Family

Hollywood Dominoes Premier Edition! I Love It

Play Dominoes like the A – list Celebrities. A chic, star – studded way to breath new passion into a classic game. The Official Hollywood Domino Game came to be as Demi Moore, Selma Hayak, Ashton Kutcher, Charlize Theron, Penelope Cruz, Bruce Willis and other A – List Celebrities created a new Hollywood – infused way to play dominoes. This premium celebrity – created and endorsed game lets players “feel” like a star as they play the game of what Hollywood is famous for making movies. Make your own “movie” by choosing a movie marker and playing tiles from the Hollywood Star hub. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to play a wild Stunt Double, the Blockbuster, or the coveted Comeback tile. After 13 rounds, win the Hollywood way by finishing your movie “under budget” with the lowest score. This includes 95 Hollywood Domino Tiles, Hollywood Star with Platform, Red Carpet and 8 Movie Markers.

* Hollywood – infused way to play dominoes
* This premium celebrity – created and endorsed game lets players “feel” like a star as they play the game of what Hollywood is famous for making movies
* Make your own “movie” by choosing a movie marker and playing tiles from the Hollywood Star hub
* After 13 rounds, win the Hollywood way by finishing your movie “under budget” with the lowest score
* Includes 95 Hollywood domino tiles, Hollywood Star with platform, red carpet and 8 movie markers

Ever since we got this game we’ve been spending a lot more time with family and friends. We have all our neighbors interested, we’re organizing game nights, and we’re having a great time. We used to do this a lot when I was a kid, and this new game has got us back into the habit of having fun as a family. Instead of going out and dropping a bundle of money on a movie or show that half of us aren’t really excited about, we stay home, build a fire, and enjoy ourselves. We like this game so much we just bought five for Christmas gifts.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Pictionary & Pictionary Jr!

Pictionary is the classic party game that plays like charades, only on paper. Instead of acting, you sketch clues to your teammates. But you don’t have to be an artist to play. All that’s needed is a little imagination and a fast pencil. This updated version contains the best words from previous Pictionary editions plus over 1,000 fun new words and expressions! For 3 or more players. Game includes: game board, die, timer, 324 cards (3,200 words), 4 pencils, 4 playing pieces, 4 pads of paper, card tray and instructions. Color of parts may vary.

* Playing Pictionary may remind you of Charades, but by drawing on paper instead of acting out the answers!
* 2,800 Secret words plus a 20-card anniversary pack add to this game’s whole new look!
* Roll the Challenge Die and you’ll have to draw with your eyes closed, with your “off” hand, using just one line and more!
* Includes gameboard, one minute hour-glass timer, 324 cards, four movers, four pencils, four pads, a card holder and standard and challenge die
* For 3 or more players

We played this and had tons of fun (we= an ENT resident, a law school student, one 8 year old, and some college students). Goes to show anyone can play. I say even if you’re not in the mood, or you think people will find it lame, the chances are folks will get into it. One person’s whole-hearted rendition of the USA looked like an elephant, and that cracked people up for the rest of the game. Tons of funny stuff came up. When rushed even the super artists begin to produce weird funny looking pictures One girl was laughing so hard at this other guy’s drawings that she literally had tears coming out of her eyes.

Highly recommend having around.

The rules are confusing at first especially with the “all play,” but if you read the instructions and play every now and then, that’s not a big issue. You’ll pick it up.

Also, the game may not be “educational” per say, BUT it definitely improves young kids’ vocabulary, and their knowledge of sayings and general knowledge (ex. “space needle” came up and several people didn’t know that was a building structure in Seattle). They also learn team work and patience…that’s huge! The 8y/o would keep getting frustrated at the time crunch and her confounding problem of bad drawings. She relaxed a little and learned to go with the happy flow as the game went on.

Some specifics:
- Easy and fun
- For any age
- laugh at people’s funny drawings
- Great interactive group game that’s not based on chance like most others

Speed, not artistry, is the key to Pictionary Junior, a party game that stole the show from Charades in the ’80s. The kids’ version, which has been updated with hundreds of new words to draw, has hints and two levels of play. There are 144 two-sided cards. The red side is more challenging, and the blue side is easier–for younger players. Both include a theme to be read aloud and start everyone thinking on track. Teams go head-to-head to guess the word their “picturist” draws within 60 seconds. How fast can you draw an apple pie, an eyebrow, or a coin? It takes a quick hand and good guesswork to move around the game board from start to finish before the other team. A timer and easy-to-read instructions are included. –Lynne Sampson

Sixty seconds! That’s all the time you’ve got to draw a raccoon, pizza, or bowling ball. Pictionary Junior is the fun-filled game where clues are sketched and teammates have to quickly guess the word. And it’s designed especially for kids ages 7 to 12! Each card also has a theme that gives a hint to the word being sketched. You don’t have to be an artist to play – all you need is a little imagination and a fast pencil! For 3 or more players. Game includes: game board, die, timer, 144 cards (1,440 words), 2 pencils, 2 playing pieces, pad of paper and instructions.

One of the games my son got from his Grandma for Christmas was Pictionary Jr. My husband, myself and our son was on one team, and my brother, his girlfriend, and her son was on the other. We were having so much fun that Grandma begged us to play the next game!

