|
Apples
to Apples: the best of the bunch
Contents
Gift
Guide 2
party!
Women's
Fashions
Men's
Fashions
Where's
the Party
Party
People Gifts
Essentials
Goodies
Mood
Music
Boy's
Fashion
Girl's
Fashion
|
|
entertain your brain
by christina melander
"It's not as tough as you think if you've got
someone who is familiar with the rules," says Bridgetown
Hobbies & Games store manager Mark Campbell. He's talking
about the new Dungeons and Dragons edition ($9.99).
I had called the shop to inquire about recent engaging additions
to the party boardgame genre that is anchored by such stalwarts
as Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary. But the
first example Campbell gave was the third edition of a game
that serves as the punchline for so many jokes by the cool
about the uncool.
D&D is for role-playing weirdos who run around in cloaks
quoting The Hobbit, right? Whatever. But the bottom
line is that it's a game. It stimulates and entertains the
mind, which are the exact qualities most of us demand in
a game.
"For the people I hang out with, it's what we play when
we get together for a party," chuckles Campbell, although
he concedes that D&D is not something an uninitiated
group can just pick up in the midst of a boozy dinner party.
Such revelers might prefer what he calls a "beer and pretzels
game," but for that, you should probably look beyond his
store's imported German historical boardgames.
Bridgetown Hobbies & Games (3350 NE Sandy Blvd., 234-1881)
does carry the ridiculous-sounding Great Dalmuti card
game ($7.95), which Campbell reports is a good get-together
amusement for the family and a popular seller during the
holidays. The easy-to-learn game is based on the premise
that life isn't fair. It was designed by Richard Garfield,
creator of the smash-hit game Magic: The Gathering--although
it is suspiciously similar to Asshole: The Drinking Game.
(There's a Dilbert version too, called Corporate Shuffle!)
A good party game, whether it's played sober or sloppy,
must allow participants to show off their smarts, test their
mettle or just be flat silly. The reason games can be so
pivotal at a gathering is that they foster conversation
and flirtation and reveal personal information without subjecting
guests to awkward interrogation. For friends and families,
games force interaction in a fun, non-loaded manner, serving
as the most informal of icebreakers. Which leads us to the
hottest up-and-coming party plaything, Cranium, the
game Playboy dubbed "the ultimate icebreaker."
Cranium is the brainchild of former Microsoft execs Richard
Tait and Whit Alexander, dreamed up in Seattle. Cranium
hit shelves in '98; the following year, it was selected
as one of the top 100 games in Games magazine. Matt
Schlotty, manager of the Lloyd Center Game Keeper, succinctly
sums up Cranium's wide appeal: "It's all the other party
games you've played over the last decade rolled into one."
Indeed, Tait says he got the idea for the game one evening
when he and his wife slaughtered the competition playing
Pictionary but then got trounced in a game of Scrabble.
He wanted to create a game in which "everyone has the chance
to shine," instead of focusing on one skill. Cranium ($39.95)
includes four card decks (one with trivia questions, one
that encourages impromptu performing, etc.), sculpting clay
(a new twist on Pictionary) and up to 14 activity possibilities
ranging from celebrity impersonation to word decoding. According
to Tait and Alexander, Cranium sold 10,000 copies in '98,
150,000 in '99, and more than half a million so far this
year.
Alexander cites the game's variety of amusements as the
reason for its mounting popularity. But the people say it
better. Last year, Tait and Alexander received a testimonial
from a family that played Cranium during Thanksgiving. "They
said that they always had the most horrific family gatherings,"
recounts Alexander, "but they got Cranium and hit it off
for the first time in years. The dad wouldn't stop impersonating
Marilyn Monroe."
Honorable Mentions
Apples to Apples, a comparison game tailor-made
for parties. Won the American Mensa award for mind games
and was voted party game of the year by Games magazine
in 1999. 4-10 players, ages 10 and up. $19.95. New A to
A Expansion Set with 288 new cards, $12.95.
Jenga Truth or Dare, a brand-new edition that incorporates
the nail-biting stacking fun of Jenga with a time-honored
favorite. Red and black blocks are imprinted with T or D
challenges, and the natural wood blocks let you make up
your own. $19.99.
Also...
Cranium Booster Box with 800 new cards, for game
veterans who play Cranium eight times in a weekend. $19.95.
|
