New Voices: Wits & Wagers Family, Our Family's New Favorite | Wits & Wagers Family

Lisa

(Game Snob Mom)

United States

Pennsylvania

I'm writing my first review for 2 reasons.
1. The New Voices Spring 2011 Contest is tempting me out of the shadows and
2. I'd personally like to see more Family Game reviews focused on kids than currently exist.

We are a family of 4 (Mom, Dad, daughter 12 & daughter 8) just starting to explore the amazing world board games available. I have many fond memories of playing board games with my father & would like to pass on the same happy childhood memories for my girls. I've spent many hours on BGG looking for new games my family might enjoy.

Uncertain where to start I researched the Spiel des Jahres award winners, read the family game rankings & many different threads where people listed games their family enjoyed. I wish I could say it was pure genius on my part but Wits & Wagers Family was simply a case of I had seen people list it as liking it & the price was right. Just what I needed to earn free shipping from the OLGS. Okay, okay...I just confessed the current favorite game of my family was purchased on a last minute whim to gain free shipping, you caught me. No amazing insight to the personalities of my two kids or anything like that just...it beat paying for shipping! What a wonderful mistake / impulse purchase.

Having never played the regular version of the Wits & Wager I had no idea what to expect. Inside the box are 5 little dry erase boards, 5 markers, 10 meeples (5 big, 5 small) in 5 different colors corresponding to the dry erase boards, 150 question cards (2 questions each card), a score board & instructions. It truly does take just 2 minutes to teach the game (refreshing change from some). The cards all ask a question with a number answer. Everyone writes the answer they think is correct or if they don't know they can guess on their board. The questions are written with the younger ones in mind. (tonight when we played one of the questions was how many holes are in a wiffle ball? Perfect for everybody!) Everyone puts their board with the written answer in the center of the table (below the 6th dry erase board with a 1 on it). Next everyone votes for which they think is the correct guess. You can place both the large & small meeple on the same board (doesn't need to be your own if another answer looks better), or you can split them up hedging your bets. Also, if you think no one is correct you can place a meeple on the 1 board. The correct number is printed on the back of the card & the correct guess is determined by the being the closest to the number without going over. Points are awarded as follows: 1 point if your guess is the winner, 2 points if your large meeple is on the winning guess & 1 point for the small meeple on the winning guess. It is possible to get up to 4 points total each question. First to 15 points wins. This game takes roughly 20-30 minutes to play, with lots of laughter. After playing 20+ times it is always the first game our kids request, probably because the playing filed is pretty level. I believe the win ratio is close to 1/2 kids vs. 1/2 adults. They love that aspect as much as we do. My youngest won tonight by intelligently betting on boards that weren't her own (I think she only got 1 of the 10 questions right, but she was smart with deciding who probably had the right answer!).

Our Wits & Wagers Family game came with one too many blue meeple & 1 too few purple meeple. I emailed North Star Games & had a reply the very next day. With in 5 days I had the replacement purple meeple, a twizzler candy & few bonus question cards written by famous game designers. Needless to say, I was very impressed by their customer service. I was also very happy to see posted on their website they guarantee any piece of the game for a year & will gladly replace within that time frame. (I'm thinking it may be necessary for the dry erase boards given the use they are seeing).
Bottom line, for the $12.99 I paid for this game it's beats out several I've paid triple that price for. Thank you North Star Games, keep the family versions coming, we love them.

Based on the success of this game with my family I can't wait to try the Say Anything Family game!