Idle Remorse

Review: Figure It Out

By On April 7, 2019 With No Comments

Review: Figure It Out
Publisher: Cardinal
Year: 1998
Tagline: The Game

Cover shows Billy the answer head on the left side, hostess on the right side, and the Figure It Out name in the middle

how we met

I found Figure It Out at the same stop where I picked up Scavenger Hunt, so you can read more details there if you like. The gist is that it was a stop I’d never made before, and one that paid off because people with my interests in games don’t seem to visit that shop often.

I had never seen (frankly, had never heard of) Figure It Out as a show, but I know old Nickelodeon games can fetch a couple of bucks in resale and are likely to meet my expectations in levels of cheesiness.

how it plays

If you are familiar with the television show Figure It Out, then you will be familiar with how the game plays as it is exactly the same. For those unfamiliar, here’s how it works.

One player acts as the contestant and draws an ANSWER CARD, which will include four things on it: first, the answer which is the contestant’s talent or skill that the other players are trying to guess, second, clues about the answer that can be read at different times during play, third, a secret slime action, and finally a consequence if a player does the secret slime action.

The talent is "Paints friends faces on toenails"
Sample ANSWER CARD showing a real talent, if a creepy one

The contestant should set up the BILLY THE ANSWER HEAD so that other players know how many words they are guessing. The instructions also say to write in any of the words in parentheses. I looked through the ANSWER CARDs and there are no words in parentheses, so use your best judgment here. I think the spirit of the rule is to add words like “to” or “with” or “of.”

Billy the Answer Head is a white board material where you write on the brain
BILLY THE ANSWER HEAD from our play. You can see I just added parentheses where words should be, indicating the last space is blank

The goal is for the players to guess what is on the ANSWER CARD of the contestant.

The game is played in 3 rounds:
Round 1: Start the timer. Players take turns asking “yes” or “no” questions to try and deduce the statement. If a player gets a “yes” answer they may continue with their questions until they get a “no” answer. If someone guesses a word from the ANSWER CARD, stop the timer and write the word in the correct space on BILLY THE ANSWER HEAD. If players do not get the correct answer in Round 1, the contestant gets to draw a prize from the 1st Round Prize cards!

Round 2: The contestant reads the first clue. Then play continues just as it did in Round 1, except the contestant gets to draw a prize from the 2nd Round Prize cards if their answer is not guessed!

Round 3: The contestant reads the second clue. Then play continues as above. If players still are not able to guess the right answer, they get one last chance in a charade round. Start the timer and act out the final clue. All players may guess the answer. If time runs out without the correct answer, the contestant gets to draw from the grand prize deck!

So ultimately you run the timer four times before calling it, and that is roughly four minutes.

The timer is purple and green with pink details
The timer, totally on brand

If at any point a player does the secret slime action, stop the timer and explain the consequences that they must follow.

Then the next player gets to be the contestant and repeat the rounds. Then the next player! Then the next player! And everyone wins!

how it went

I watched an episode of Figure It Out on youtube as part of my relentless research on your behalf. The show is just like the gameplay described above, except at the end of each contestant’s turn (all the rounds) they get an opportunity to show off their special skill. This is generally awkward, both because kids are awkward and because the game sometimes showcases things that aren’t really skills.

In the show, if one of the panelists (which generally consist of known stars from other Nickelodeon properties) does the secret slime action then they get slimed.

One of the things I found funny in the episode I watched was that the Round 1 prizes mostly consisted of pieces of the set from other Nickelodeon shows. One boy won a piece from the original Legends of the Hidden Temple set, and a girl won a speed bump from Global GUTS. At least in the board game the kids can win useful things like a backpack or a basketball in Round 1.

The prizes include tennis racket, dog, electric guitar
Sample prize cards, and none of them were used in the set of a Nickelodeon show (I don’t think)

We played Figure It Out one evening with a host of other games. We were not able to successfully guess the talent in any of our rounds, probably because of an unfamiliarity with the show. We were not prepared to think as quickly as you need to. The timer is just one minute, so you really need to be ready with a host of “yes” or “no” questions to be able to make progress.

