Game Review: Apples to Apples

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Creative and funny word comparisons

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Pair nouns, adjectives

Realistic or silly

A game full of laughs

Incomparable Fun

I was introduced to Apples to Apples a couple years ago and fell in love with it. It's great for kids and adults and sure to provide plenty of fun.

Each player has seven red cards in their hand. They have actions or nouns on them. Things like "Charging Rhinos," "James Bond," "Paying Taxes," "Mirror," or "Walt Disney."

Each round has a judge. The judge turns over the top green card, which contains an adjective like "Creative," "Handsome," "Feminine," "Horrid," "Scary," etc. Each player then picks the card from their hand they feel best matches the green card and plays it face down.

Now the fun starts. The judge picks the red card he or she feels best matches the green card. Usually, there are some obvious losers since it's hard with only seven cards to always match everything. But there are usually some good options as well. The judge picks the red card he or she feels best matches the green card and that person is the winner. Once the winner of that round has been chosen, they take the green card and the next round starts. Officially, the job of judge moves around the table, but I've always played that the winner of one round is the judge of the next.

Obviously, the more you know about the people you're playing with, the better off you'll be since it’s purely subjective. For example, all my friends know I'm a diehard Disney fan. (I think the collection of Disney movies in my condo gives me away.) Obviously, if I'm the judge and "Creative" comes up, now is the perfect time to play "Walt Disney." "Romantic" and "My Love Life" might not be a good match for a terminally single friend. This can also make for some funny winners if you know the judge has your same weird sense of humor. Not that knowing the group is a guaranteed way to win. I've seen people new to a group get the hang of the game and do very well.

Another thing that makes the game fun is table talk. The rules encourage players to lobby the judge to pick their card if they are still in the running. Normally, you argue for your own card, but I like to mix things up by rooting for my favorite in rounds where I know my card doesn't have a chance to win. Either way, hearing arguments for and against the cards increases the fun.

The object of the game is to collect a pre-determined number of green cards. The game is designed to be played successfully in thirty to forty-five minutes. To accomplish this, there is a sliding scale of green cards needed to win. For example, four green cards will make you the winner if you're playing with a group of eight or more but you need to get eight cards if there are only four in your group. There's a chart right on the box, so it's easy to remember when the time comes to play.

So what makes the Party Box Edition different from the regular version? This box contains not only the original cards, but also the cards that are in the first two expansion packs. You get twice the number of cards as the original box for only a little higher price. More fun. More outrageous comparisons. What's not to like? I've played this game lots of times with friends, and we have yet to get through all the green cards period and haven't run out of red cards over several rounds during a single evening.

Even though the recommended age is 12 and up, this really is a game that kids and adults can play together and keep everyone entertained and competitive. Plus it's rather addicting. I can't wait to play Apples to Apples again.