Smart Ass Game Travel tin

Our family thoroughly enjoy a good quiz type game over the Christmas period and we have pretty well 'Trivial Pursuited' ourselves out. I was on Amazon spending some of my hard earned reviewing vouchers and looking out for a game we could try that might be a bit different and spotted this one. I popped this and a few others into my basket and kept them ready for sharing over Christmas.

The quiz type cards can be used with a 'Smart Ass ' game board apparently but we don't have one so i won't go into how the game is played on the board. I had read on Amazon that it could also be played as it is so was not fussed about paying extra for the board game in case it wasn't any good. This tin cost me somewhere between £6 and £7 and it is still in this price range now with free delivery so not a bad price I feel. The board game is a lot more at just over £17 so you would have to get a lot more enjoyment out of it to merit the three times price rise.

The tin is a good standard biscuit type tin which is very strong and quite heavy so it wouldn't be coming in my hand baggage, it would really be something you might take in a car road trip rather than on a plane. In the box you will find 105 question cards and a set of rules and that is it.

On the back of the tin in the game blub it says " Who's the Smart Ass among your friends and family? Find out with this outrageous fast-paced party game". I think they have got a little carried away with their description as though it can be quite fast paced Ii wouldn't describe it as outrageous in any way shape or form.

As I said we don't have the board game so we played the game with just the cards. The idea is that the oldest person reads the first card out and anyone can shout out the answer. If they shout out correctly they keep the card. Then play moves to the next player who reads out the card and so on in turn so each person gets the chance to read and during that time they obviously cannot answer the card.

The cards come in four varieties,;"Who am I?" "Where am I?" and "What am I?" as well as "Hard Ass". The first three types all have a series of clues and to give you an idea of the sort of hints i will describe one card.
What am I?
I can be found in the bedroom.
You can also find me on a mobile phone.
Most people hate hearing me.
I am usually used once a day.
I am always on time.
Without me, people would get more rest.
I am usually the first thing you hear in the morning.
Buildings also have fire versions of me.
What am I, with the initial A?

Now the idea is as soon as you know the answer, or think you do you have to shout it out. If you are wrong then you are out of that round and have to wait until the next card to join in again. Obviously speed is essential as you are going against everyone but guessing too early can mean you lose out on that card!

"Hard Ass "cards are slightly different in that there is only one question and the first to shout out the answer gets it. Considering they are supposed to be "Hard Ass "they are usually so ridiculously eady that everyone shouts out and it is impossible to tell who is the first to say it. My son described them as the "P*** Easy" ones and most of those had to be put back as we couldn't decide who had shouted first!

We used the entire set of cards in one game one evening and they really cannot be used a second time by anyone who has played before as you will remember the answer pretty quickly. My step daughter wants to borrow the tin for her New Year and she was not with us on Christmas Even when we played. My daughter wants to take them on holiday when she goes with a gang of friends to a house in Scotland but I think after that we will have had our money's worth and I might Ebay them or suggest to my daughter that she gives them to one of her friends to pass on.

Would I recommend? Yes it was fun for one game but if you are really only going to get one use out of them they are quite expensive. If you compare it to a couple of drinks in a pub then you get easily that much entertainment from them at that price. I fell i will have got my money's worth out of the pack if both daughters get to use them as we have had three uses from the set. Is it a game that you will get out year after year? Well, no I think not. It is not a family traditional game like scrabble or even Trivial Pursuit as you really need a LOT more cards. I am so glad I didn't buy the board game at three times the price as i do feel it is limited to a single use. The bard game may of course have more than 105 cards which isn't really a lot for that sort of quick fired game.

The winner can be either the person with the most cards after you have finished the pack, or the first to collect five, or five of one kind; it really is up to you how long you want to play for I suppose. The game we played used all the cards and lasted about an hour with chat and discussion and trying to decide who had shouted out first etc.

The answer to the card I gave as an example is : An Alarm

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©Catsholiday