Talent here is "Has Texas shaped mole on nose"
This one wouldn’t have even worked on the show! Or it would have worked too well because no one wants to mention the Texas-shaped mole on the kid’s nose
Talent is "I mooned my school bus"
The hero we all need
Talent is "Flushes toilet with mental powers"
I’m calling bullshit on this one

Our game group is all about the same age, and we are all a bit too old to have seen Figure It Out, which probably dampened appreciation for the board game. However, I am not sure that replayability is great on this game regardless. The ANSWER CARDs are double-sided, so that will increase how many are seen and essentially ruin them for gameplay. And the humor of the cards just isn’t my thing. I like absurd humor, but these are just dumb.

play or pass

Pass. Figure It Out pretty much requires you to be familiar with the television show in order to play the game well and appreciate it. If you take strictly what is in the box without this prior knowledge, the game is playable but silly. But not like good silly fun. More like, this is silly and I don’t want it anymore.

Review: Kaboom

By On March 31, 2019 With No Comments

Review: Kaboom
Publisher: Ideal
Year: 1965
Tagline: Balloon Busting Game

Cover shows a contraption that you pump to blow up a balloon

how we met

I am such a sucker for Ideal games. The bigger the box, the better. And here’s how far this addiction goes: I frequently purchase more than one copy because most times they don’t even work.

I found my first copy of Kaboom at a thrift shop and could not believe my good fortune. It was in perfect shape. But, after securing water balloons, it became clear that this copy did not work. And it was clear that fixing it went beyond my skills.

A nice, clean contraption
The pretty one

Several months later I found an ugly, terrible copy at an estate sale. But it had balloons in it, and when I tested the contraption the balloon held air! So I had a working contraption I could pair with nice components.

A more colorful but less pretty one
The less pretty one, complete with electrical tape!

how it plays

Kaboom is a press your luck game involving balloons. Each player chooses a colored peg and starts at the beginning. On their turn, the player says a number between 1 and 10. This is how many times they must pump up the balloon. The rules stipulate that the pump must go all the way up and to the bottom to count as one, so no cheating, cheaters!

If the player completes all of the pumps, they move their peg that number of spaces. Then the next player goes.

The scoring track is yellow plastic rectangle, and the pegs come in various colors
The scoring track that we only got to flirt with

If a peg lands on a space with a star then they must take another turn.

If the balloon pops on a player’s turn, they move back 20 spaces!

The first player to successfully get their peg to the end of the scoring track wins!

how it went

Okay, this copy didn’t work great either. We didn’t get a full game in. Eventually the balloons started losing air, so we had to move so quickly that finishing the game just wasn’t tenable. But we played a little.

One thing I didn’t expect is that it takes about a thousand pumps for the balloon to actually pop, so that seems like another flaw – since we can no longer purchase official Kaboom balloons.

FUN FACT: One of my two copies has the instructions for Tip-It on the inside cover instead of instructions for Kaboom

Kaboom cover on left and Tip-It instructions on right
So this is how much Ideal had their shit together

The game culminated with a blue balloon that started losing air, and we all worked together to pump the contraption until it finally, finally popped. It was quite a workout. But it was a nice swan song for that copy.

Two hands gripping the balloon, one hand gripping the contraption, one hand pumping the balloon, one hand supporting the pumping hand
Two steps forward, one and a half steps back. But then it popped!

John was ahead when the game stopped working, so John won Kaboom!

play or pass

Pass. If I thought you could find a copy of this that actually worked I would recommend it all day long. But I think the hoses are all broken by this point, and they are too inflexible to try and repair. But the spirit of Kaboom is very fun. I think balloon popping is the perfect gamble in a press your luck game.

When I posted about playing this on the Flip the Table Facebook page, one user noted that it sounds like Gassy Gus. I have not played Gassy Gus, but if I see it at thrift I will definitely pick it up and let you know.

Review: Up for Grabs

By On March 28, 2019 With 3 Comments

Review: Up for Grabs
Publisher: Mattel
Year: 1978
Tagline: The frantic family game of frenzied fingers!

