Have you Scene It? (Mattel Scene It? - The DVD Game)

Member Name: salem_witch

Product:	Mattel Scene It? - The DVD Game
Date:	14/09/06 (875 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun for all the family and ages

Disadvantages: Not so good if you're not into films

Most people may not have heard of Scene It? I only got it after I was getting bored and running out of things to keep myself amused. Some will find things like Monopoly boring and this is a good alternative. Scene It? is basically a film trivia board game, which also has an interactive DVD that goes with it. It is a fun game that would be ideal for a rainy day in or even to play at a party with a group of friends. It is suitable for ages as well as there is a mixture of film clips so it isn't just new releases.

Scene It? can be played with 2-4 players. This doesn't sound much but you can make teams if there are more than 4 of you. They recommend that it is for the ages of 12 +

***Getting started***

The easiest way to get going is to follow the 'How to play' from the DVD menu. It shows you how to play step by step. Of course if you prefer to read the instructions then you can do so. The first few times of playing I found myself referring back to some sections in the instructions. It isn't hugely complicated but I do get confused easily so having them to hand was definitely a good thing for me.

***Setting the board up***

After seeing how to play, or indeed reading the instructions then you need to set the board up. You get a playing board that you can fold to play a shorter game or keep extended to play the standard length game. You'll need to chose one of the 4 playing pieces (a clapper board, box of popcorn, film reel or a movie camera) and place it at the start. You also need to decide who'll be the 'DVD master' in other words who is in charge of the DVD remote. Each player (or team) will get a category reference card, which will remind them of what the symbols on the eight-sided category die represent. The trivia cards and the Buzz cards will need a shuffle and the Buzz cards placed on the board.

Now you're ready to play!

***How to play it***

To decide who goes first you need to roll the dice and the person with the highest number gets to go first. For each turn the player will need to roll both sets of dice. The numbered one obviously determines how many spaces to move forward and the category die will determine which challenge they will have. If the player gets the challenge correct then they get another turn until they get one wrong.

As mentioned there are several categories which players could have to complete. They consist of: My Play and All Play, which are on the DVD. Take Three (T3), Songs and Slogans and Pop Culture, all of which are questions from the Trivia Cards. There are also the Buzz card and players choice (this just means they can pick any of My Play, All Play, T3, Songs and Slogans, Pop Culture or Buzz).

**My Play**

This is on the DVD and the DVD master will have to select 'My Play' from the menu. The player will then have to attempt to answer the question that follows the clip. There is a whole variety of ways in which this can be done. The question could be based on observation and if the player has never seen the film being shown then this doesn't matter. So one example of this could be what colour was such and such or how many times was 'x' said. These are good if you've been paying attention to the clip fully. Some require knowledge of the film and it may ask something like who directed the film or what it's called. Some you need to have general knowledge but not necessarily of the film. It could ask a question to do with the topic of the film. One question I remember was after a clip from 'Titanic' the question asked what year it sank. So even if you've not seen the film you could know the answer or indeed if it is an observation one and you've not seen it even better! When the answer comes up it also tells you the film it was taken from.

If you've already seen the clip don't worry as there are several different questions for each clip. If you have seen the question before then all you need to do is press the 'return' button on your DVD remote and it will give you a different question.

The clips aren't the only questions in My Play. They also have a few where you have to put four films in the order that they were released. They tend to stick to similar films and one I remember getting recently were all vampire films.

**All Play**

In All Play as the name suggests all the players can answer the question. If the roller gets the question correct then they carry on with their turn. If someone else gets it correct then this is the end of the rollers turn. The person who answered the question correctly can either choose to move forward a space or make another player (this can be anyone) draw a Buzz card. Once this is done then play resumes in the order that it would have done. This means that no one misses out on a turn. If no one gets the question correct then it is the end of that players turn and play proceeds to the next person.

There is a range of different categories within All Play. This is all random as with My Play. These consist of:
* Who Am I? - A list of characters names will appear and you have to guess which actress or actor played them.
* Pictograms - Several pictures will appear which you need to add together to get an actor or a film.
* Visual Puzzlers - Here several stills will be shown from a film and you have to guess the film.
* Rising Stars - A photo of an actor or actress before they were famous will be shown and you have 20 seconds to guess who they are.
* Distorted Reality - An image of an actor or actress will be blurred and gradually re-focus. You need to guess who they are the quickest.
* Alternates - An alternative title of a film will appear and you have to guess the film. One example is Sweetie, I Made The Children Smaller. No prizes for that answer!
* Spellbinder - This is like hangman and you'll see the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ for the title of the film. Gradually the blanks are filled in till it is complete so you need to be the quickest at working out the answer.
* Invisibles - An image from a film is shown, minus the actor and you have to guess the film.

With each of these you'll get on screen instructions telling you what you need to do. Remember everyone is playing for this so even if they are easy you need to be the quickest. As with My Play if you've got a question that has been repeated then you can hit the return and you'll get another question.

