Wednesday 21 September 2011

Party Game - board game, family game


The guys who brought us Cluzzle and Wits & Wagers are at it again. They have produced another crazy party game that is geared towards gamers and non-gamers alike. So is it as good as those games? Read on...



What do you get with Say Anything? The contents of Say Anything include a nice big rulesheet, a score board, a stack of question cards, 8 dry erase markers, 8 answer boards in different colors, 16 betting chips in the same 8 colors, and one Select-O-Matic 5000. All the components are good quality and will hold up to repeated plays. And Northstar went the extra mile by adding a unique symbol to each color so that the game is 100% color-blind friendly.



How does Say Anything work? Gameplay is really fairly simple. Each player gets a dry erase marker, an answer board, and the 2 chips that match the color of their board. One player starts as the judge by taking the Select-O-Matic 5000 and a question card. On each card are 5 different question, and the judge gets to pick whichever question he/she prefers to read. The questions are fairly wide-ranging, for instance "What is the most overrated song of all time?" or "What would be the worst pizza topping?"

Once the judge reads a question, the other players write an answer down on their boards and then place them face-up on the table. When all the answers are down, the judge uses the Select-O-Matic 5000 to secretly dial up the color of the board that has their favorite answer. Then the other players place their chips on the one or two answers they think the judge is most likely to choose (both on one or split them between two.) Then the judge reveals the selected answer.

The judge scores one point for each chip that is on the selected answer, up to a maximum of three points. The players score one point for each chip they had on the selected answer. And finally, the player who wrote the selected answer gets one point. Players take turns being the judge and once everyone has been the judge once or twice the highest score wins.



What do I think of Say Anything? Say Anything is simply a fun game to play. It starts up a lot of conversations as players talk and discuss why one answer is great and another is terrible. A lot of the questions are very humorous in nature, so there often is a lot of laughter around the table. One of the nicest things is that, just like in Wits & Wagers, you aren't really penalized harshly if you fail to come up with a good answer. This makes it so that players who may get annoyed with their lack of creativity are still able to participate, and even win. This really is the ultimate goal of a good party game: No downtime, lots of laughter and conversation, and everyone has a chance to win.



Who will enjoy Say Anything? Anyone who is looking for a good party game. Obviously if you are seeking a deep strategy game, you should look elsewhere. Say Anything is one of those games where you can't care too much about who wins because it's really all about the laughter and the conversation. It is a smashing success with my non-gaming family members, and they even preferred it over Wits & Wagers.



Any parting comments about Say Anything? Make sure you approach this game with the proper mindset. This is a casual game that delivers light fun and conversation. It has a little less strategy than Wits & Wagers, but it still works with the same groups of people. I expect this one to quickly climb over 10 plays for me by the end of the year because of its very short play-time and really simple rules explanation. Say Anything

I first played this game at the Gen Con board game convention, not knowing at all what it was about. After our first demo I knew I had to get it. I was very surprised because this game was actually fun with a large group of people that I didn't know at all! Now that I've got it back to my family, it's even more of a blast playing with people I do know!



I just LOVE the fact that I can explain it to people so quickly; no long drawn out rules. I even had one match where a friend of mine had to leave and another sat in (who had just arrived) and really didn't even need to ask how to play!



Another great aspect is that the game is really customized to the group you play with so it can be great fun with both a G rated group and an R rated group. It definitely helps to have a creative and humorous group of friends playing it though.



The one complaint I have though is the pens, they seem to dry out rather quickly. Although I can't complain much because with a quick email to Northstar I received a whole extra set of pens that allowed me to replace the dried out ones.



Overall I would bring this out at any party and recommend it. A fun way to get to know people and have a lot of laughs.

On the heels of the successful Wits & Wagers comes the 3rd offereing from Northstar Games: Say Anything!



Say Anything comes packed with a ton of random questions that players select to read to their friends. After eveyone writes down an opinion on their little wipeboard, the reader secretly decides the answer they like best. Everyone then bets on the answer(s) they think the reader will select. Once the reader's choice is revealed, points are scored.



This game plays a lot like Apples to Apples but is better on a few counts.

- The questions and anwers make sense. Since everyone writes tehir own, it is always applicable tot he question. There is no forcing of two unrelated cards.

- The game is more personal. It's all about you and your friends and what they like and think.

- There is a maximum 3 points that can be awarded to each player, each round. So it keeps the game tight until the end and balances a windfall of points on "obvious" answers.

- Though it is subjective, there is a chance to be consistent in answering if you know a little about the reader.



My friends have all enjoyed this game. This is another game where they play it and want to go out and buy it the next day. This is a great game that should be added to every party gamer's collection! - Family Game - Social - Fun - Board Game'


Detail Products
Detail Reviews
Click here for more information