When rolling the die and landing on an All Play square (shown by an image of four pencils), the “Picturist” for one team shows the Picturist from the other team the word that matches the color of the square landed upon. BOTH Picturists draw the word and then it’s a race as to who draws the picture the fastest. For Single Play (shown by a single pencil), one team rolls the die and sketches until someone on the team does NOT guess the picture.

This game comes with a white side with easier words (for smaller children), while the blue side has more challenging words. For example, the white side of one card may have Bell, Baby, Box, Button and Branch (Starts with “B”), while the blue side will have Team, Goal Post, High Five, Quarterback and Cheerleader (Football Game). Of course, which word is actually drawn depends on which colored square that is landed on.

There are two game pieces and a sand timer. The game comes with two small pencils and a pad of paper, but get this: the pencils aren’t even sharpened! They’re just pieces of unsharpened wood. Sheesh…they don’t make ‘em like they used to!

If you like drawing games, Pictionary Jr. is a fun option for the whole family–even for children who can’t yet read (they can always guess what the pictures are!). Unfortunately, there needs to be at least 3 players for this game. In the case of 3 players, one person serves as the permanent Picturist for both teams.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Electronic Pictionary Man Game

I got this product on the day before Thanksgiving and the next day my parents, my wife’s parents and other family members came over to the house. We had folks varying in age from one another by over fifty years. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE had an absolute blast with this game.

The rules are easy to learn and it is easy to master the interface (one power switch and two buttons) on the digital menu that assigns the subjects that folks have to digitally represent.

The set includes:

1) The Pictionary “Man” which is a blank human shaped figure made of, what seems to be, a dry erase board type material. On the bottom of the foot of the “Man” one finds an on/off switch, an LED display and two buttons (labeled 1 and 2, respectively). After one turns the switch on, one presses the #1 button to get one’s general subject (Person, Title, Misc., Role Play, Action, etc.). One announces the general subject to one’s team. One then presses the #1 button again to get the specific topic (if it is a person it might be anyone from Ghandi to Moe from the Three Stooges). One DOES NOT tell anyone else what the specific subject is. One must use items 1-4 to convey, visually, what this specific subject is. If one’s teammates guess the subject successfully, then the team gets a point. The first team to 15 wins. The #2 button is used only in the “Challenge” round, which is played after seven questions. One can learn more about the “Challenge” round by purchasing the game.

2) A rectagular object made of the same material that opens up and stores various other game pieces.

3) A cylindrical object made of the same material that does not open up to store items.

4) Two blue markers (one for each team) that are used to draw on items 1-3 in order to create visual clues that will allow one to guess the subject offered by the Pictionary “Man”.

5) A cloth that erases the blue marks but, miraculously, does not turn blue as it erases!

6) A score card that has “Team 1″ and “Team 2″ printed on it. Next to each team name, there is a series of 15 boxes, which one checks off, respectively, as each team earns points. The score card is marked with the provided markers and cleans as easily as items 1-3. You never create more than two teams. With more people, you just increase the size of the teams.

7) The rules of the game are also provided.

BATTERIES ARE NOT INCLUDED. You have to provide three AAA batteries on your own, but that is a small sacrifice to make for the joy of playing such a wonderful game.

For the first few questions, we had a hard time. We were getting subjects like “Ribeye Steak” or “Groin”. As the game went on, though, we started doing things more creatively. For instance, we once got the action subject “slide”. We didn’t even draw. All we did was take the rectangle, put it at an incline and slid the Pictionary “Man” down it. It took only a few guesses before somebody got slide. The other team then got the action “mount”. They drew a picture of a horse on the rectangle and then moved the Pictionary “Man” in such a way that he appeared to be mounting the horse.


At the end of the evening, and this is the most important part, I told everyone that I would be reviewing this game and I needed their input. I asked them, “How many stars, out of five, does this game deserve?” Men, women, senior citizens, middle aged folks, newlyweds and youngsters all agreed, FIVE STARS.

The game made for a great introduction to a fabulous family get together. Everyone enjoyed it and it really loosened people up. Folks who used to just come to eat and who barely spoke were really getting involved. We all had lots of fun and it really inspired us to be creative. Even though the first few words felt impossible to us, we quickly found new ways to convey messages visually and had a blast doing it.

So, five stars for fun, five stars for durability, five stars for being a great social activity for every demographic and four stars for educational value. It might not be a day at school, but it does inspire one to think in new ways, and that’s good enough for something that’s just so darn fun.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Operation! The Age Old Classic…

Operation – the game of fine motor control where a steady hand is required to grab the plastic bones without touching the metal sides and setting off the buzzer. It is (and always was) wickedly hard. Those holes look smaller now than ever (although the board’s dimensions are unchanged). The built quality is cheaper (the cardboard main board is thinner, the tongs more lightweight), although it’s not a significant difference (and I’m using my 30 year old recollections to compare).

The real reason I’m docking it two points is that my kids have little patience for this game – to my surprise. I used to play it a lot. Maybe the difference is the amount of television advertising? More likely it’s that we didn’t have Nintendo, Tivo, and the Internet around when I was a kid. In any case – it’s a trip down memory lane and a simple and tactile game for kids.

My 6 year old daughter loves this. I thought she would have a hard time getting the pieces out but she does a great job. I don’t remember it being ‘easy’ for me when I was a kid but maybe she has better coordination than I did or maybe the holes are a little bit bigger? It has a tray that pulls out to store the pieces in and that’s a nice feature. All in all, it’s easy to understand why this game has been around for so long and is still fun to play

Popularity: 1% [?]