**Trivia cards**

The trivia cards consist of three categories. T3 (take three), S (songs and slogans) and p (pop culture). I've given the symbols as they would appear on the category die in case you were wondering. If you roll one of these then you have to answer a question from the card. The take three will ask a question that has three clues in it. So it could ask to name an actor or actress that stared in three films or maybe three items that links to a film. The songs and slogans could ask who sang the hit song for a certain film or quote a tagline and you have to identify the film. Pop culture could be a whole range of questions. For example, it could ask which film someone received their first Oscar for or maybe list a few actors and you have to guess the film.

**Buzz cards**

A Buzz card is much like a 'Chance' card in Monopoly. It could be something good or could very well be something bad! Some of them will instruct the player to move forward or backwards. An example of this is 'It looks like your canine co-star ate some bad dog food. Move back 2 spaces while you find a vet.' There are also several cards in which the holder can prevent another player from missing another go. These are handy to have but you must remember to play them before the player starts their turn. Once you get a Buzz card this is the end of your turn. It is also worth noting that Buzz cards can't be used against players once they reach the Final Cut ring.

**Tie-breakers**

When more than one player gets the question correct and at the same time then there are tie breakers, which you select from the DVD menu. I haven't had to use this yet but I had a look for this review and they weren't what I expected. I thought they'd be film questions, but I was wrong. They are silly really. One said the shortest out of them won the tie break and another said the person with the biggest hands was the winner.

**All Play To Win**

Once you reach this section of the board you get a chance to answer a question from the DVD menu. If you get the question correct then you are the winner. However, as the title suggests everyone plays this so you not only need to be correct but the first person to answer it. If someone else gets the answer first then you move to the outer ring on the Final Cut and then wait till your next turn. The game then returns to the next player in sequence. The questions asked here are from the same categories as in All Play. So you could get a Pictogram or a Spellbinder or any of the other categories I mentioned earlier.

**Final Cut**

Once you reach this section you have to answer up to 3 questions from the DVD correctly in order to win. When you fail to get the question in All Play To Win you move to the outer ring (numbered 3) and then if you don't win from there you move to 2 and then to 1. This time there are no clips or pictures but simply a question, which could be on anything film wise. You get 10 seconds to answer the question and at the end the screen prompt will ask if you answered correctly or not. If you didn't then that is the end of your go. If you do then you'll get another one if you are on the third or second ring. If you were on ring one then you are the winner! I've noticed that the questions all seem to be connected by topic. So they could all be about dogs or even money. There are on-screen instructions for this part so if that didn't make sense then when you're playing it does.

**The DVD**

*Main menu*
Here you can select the How to play section to find out how to play it as mentioned earlier. Timer Settings allows you to pick from 30 seconds, 20 seconds and 10 seconds. This can be used on the trivia cards if you want the players to have to answer within the allocated time. I've never bothered with this though. You can also avoid repeat questions by going to Pre-Set Game Play. If you leave it then it will be on random, which could mean that you get some questions repeated more often than others do. Also from the main menu you can select Play The Game which will take you to the Game menu

*Game menu*
Here you can select the timer if you are restricting time on the trivia card questions. All Play, My Play, All Play To Win, Final Cut and Tie-breakers are found in this section.

The DVD is really easy to navigate and all the challenges have on screen prompts so you can't really go wrong.

**What I thought**

The first few times I played this game I thought one bit was confusing. After playing it a few times I had no problems with it. Then I left it a year before playing it again so it was like playing it for the first time again. Maybe it is just me but I kept getting confused if you lost out on the All Play section. I didn't get why the person who won it got to move forward a space or pick the loser to have a Buzz card. I now know this was because I've only played it with one other person and they obviously get their go next anyway. If there were more players this wouldn't necessarily be the case. I now understand this but a few times I did have to double-check the rules and kept getting confused.

Playing it is fun and the variety of challenges mean things don't get boring. I think had the game not had the DVD part then it would be dull just answering questions. I've not overplayed it so I don't know how many times you'd need to play it in a short space to get bored of it. I suppose this would happen with any game though. I don't actually recall winning a game but I've still had a laugh playing it. I found that I was really good at certain categories and would prefer the pictograms as I got those first every time (I think!) It really does depend on which questions you get and if you keep rolling high numbers. Things can change easily as well. You could be behind and then go on to win.

The length of the game can vary but I would say each one has taken between 30 minutes and 45 minutes. If you wanted to play a shorter length then you can fold the playing board. If you wanted a longer game then they suggest that before you move what you have rolled you have to answer the challenge. In other words before you move you have to get the challenge correct. So if you keep getting it wrong then you won't move at all!

The only problem with playing it over and over would be that the questions would eventually be repeated. However, they do sell add on packs if you want some new questions to liven things up.


**Not a film buff?**

If you're not into films then it doesn't matter as you can still do fairly well. If you don't think you'd enjoy it then they do other editions. Music, Sport, 007, Harry Potter and Friends to name a few.

If you're still not convinced then go to:

http://www.screenlifegames.com/

Here you can play a demo game. You will need the Macromedia Flash 7 Plug-in and a high-speed Internet connection.

Scene It? is £29.99 on Amazon and the sequel pack is £19.99

Summary: Something different from the usual board games