Game Review: Apples to Apples, Fluxx, Pit, and Set

Here, in rapid-fire format, are reviews of some card games that Alison and I have been playing recently:

• Apples to Apples. This game involves subjective mapping of nouns, both common and proper, to adjectives. It's not a terribly "thinky" game, but it is fun. Overall, I give it 7.5 out of 10.
  
• Fluxx, version 3.1. In this game, the rules, including the win condition, change very quickly. It's like an extra-complicated Uno. I give it 8.0 out of 10.
• Pit. In this game, players attempt to corner the market on some commodity, which involves lots and lots of yelling. This game is the least thinky listed here, but it's gobs of fun. Do not play this game with Alison. In the 7 hands the 7 of us played on Thanksgiving, she won 4. I give it 7.5 out of 10.
• Set. Since I call this one "the game that makes me feel stupid," you won't be surprised to hear that this game is the most mentally taxing one listed here. The goal is to pick out sets of cards that match in ways too complicated to describe here. It's tough to do under time pressure, at least for me. I give it 7.0 out of 10.
  

The 2nd Annual Very Team Grondul Thanksgiving

Alison and I hosted the Second Annual Very Team Grondul Thanksgiving---our first as a married couple---this year. I was most thankful for all the groovy-cool folks who attended.

In addition to the traditional feast, we played card games called Pit, Fluxx, and Apples to Apples. I found all of them to be quite entertaining and recommend them heartily.

Once Upon a Time

Last weekend we had some friends over to play games and we were pleasantly surprised that one of them brought a new game with him. Well, I suppose it isn't actually new, but it was new to us! It's called Once Upon a Time. Basically, it is a deck of cards and on each card is printed a snippet of a story. It might be a character, location, or plot point. Each player gets some of these cards as well as two endings. The goal of the game is to tell a story using your cards that somehow leads to one of the endings you have in your hand. Of course, while you are telling your story, one of your fellow players can steal the story from you and continue it using the cards in their hand. I really enjoyed it! It was different than any other game I have played, and it forced me to exercise that creativity muscle that, sadly, goes unused most of the time what with me being a scientist and all. So, if you are looking for a different holiday gift for someone this year, I highly recommend it. Thanks to Ken for introducing us to it!