Cover shows family of 3 leaning over the game piece

how we met

I found Up For Grabs at one of those thrift shops that have a 50% off sale going on all the time. The tight shot on the family fun from the cover had me wanting to participate in whatever it was they were doing. I don’t remember clearly what Bill’s reaction was, but I feel like I can hear him tsk-tsk’ing when I look at it. Sold.

how it plays

Up For Grabs is a fast-paced dexterity game for 2 to 4 players, with 4 players recommended. I will not explain the variants for less than 4 players, but they do exist if you need them.

Each player is a different color (white, yellow, red or green) and has six two-colored little pegs – they resemble pills from Dr. Mario or perhaps cartoonish shotgun shells. Your six pegs will all have your color on one half and then 2 each of the other colors.

The pegs are two colors, like yellow/white, green/red, green/white, etc
Dr. Mario flashbacks amiright?
Yellow pegs
So like if I’m yellow this is the combination of pegs I need

Players place their pegs into the game device with their color side up, placing a single piece into each separate section. Once all pieces are in place, you should have four different colors in each section.

Players should decide how many rounds they want to play, so that each player gets an equal turn.

Next the first player winds the game device button until it stops, then presses it down. This will cause the pegs to move up and down in seemingly random order. Your job is to grab any pegs of your color that pop up and turn them over, therefore showing a color other than your own. The timer gives you just about six seconds for this job, so be vigilant!

A hand reaching for a peg mid-play
An action shot from our play

If any of your color pegs are sticking up after the timer has run out for your turn, you can turn one of them over. This happens quite frequently and is worth mentioning.

When you are done, pass the game device to the next player who will also take a turn at getting rid of their color pegs.

Play continues in this way until your agreed-upon rounds are up. Then the player with the least amount of pegs of their color showing is the winner!

how it went

Up For Grabs manages to be as simple as it looks, but much more entertaining than expected (at least by me). We played one evening while we waited for food to arrive, which I guess is the definition of a “filler game.”

We took on the suggested variant of allowing only one hand. It seemed more challenging, and I knew if we decided to try and all play at the same time – a possible variant – that would be necessary.

One of the less-than-great things about Up For Grabs is the whining of the game device. It is loud and irritating. But it also works, perfectly, after 40 years. So it seems like a silly thing to complain about.

Because I care about you, SO MUCH, I took a quick sloppy video. Turn that volume all the way up!

We played the game for awhile just getting used to it. We went round and round, perfectly content in our endless circle. Finally we stopped that madness, reset the pieces and decided on a 3-round game.

By this point we were trying to track things like, is it an advantage to go first? To go last?

We play dexterity games every so often. We like some of them, too! We have played Topple numerous times (I should probably review it since I see it at thrift all the time). But we don’t like all of them. I don’t think we have a weakness or preference for dexterity games.

But Up For Grabs is not your typical dexterity game, either. It combines luck with dexterity, and the biggest factor is probably speed. If not for the vast amount of luck involved in terms of where players put pieces and which pieces are coming up, this borders on a skill game.

In playing through Up For Grabs we generally agreed that it is not better or worse to go first or last. It is a zero-sum game, so each advance you make is a detriment to your fellow players, and vice versa. The only thing that really, really hurts you is a bad turn. And those definitely happened. Some rounds had zero or one peg flipped, while other rounds boasted as many as five or six.

The insert is cute with the four different colors
The insert is super adorable. This picture also gives you a good view of the six separate “sections”

So it’s important to do well, but even then you are not in control of your own destiny. You can be in the lead going into the last round but the pegs of other players happened to come up during their turns and happened to have more of your color than someone else’s. You might experience a bloodbath and it’s not even your turn.

It is important to determine your rounds ahead of time, because the game does seem to forever tease you by moving you ahead and behind and all around the middle. You need that line in the sand to stop the madness.

We played 3 rounds, and Keri won Up For Grabs!

play or pass

Play. This is a fun, fast-paced dexterity game that will be even more enjoyed with younger players. Up For Grabs is short, loud and at times brutal. But we really enjoyed it.

