least amount of negative votes is declared the “least worst” inventor and thus the winner.

At the start of a round each player has three “Description” and three “Item” cards in his hand. If a player is unhappy with his hand of cards, he is free to discard as many cards as he wants and refresh his hand of cards before putting together his invention. From these cards, he creates an invention using at least one “Description” and at least one “Item” card, although he is free to use as many cards from his hand as he thinks will be necessary for his invention. Once a player has an invention, he put the cards involved down and essentially pitches, or attempts to sell his invention to the other players. Once everyone has pitched an invention, each player votes on the inventions he has heard described. If a player likes an invention, he gives it a Medal card. To every other invention, he gives a Blank card. Any player who receives nothing but Blank cards keeps a single card from his invention as what is essentially a negative point. It is only possible to score negative points in The Big Idea.

For example, Chris has the “Decoy,” “Secretary,” and “Television” Item cards and the “Cute,” “Extraordinary,” and “Limited-Edition” Description cards; John-Paul has the “Gun,” “Mailbox,” and “Spectacle” Item cards and the “Amusing,” “Instant,” and “Kiddie” Description cards; and Simon has the “Beer,” “Medicine,” and “Plane” Item cards and the “Invisible,” “Sport-Utility,” and “Sweet” Description cards. Chris goes first, followed by John-Paul, and then Simon.

From his cards, Chris uses “Decoy,” “Secretary,” “Cute,” “Extraordinary,” and “Limited-Edition” to create The Limited-Edition Extraordinary Cute Secretary Decoy. He pitches this as…

“For the businessman too busy to see everyone… For the embezzler who needs a quick getaway when the fraud squad comes knocking at his door… For the accountant with an extra happy life love who just doesn’t need his wife to always know where is… The Limited-Edition Extraordinary Cute Secretary Decoy. A secretary who will always decoy or misdirect unwanted attention for her boss. Plus she’s cute.

From his cards, John-Paul uses “Gun,” “Spectacle,” “Amusing,” “Instant,” and “Kiddie” to create the Instant Amusing Kiddie Spectacle Gun. He pitches this as…

“We live in an armed society. A society with guns, but it does not always have to be an unfriendly society. Especially if we have kids, because that is why we have guns – to protect our kids. Sometimes we need a way to keep our kids happy, even if we have guns. Which is why you need the Instant Amusing Kiddie Spectacle Gun. One shot from this gun and your kid will have an amusing spectacle in an instant!”

From his cards, Simon uses “Beer,” “Medicine,” and “Sweet” to create Sweet Medicine Beer. He pitches this as…

“They always said that medicine was good for you and it was. It just never tasted as good as it was. And that remains as true as an adult as it was for you when you were a kid. Now you can have a medicine that tastes as good as the good it is doing to you: Sweet Medicine Beer.”

Once this is all done, each player votes on their favourite inventions created by his fellow players, giving a Medal to their favourite, and a Blank card to the others. In this case, Simon’s Sweet Medicine Beer garners two Medals and Chris’ The Limited-Edition Extraordinary Cute Secretary Decoy just the one. John-Paul’s Instant Amusing Kiddie Spectacle Gun ends up with nothing but Blank cards and so he must keep a single card to indicate the failure of his invention.

As much fun as The Big Idea is, it is not quite perfect. The scoring process could be easier, with players only receiving negative rather than positive points. The current scoring process, with only enough Medal cards for six players, also limits the number who can participate in a game. It would be a simple matter of ditching the current scoring process and allowing the players to give a counter to their preferred invention each round. This would allow more players to participate.

Like many a party game, the success of The Big Idea: The Game of Crazy Inventions depends on its players. Yet its simplicity combined with the entertaining nature of the cards, encourages both participation and invention upon the part of the players. The game can be played by gamers and non-gamers alike, and works just as well as a filler game as it does a party game. The Big Idea: The Game of Crazy Inventions lives up to its title and should prove a source of creative, imaginative fun every time that the box is opened.

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Roll Me A Story

Rory’s Story Cubes is a set of dice that, as the game’s title suggests, can be used to tell stories. Created by The Creativity Hub and published most places by Gamewright, the set is designed to spur a roller’s imagination by giving him a set of elements to include in his story. As a game, it is at best “rules lite,” coming more with guidelines than actual rules, such that it might be better classed as a tool or a toy.

Rory’s Story Cubes comes in a sturdy little box that opens up to reveal nine cubes or dice. Each die is a chunky 19mm to a side and contains six images, such as an “Apple,” an “Evil Shadow,” a “House,” a “Lightning Strike,” a “Lock,” a “Parachute,” a “Question Mark,” a “Tower,” and a “Wand.” None of the symbols are replicated, so with nine dice in the set, there are a total of fifty-four symbols to roll, which promises several million different combinations. The idea is to do “Once Upon a time” with these symbols, incorporating them into a story as the roller fancies. So for example, I roll an “Abacus,” “Flames,” “Happiness,” a “Magnifying Glass,” a “Mobile Telephone,” a “Parachute,” “Sleeping,” a “Tepee,” and a “Tower.” So my story might go like this…

Once upon a time, there lived a man called Dave, who could never get a full night’s sleep. He had a really dull job that involved him using an “Abacus” and never gave him time to examine how dull his life was. News that his life was to change came with a call on his “Mobile Telephone” and a dull monotone voice explaining how both the job and the ivory “Tower” of a life he had built around his job had gone up in “Flames.” This gave him the opportunity to examine his life using a “Magnifying Glass” and thus decide to use a “Parachute” to jump from the top of the “Tower.” Dave did. Now Dave does not have an “Abacus,” a dull job, a “Mobile Telephone,” or the need to visit an ivory “Tower.” Instead, every night he can be found “Sleeping” in a “Teepee.” Dave has found “Happiness.”

Now doubtless, you can do better. And you are welcome to try with your own set of Rory’s Story Cubes. How you do that is entirely up to you, as the extent of the rules in the “game” merely suggest that the stories can either be told solitaire or co-operatively. The problem with this is that it means that as a game, Rory’s Story Cubes lacks the structure that would make it game, because this is essentially not only “use the dice to make up the stories you want,” but also “make up the rules to how you tell those stories.” Arguably then, not sufficient enough to make it a game given its need for further input from the participants. Plus, the clue is in the title – Rory’s Story Cubes, not Rory’s Story Dice. After all, “Dice” infers a game, whereas “Cubes” do not.

As a tool or a toy, Rory’s Story Cubes is much better. The images on the dice are large, friendly, and universal. Although due to their size, the dice feel a bit too much to all together fit in the hand, they possess a satisfying weight and heft. They would work well as an educational tool, whether that is in an education establishment, or simply as a means to spur your child’s imagination and thinking.

There is much to like about Rory’s Story Cubes. The dice are themselves physically pleasing and the concept sound. More rules would have made them even more pleasing, but as long as the users or players are happy to agree on the rules as to how they can tell their stories, then they are ready to roll their imaginations with Rory’s Story Cubes.

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