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(More customer reviews)Know what the acronym "NATO" stands for? Where did the word "Mesmerize" come from? How did alcohol come to be known as "booze?" In this new bluffing game one must either know the correct answer, or be able to creatively fabricate it. A little knowledge can go a long way in this game. Half the game is based around the origins of words, titles, and expressions. A player reads a card aloud which asks a question about a word or phrase and then the other players give the answer on a piece of paper, whether they know it or not. They then hand the answers to the person who read the card, who lists all of the answer aloud including the correct one he has written down. "Okay, the origin of the word "Hocus-Pocus. A chant from a children's book by T.R. Albert in with witches chanted "hocus-Pocus" around a large caldron to finish a spell? Or, A stage name of a famous 17th century magician, who created it out of nonsense syllables he chanted to distract his audience? Or perhaps, from a Greek phrase Hokkus Practus est, which means to be full of sorcery? If you guess a wrong answer, the person who wrote it gets a card with a letter on it which eventually spells "D-E-R-I-V-A-T-I-O-N" at which point that player wins. If you guess it correctly, YOU get a card! If no one picks the correct answer, then the reader gets a card.
Other games have been made around this theme such as the classic Balderdash and Wise and Otherwise, but this game is definitely more educational and requires a bit more thought. It really helps to know a little about history, government, and language, at least enough to fake it! The other half of the game consists of 3 equal parts being a charades/pictionary hybrid in which people try to guess the word or phrase based on acting/drawing. Another 3rd is where a person describes the phrase/word orally to the target, but without saying any of the words he is trying to make them guess. Another 3rd is fortune where one can win and lose cards at random.
This game is definitely aimed at Teenagers/Adults who have some interest and knowledge in words, government, and history. This game intrigues and educates along with being enjoyable. I usually like to use what knowledge I can in a game if it can help me. If I want to play a game where knowledge won't help me in the slightest, I play balderdash, if I want something which tests by metal, I play derivation or a strategy game.
As for quality of pieces and box, it is very pleasant. All the cards are printed on good quality paper with bright colors. Even the sheets for writing down answers and the rulebook are in full color. High production values, and the box is quite sturdy.
The only thing I can fault this game for is the rules can be a bit sparse in places, such as guessing a word correctly. The rules do not state how correct an answer must be in order to be correct. Such as in the above example. If they say simply "came from a magician." Is that correct? Or would they have to state that Hocus-Pocus was his stage name to be correct? Perhaps even include when it came from? That is a large shade of gray in the game, which comes along with a few others. The players must make house rules about this, which can be a source of some slight argument, which is to be resolved by the person whose turn it is. Any dispute makes a game less fun, but these events don't come up often enough to really harp about it too much.
All in all, I have enjoyed this game each and every time I have played it and would recommend it to anyone who is creative, has some knowledge in the humanities, and has a streak of mischief about them. I must stress however that for much of the game one doesn't need to know anything about the subject, and with a bit of skill and luck, can complete with those who do have a clue, which makes it more fun for those who are a bit lesser on the age spectrum. Have fun!
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