I am not a fan of skill games masquerading as actual games. Up For Grabs is flirting with being a skill game. I think you need the combination of the luck introduced by the game device as well as multiple players to avoid this pitfall. No matter how skilled you are, in a four player game you will have highs and lows.

Review: How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

By On March 4, 2019 With 1 Comment

Review: How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days
Publisher: Paramount Pictures
Year: 2003
Tagline: One of them is lying. So is the other.

Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey shoulder to shoulder

how we met

I have mentioned previously that I sometimes look at sales sites to see what board games are there. And I don’t know why I do this. I never buy anything. But sometimes, rarely, I will find something to add to my wish list. How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days has been on Craigslist in this area for about 2 years for $15. I was delighted and astonished that a board game based on this movie existed. In fact I think its existence tore down any lingering mental walls I had around what properties you can use as the basis for a board game.

Enter the beloved thrifting minions. My friend, Courtney, posted a photo of the game at a thrift shop as a goof, like “get a load of this guys.” I commented that, oh man, that’s actually on my wish list. And she bought it for me, the dear.

And it was unpunched. Which is a great sign.

how it plays

How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days is a 2 player game where your object is to gather the items that you need according to which character you are, and then get to the Finish. Then you win!

Dog, Vagisil, an album, a scale
A few of the items
a six pack of beer, a photo album, a phone, a fern
A few more of the items, all direct movie references

Players roll a die on their turn and move in any direction they like. Your items must be landed on by exact count, so you will likely do a dance around them before finally grasping them.

If you land on a space that says to Draw A Card, you draw the card corresponding to your pawn. So Kate Hudsons draw girl cards and Matthew McConaugheys draw boy cards.

Sample girl cards
A smattering of the Kate cards
Sample boy cards
And some random Matthew cards

The first player to collect all of their items and get back to finish wins How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days!

how it went

Wow, you guys. This game is special in all the wrong ways.

Let’s quickly revisit the movie plot prior to diving into the game play. The gist of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is that the Kate Hudson character wants to write an article about losing a guy by intentionally driving him away with common relationship pitfalls. Meanwhile, the Matthew McConaughey character is trying to win a huge advertising account by convincing his boss that he can sell anything, even himself. In situational comedy style, these two characters find each other as their respective targets. You can probably guess the rest.

The plot treats love as a game, and the characters even have a conversation around whether “all’s fair in love and war.” I can definitely see why Paramount Pictures decided to make this plot the only tryst they have (according to BGG) with game publishing. A one night stand, if you will.

The Matthew pawn in foreground and 3d board in background
Our play

But now let’s talk about the game. First of all, there are almost no rules. The rule sheet spends an entire paragraph explaining the back story. Then there are two rules: 1) roll and move in any direction but land by exact count on your items and 2) only draw cards if you land directly on those spaces (duh!).

The boy pawn hanging off the girl pawn
The rules of course did not address what happens when a pawn lands on another’s space, so this is how we handled it

The publisher made interesting choices throughout. The back of the game box is completely blank, a big white spot. No info on game play, no pictures, nothing. But when you open the box, the inside has some printing on it, as does the insert. So that’s a strange approach. And the 3-d stand-up portion of the board does not matter to game play, and also doesn’t really stand.

The 3d portion is just the title and the characters standing shoulder to shoulder
We ultimately had to put a rubber band around the characters and the milk duds to get it to stand

The game is meant to be played by one couple. So we played girls as the girl and boys as the boy, just taking turns around the table moving our character.

You need to collect six items per pawn. The game board has four quadrants on it, and each pawn has two items in two of the quadrants, and one in each of the other two. So you know where you start and where you need to finish, and the rest of your movement is just trying to make the best of your odds.

One of the most amazing things about the game is the cards. There are numerous misspellings and grammatical errors, even some cards that are completely nonsensical, but all of the cards have close tie-in’s to the movie. We enjoyed the cards immensely – again, for all the wrong reasons. Let’s look at a few.

