Games that Make You Laugh

Recently, in my attempts to communicate quickly and clearly with various game manufacturers about the kinds of games that are candidates for Major Fun Awards, I've started to use the term "Games that Make You Laugh."

Clearly, this leaves out a lot of games that have already received a Major Fun award. Clearly, major fun is something that is experienced just as much in Games that Make You Think and Games that Make You Lose Track of Time and Games that Make You Like People....

But, in the bigger picture of game awards and recognition schemes, nobody else really singles out games that make people laugh. And, as Major Fun, Defender of the Playful, it is my duty and destiny to Be the One.

And, frankly, those are the games I like the best, the games that make people laugh, aloud, alot.

Maybe it's the times. Maybe it's me. But, until further notice, it's what Major Fun is all about - games that make you laugh

Bonkers

"Bonkers," you ask? Yes, say I, Bonkers, the game. A word game, actually. Not, as you might think from all that trivia-sized box of little cards, a trivia game. But a word game, in deed. And a funny one, too.

First, let's look at a card. Any card will do. This one has the word "HOUSE" on the top. Below that are four answers, marked "A", "B", "C", etc. The answers here are, no, wait. I'll tell you in a minute. First you tell me. Four words. Each beginning with HOUSE. I'll get back to explaining the card in a minute.

Then there's a racetrack board. There are also 4 spots on the board, marked A, B, C, and so forth. Now, somebody, or some team, gets together and decides how likely it is that the otherbody or team will guess which. And then distribute playing chips on the 4 spots, appropriately - most chips on the word that the person/team thinks the other/s will least likely say.

Oh. The words on the HOUSE card? Housefly, for example.

There are different kinds of question cards. Some ask you to list 4 things, like countries, beginning with a letter, like H, or maybe two letters, like ME. Some ask you for words that rhymewith something. Some for words that end or start with other words (as in the above example of the HOUSE card.)

Did you figure out the HOUSE word? Housewarming? Which one did you think was the hardest to guess? Housebroken? I dunno. Housewife, maybe.

When you're the person or team reading the question, you've got to listen very, very hard. Because answers come as fast as the other person/team can think of them, and if you say that they didn't say what they said they said, well, things can border on the less-light-hearted. This requires the maturity, minimally, of a 12-year old.

But a party game it is. And it's not trivia. And it's Major FUN.

Very, Very Big Bubbles

We took this picture during our last Tasting. David and company are on our front lawn, learning to use "beebo Big Bubble Mix" to create what can only be called an XTREME bubble. "Our mission," say the XTREME Bubble Team "is to manufacture and distribute to all people, the most exciting, amazing and revolutionary bubble solution in the history of the world! We believe that if every person in the world had a chance to play with beeboo Big Bubble Mix, the world would become a better place." Yes, beebo Big Bubble Mix, the same beeboo Big Bubble Mix used to blow the " the World's Largest Free Floating Soap Bubble."

There was no question at all about the Major FUNness of the XTREME bubble-making experience. I personally have never seen bubbles so large, so ameoba-like in their blobitude, so surprising in their floaty formations. Not having made an exhaustive comparison, I can not attest to the fact that beebo Big Bubble Mix results in the biggest of all possible bubbles. It worked. It was easy to mix, easy to make work. Learning to use the bubble wand was most definitely an integral part of the whole experience. As a connoisseur of all things fun, I can tell you that this stuff is great fun. And I mean great!

At a purported savings of $6, you're probably going to want to purchase the entire 1 Bottle of beeboo™ Mix & 1 Bubble Wand starter kit. Then, you'll probably have to get the 2 bottles of beeboo™ Big Bubble Mix, unless you find yourself ready for the 4 bottles of beeboo™ Big Bubble Mix

Wits & Wagers

Wits & Wagers combines trivia with betting to create a unique party game - one that can involve anywhere from 3 to 21 players in an evening or half-hour worth of relatively painless trivia questions and sometimes near-painful strategizing.

The trivia questions are all answered with numbers. e.g.: "How many times to the Beatles sing the word 'Yeah' in the song She Loves You?" and "According to July 2004 estimates, how many people live in the U.S.?" Players record their answers on write-on, wipe-off cards, with write-on, wipe-off markers (supplied). What makes this all somewhat kinder and gentler is that the likelihood of anyone knowing the actual answer is very low. So, it's more like a guessing game - anything from educated to wild will do. Which makes the whole game far more inviting and replete with jollitude than most exercises in trivia.

Then there's the betting. Answers are arranged numerically on the heavy duty vinyl betting mat (probably one of the thickest and most durable ever put into a game). The median answer has the lowest pay off because it is the most likely answer to be correct. Higher and lower answers have increasingly higher pay offs since they are riskier bets. Players bet their chips on which guess is the closest, without going over (what one might be tempted to call the "Price is Right" rule). Since you don't have to bet on your own guess, the betting round is like an exercise in second guessing, only with more information. Like what each player is willing to bet on which answer - especially since you can bet on two different answers. As your opinion tends to undergo massive changes once you see what all of your friends think, winning Wits & Wagers becomes less a demonstration of what you know than of how well you know the people you're playing with!

Designed by Dominic Crapuchettes, Wits & Wagers is a rare accomplishment - combining two ordinarily very different game concepts into something unique and uniquely playworthy.

Nerdy Wordy

Nerdy Wordy is a challenging word game for two players, based on the traditional children's paper-and-pencil game of "Word Square." Based, but better.

Each player has a tray and a collection of letter cubes. The letter cubes cover the whole alphabet, and are designed in alphabetic order. Thus, there are cubes with letters A-F, J-L, M-R, S-W, X and Y. There are also two blank (wild) cubes. Players take turns selecting letters. A selected letter can be dropped anywhere within the 5x5 matrix. Thus, though each player is using the same letter, what they end up with on their boards will be different.

Though the two trays make you think of Battleship, Nerdy Wordy is a completely different game. Players get points for each word they make (from 2-5 letters long) and get extra points if they are able to make five-letter words on all 4 sides of the grid. Though the cubes store nicely in their respective trays, it's not really a car game - as you need a surface on which to hold and sort your cubes.

The game can get very challenging. Especially if you count 2- and 3-letter words. And even more especially if you happen to be playing against a Scrabble player. The game can be made easier (scoring only 5- and/or 4-letter words), without disturbing the strategic interest.

The letter cubes, because they limit the letters that can be used, and because of the addition of two blank cubes, add great depth and interest to the game. For two word-loving players of equal skill, age 8 and up, the game will undoubtedly prove to be Major FUN.