Party Games

Here’s my ratings of the party games I’ve played based on the system set out here. Reminder of the ideal property values below:

  • Simple – Complex (W = 4): As simple as possible.
  • Short – Long (W = 2): As short as possible.
  • Luck-based – Skill-based (W = 2): Quite luck based, but still with some skill involved to ensure players feel that they have agency.
  • Instinctual – Calculating (W = 1): Should be fairly instinctual to ensure turns go quickly and players don’t feel ‘too dumb’ for the game.
  • Funny – Serious (W = 1): Should be as funny as possible.

Owned

Anomia (BGG)
 Fantastically funny and social word game that’s open to all ages.

  • Simple – Complex: 9/10
    • Very simple, only loses a point due to the wild cards sometimes confusing people rule-wise.
  • Short – Long: 10/10
    • Very short, and perfect length for people to watch a game then want to join the next without having to really wait.
  • Luck-based – Skill-based: 4/10
    • It’s quite skill-based, where if you’re bad at it then you will always do poorly, which can drive people away from it.
  • Instinctual – Calculating: 10/10
    • No time to calculate gotTA SAY THE WORD QUICK-
  • Funny – Serious: 10/10
    • The most I’ve laughed in a board game EVER.

Final score: 8.4/10

Codenames (BGG)
 Tense but interesting team-based word game.

  • Simple – Complex: 8/10
    • Once you get it you get it, but the rules can be a bit of a challenge to some. Thankfully can start in a team with other people who know how to play.
  • Short – Long: 7/10
    • Sometimes can go for way too long and lose people’s interest as the codemasters take forever to pick a word. Can be solved with a timer, but that can lead to stress and bad 1-word clues.
  • Luck-based – Skill-based: 8/10
    • There’s some skill in finding a good clue, but a lot of it is the luck of how your team will interpret it. In a good way, that is.
  • Instinctual – Calculating: 2/10
    • A bit too calculating as people try find the best word. Who knows maybe I should be playing with a timer.
  • Funny – Serious: 8/10
    • It can get pretty funny when some very questionable clues get given, although not all the time.

Final score: 7.2/10

Wavelength (BGG)
 Hilarious team-based opinion game, about being on the same wavelength (HA).

  • Simple – Complex: 10/10
    • Extremely simple, anyone can play it.
  • Short – Long: 8/10
    • People can take a while to choose a clue, but it isn’t too hard and with two scales to choose from it usually isn’t a problem and the game’s pretty quick.
  • Luck-based – Skill-based: 10/10
    • Fantastic balance of coming up with good clues while still being at the mercy of your team and the dial.
  • Instinctual – Calculating: 6/10
    • A bit too calculating as people try find the best word, but often people end up giving up and going with their gut anyway.
  • Funny – Serious: 9/10
    • When people think crackers aren’t a particularly dry food, things get hilarious fast.

Final score: 9.1/10

The Mind simple edition (BGG)
 I say simple edition because I usually play it with 6 nimmt cards from 1 - 100, and just ramp up the number of cards each time. No shurikens, no faff, just mind.

  • Simple – Complex: 10/10
    • Extremely simple, anyone can play it.
  • Short – Long: 10/10
    • Rounds are super short so anyone can hop in and out.
  • Luck-based – Skill-based: 7/10
    • It’s just luck, potentially a bit too much so though. I mean unless you say a number 30 higher after like 4 seconds have passed FUCKING HEL-
  • Instinctual – Calculating: 10/10
    • Caveat here is that everyone has to agree to not count in their head. If you can all do that, this game is pure gut instinct.
  • Funny – Serious: 8/10
    • Can be somewhat funny when people fuck up.

Final score: 9.2/10

The Fuzzies (BGG)
 Jenga but with fuzzballs.

  • Simple – Complex: 10/10
    • Extremely simple, anyone can play it.
  • Short – Long: 7/10
    • Easy to hop in and out, even mid round if people wanted to. Super flexible. However docking some points as it can take a while to get back to your turn.
  • Luck-based – Skill-based: 10/10
    • It’s like Jenga, good combination of the skill of not knocking it over, with the luck of you never really know which part of the tower is crucial.
  • Instinctual – Calculating: 10/10
    • You can’t calculate which fuzzball to pick, pure instinct.
  • Funny – Serious: 4/10
    • The cards make it funny which is why I prefer it to Jenga, but can get stale.

Final score: 8.8/10

Unowned