Typos and grammar errors like cutsie instead of cutesie, you're instead of your, etc
A few of the grammatical and typo errors. In my nightmares my card game is full of these
Card reads "After blowing cool on poker night you suggest you attend couples counseling together. ooze 3 steps ahead."
All the cards reference the movie closely, but the wording is still awkward
"A Frond in Need. Her Love Fern dies. creep back 2 steps."
OK, this one is clever and cute
Two cards from his and hers perspective on the Vagisil plot point
All cards have a fellow, so there is a thing started by one character and the other character’s reaction. But you don’t draw them at the same time, so..?

Keri and I generally had luckier rolls and were able to pick up our items more quickly than the fellas. We made it to the end first and won How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days!

play or pass

Pass. This game makes The Mask look like the ultimate in movie to board-game tie-in sophistication. This is one of the most careless games we have ever played. I loved every minute of it.

Review: Care Bears: On the Path to Care-a-Lot

By On February 27, 2019 With 2 Comments

Review: Care Bears: On the Path to Care-a-Lot
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Year: 1983
Tagline: A Game of Happy Feelings from Parker Brothers

Cover is blue and shows care bears and rainbows all around it

how we met

I recently went through a bout of (what google tells me is called) Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon on the topic of Care Bears, meaning I started seeing them everywhere. This all began when I was looking through an old photo album and paused on a photo of my sister and me some Christmas morning holding our new Care Bears. Bill looked over my shoulder at this moment, only glanced really, and said, “Those Care Bears are fake.”

Two girls with toys all around them, each holding a Care Bear
The image in question. Oh, how happy I was with my giant Funshine Bear

When I looked back at the photo it seemed suddenly obvious. The proportions were all strange. I immediately texted my sister and asked if she knew our Care Bears were fake. She replied, “LOL!!! Of course they were fake! You didn’t know that?!” No, I didn’t.

I don’t remember even wanting a Care Bear, so this event was not as traumatizing as I like to make it out to be. But I suddenly started seeing Care Bears everywhere. They were new in stores as part of the throwbacks that are all the rage now, but also at thrift shops and toy shows. And I found this game within a few days. I needed to exorcise these demons, so I bought it.

how it plays

Care Bears: On the Path to Care-a-Lot is a matching game where you have little star markers with symbols on them. When any player spins and lands on a symbol matching one of your markers, you can move the marker onto your board.

A shot of the empty icon spaces and the star chips with matching icons sitting just outside
The star markers sit outside the board until you match them, then they move onto their space

The goal is to fill up all of the spaces so that you can race to Care Bear Castle and be welcomed by Tenderheart Bear. If all of your markers are complete then you are ready to start on the short yellow path on the board. When any player spins and lands on a symbol matching your next space, you can move your Care Bear forward during this last leg.

The spinner also has a -1 space on it. In the first part of the game, this means you must remove one of your markers from the board. In the race part of the game, it means you move backward one space.

A Care Bear whose belly makes up the spinner
“Hi, I’m the spinner! Let’s be friiiieeeeeends!”

The first player to get to the end of their path, wins!

how it went

This game was a lot of spinning, a lot of cursing, a lot of cheering. I think it was a nice touch to make it so that all players benefit when someone lands on a symbol. It helped us stay more even, especially because we all spun the dreaded -1 at least once. Also I guess the game would be endless otherwise.

Care Bear pawns are made of cardboard in a standee
Here’s two of the four pawns

I was generally a bit behind the whole game, but the others were very close near the end. But John’s symbol got spun first, and John won Care Bears: On the Path to Care-a-Lot game!

Overview of board during our play showing all four sides fairly even
Our play. I was Bedtime Bear because Funshine Bear was not an option

This game night I started making notes on post-its to place in the game to help with my reviews, but I didn’t have much to say about Care Bears: On the Path to Care-a-Lot. When I asked the group if anything stuck out to them, Bill replied, “Keri read the instructions. Everything went great.” So we all laughed at that hilarious joke.

play or pass

Pass. You spin. You cheer or go aw shucks. Someone else spins. You cheer or go aw shucks. Repeat about five thousand times.

Here’s to hoping playing this game will put an end to my Care Bear frequency illusion.

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