Game Review

Concept:

Players draw a subject quickly for their partners to guess, like charades with pencil and paper.

Gameplay:

The game board is placed in a central location. Players choose teams/partners. Each team is given a pad and a pencil. Each team is given a colored pawn to move on the board.

On a team's turn, one player is chosen to draw. This player is given a topic card. The topic used for the turn is decided by the board location of the team's pawn. Opponents start a timer (about a minute), and the drawing player attempts to draw the topic while his/her partners guess what is being drawn.

If the topic is guessed successfully, the team rolls the die and moves their pawn -- a new player is chosen to draw and the process repeats.

If the topic is not guessed before the timer expires, then the next team takes their turn.

Categories of topics are:

• Person/Place/Animal (or related characteristics)

• Object (things that can be touched or seen)

• Action (things that can be performed)

• Difficult (challenging words)

• All Play (any type of word)

The "All Play" category is a special type. When chosen, all of the teams compete simultaneously -- that is, one player from each team draws the same topic as all of the other teams. The first team to guess the topic gets to roll the die and move their piece on the board, AND proceed to take their turn.

Each topic card will also label a topic or two with a triangle. This topic is considered an "All Play" as well.

The first team to complete the journey on the board to the end, wins.

Winning Conditions:

• Successfully move your pawn to the end of the board and win the final "All Play" round.

Our Opinion:

What do you say about a board game that was so popular that it had a game show based on it -- ever hear of "Win, Lose, or Draw?" This is an awesome party game for many people -- and most people in the world know it.

The rules are very simple -- there isn't a strategy other than to be very vocal when you aren't drawing and louder than the other teams. This game is for parties and hopes to tease all players about their artistic abilities. The game has so many chances to hit "All Play" that it would be tough for a given team to win without encountering more than two "All Play" topics (the last square is always an "All Play").

The biggest complaint about this game is that some people don't like to play it because they "cannot draw." Honestly, if you can convince people with this opinion to play, their real problem is that they are over-thinking the topic and forgetting to draw. This game is fun, but not for the timid. Playing this game gets very very loud. Playing with fewer than four people is not recommended, you need a party to appreciate this game.

Where to buy:

Any local toy or game store -- it costs about $30.