Idle Remorse

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.

Review: Whoowasit?

By On February 24, 2019 With 3 Comments

Review: Whoowasit?
Publisher: Ravensburger
Year: 2007
Tagline: Reveal the secrets of the speaking animals and find the thief!

Cover shows the electronic component in lower left and cartoon animals around, including a prominent owl

how we met

Whoowasit? caught my eye amongst the rest of the thrift games with its Harry Potter-looking font. It was clearly a children’s game, but I love a good deduction game, and it was electronic! I was ready to hear what that Owl had to say.

how it plays

Whoowasit? is a cooperative, roll and move deduction game. The object is to determine who among the ten suspects is the thief before time runs out. Then the whole team wins!

The board is many rooms in a castle, cartoonish and kind of busy
The game set up for play, including ghost in the Courtyard, pawns in the Nursery and door tiles where needed

To accomplish this, players move around a handful of rooms in a castle. Each room has an animal in it, and a few rooms also have magical objects.

On their turn, players will roll the (almost weightless) die. If the ghost comes up, move the ghost one space in the ghostly track. If the ghost enters a room with pawns, those pawns return to the Nursery where they started the game. The player keeps rolling until they get a number. Then they can move up to that number of rooms and perform an action.

The ghost is sticking his arms up and frowning
Booooooo. He starts in the Courtyard, and he is not happy about it

When the player lands in a room, they click the corresponding animal on the magic box to let the game know where they are. Then they can choose to either search the room (eye), talk to the animal (mouth), or use a magical object (stars, if relevant) by clicking the corresponding button. The magic box will let you know what happens and continue to emphasize that time is running out.

The box just has icons indicating rooms and actions on its top
This is what the magic box looks like, from the top. The first two rows are rooms and the bottom row are actions. That on the left is the repeat button.

When you search a room you will usually find a piece of food. These are important to collect because the animals will want to be fed in exchange for information. You can store up to two pieces of food on the cat and any others in the pantry. Players in the pantry can exchange what is on the cat and essentially equipped.

If you speak to an animal and it wants to be fed something that you have equipped on the cat card, then you can choose the additional action of feeding it (hand). This action always follows speaking, when it happens. Usually a fed animal will reward you with really good information, like that “the thief has something on their head.” This would eliminate two suspects. Turn them over or set them aside, they are not the thief.

Ten suspects as cartoon characters
The ten suspects, with handy differing things like head coverings, thin vs fat, short vs tall, you know..

Sometimes when you search a room you will find a key. This is needed to end the game and will sometimes unlock doors.

NOTE: The rules note that you may have unanswered questions as you start the game, like how do I open doors, etc. The magic box will address these things as you play, so if you feel unsure starting your first game don’t worry.

Play continues in this way until you are able to eliminate all but one suspect. Once you have the thief identified, go to their room and unlock their chest (the chest action icon). Then wear your recovered ring proudly. The team won!

The ring is red and gold and sizing is flexible because it expands
Yep, this is what it’s all about

Replayability is handled by the magic box, so rest assured that your next game will be different.

how it went

Whoowasit? was even simpler than I had imagined. You are essentially moving around just a handful of rooms with a die that goes up to 5. You can really book it around that castle, especially if through the course of gameplay you unlock doors.

Our play showing magic box and the game board
A shot of our play

The sound quality is always a potential issue in a game like this. We only once hit the repeat button to replay what the ghost said. But all in all, we could understand it pretty well.

The highlight of our game was when John fell through a trap door into the courtyard. We play a lot of Betrayal at House on the Hill in this group, and John is a magnet for that coal chute. It was delightful to see that this behavior is something we can rely on, even outside of Betrayal.

Now is the part where I express disappointment in this children’s game. What bugged me about the game is that eventually you have searched every room, spoken to every animal, and fed anything that wants food. And…. nothing.

A large picture of a cat with a bag, with two areas for food and one for keys
The cat can hold two food items and as many keys as you find. Consider these items “equipped”

The game does not urge you forward in a smooth way, so suddenly you realize that nothing up to that point is sacred (which is pretty terrible for a deduction game) and you have to start retracing your steps and speaking to animals you already spoke to. Because something in the game will have prompted them to behave differently now, even though it’s not transparent to you. This is such a shame and my biggest complaint even on behalf of the children who play Whoowasit? This game play certainly doesn’t prepare one for future deduction games. You should not accuse Colonel Mustard in the Billiard Room with the Candlestick over and over and expect different results (not an equal comparison, but a valid one).

But I seem to be the only person in the world with this particular complaint. So it is either not consistent in the game, or it doesn’t matter to most people.

The magic box does some weird kind of count down and will occasionally inform you of the time in game. We had until 6pm to find the thief and John managed to open the correct box at 5:50pm. I assume the times are completely made up and not tied to anything in real-life, or maybe tied to magic box entries at most. But yay, we won!

A hand wearing a ring
John could not wait to show off his new ring

play or pass

Pass. Whoowasit? has a flaw severe enough that I don’t even think it’s a good starter for deduction games. I can see children enjoying the game play, with its magic box and its animals. But make sure they know that randomly repeating their movements in other games will not always pay off.

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