Game Review

Concept:

A party game where players take on challenges and questions with incredibly silly results.

Gameplay:

To begin, players choose a character playing piece.  There are eight to choose from: Super Ninja Monkey, The Dude, The Biscuit Farmer, The Platypus, Batbileg Chinzorig, Queen Spatula, Mr. Lugnut, and Mrs. Picklefeather.  Their playing piece is placed on the start space of the board.

Players decide who will go first, and play proceeds clockwise.

A turn follows these steps:

1. Roll the die.

2. Move your piece on the board the number of spaces indicated on the die.

3. Draw a card that matches the color of the space you landed upon.

4. Follow the card instructions.

There are five card types in this game: Roolz, Quizzle, Stuntz, Showbiz, and Scatterbrainz.  Each card category makes players perform specific activities: Showbiz cards make you sing, mime, dance or act; Stuntz cards make you perform some feat of dexterity; Quizzle cards ask trivia questions; Roolz cards change the rules of the game; and Scatterbrainz challenge all players to name specific items that match a chosen category.

Scatterbrainz is the only category that needs additional description, because it affects how you win the game.  Each Scatterbrainz card offers the player a choice of two topics.  The player announces the topic they choose and then begins by giving a valid answer to the topic.  For instance, the topic could be "Brands of lipstick" -- the first valid answer is Maybeline... then the player to their left must give an additional answer, but not repeat the previous answer, this continues around the table with each player giving an answer.  The first player who cannot answer in a reasonable amount of time, or mentions a duplicate answer loses and must move back the number of penalty spaces that the card requires.

There is an incentive to actually do what the cards say.  On each card is a number in the upper right corner.  Failure to complete the task will move your playing piece back that number of spaces. (Players who grudgingly agree to play will be forced to play longer if they don't want to try what the card asks!)

Additionally, some card actually have extra effects listed on them -- this is known as the Quelf effect.  Some cards make specific characters perform extra tasks, some reward players for looking at the card or singing along, others will punish the second player to read the card.

The game rules are pretty straightforward: it's a race to the finish line on the board.  The last space is a Scatterbrainz topic.  To win, whenever you give an answer, you must name two valid answers (instead of one) each time it is your turn to give an answer.  If you aren't the player penalized, you win!

Winning Conditions:

• The first player who reaches the center space and successfully completes the final Scatterbrainz category wins.

Our Opinion:

Party games have no real strategy.  Good games in this genre entertain a crowd without getting too cerebral. They also usually include humor to keep the party in a good mood.  This game fits into this category... it's a good party game with a lot of humor.

Our gaming group plays a lot of games -- we like strategy and competitive backstabbing games.  Generally, party games are not appreciated by our grop. This is usually because they are only brought out at large family get-togethers (Thanksgiving, New Years, etc.), and typically the guys in the family must endure the indignities of acting or singing in front of their wives, and are then teased incessantly. One of our reviewers is practically allergic to party games -- especially games like Cranium or Pictionary -- the mere threat of playing these will cause him to highly consider fleeing the country. I mention this, because not only did the overall group enjoy Quelf... but our resident I-hate-party-games reviewer actually liked the game and agreed to play it again! 

Quelf kept us laughing hard the entire time we played.   Often the humor falls flat in games that strive for keeping you laughing -- jokes get old and worn out: this did not seem to be a problem in Quelf.  There are so many cards that replaying the game will actually be worthwhile. 

The game is inspired fun.  There are cards that require you to act like an archaeologist giving a presentation with a lisp; there are cards that ask players to burst into song when an even number is rolled; quizzle questions are tougher than any trivia game before  (quick multiply 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 without a calculator...); You may find yourself playing from underneath the table, or playing peekaboo with anyone who asks you a question.  The cards are plentiful and well thought out.  The game doesn't run out of ideas -- It's a comedic brainstorming session that has slipped blissfully into slap-happiness, and best of all, it stays funny the whole time.

Quelf is what party games aspire to be -- fun, replayable, interesting, and funny.  It is worth the $35 that it costs.  It is a great party game.  As you play, you'll hear yourself say "I can't believe I'm doing this" -- then you'll do whatever it asked you to do and then you'll watch your friends do even weirder things.  It is so silly that it is fun.  I heartily recommend this game!

Where to buy:

Any local game store -- it costs about  US $35.