Party games that make the grade What's a
gathering without games? Listed below are some that will rile the crowd and
really get the festivities started. Cranium Turbo Edition. Say what you want, but anything by Cranium seems to be a hit with the Daily News. Last year, we raved about Cranium, the board game that incorporates drawing, sculpting, acting, language arts skills and strategy. This year, the company's come out with a new edition pumped up with six new activities, a timer and 3-questions-in-60-seconds Turbo Rally Rounds. Whew! (Cranium, ages 8 and up, $34.95.) Scene It? Disney DVD/ Scene It? Jr. DVD. A new game that marries DVD technology with an old-fashioned game board. The game tests players' knowledge of music, movies, TV, sports and more, using real clips. Scene It? Jr. reviewer Isabella Mercanti said the game was "boring in the beginning but got better after a few rounds." (Mattel, ages 8 and up, $39.99, $27.99.) Who? What? Where? Picture "Prince Charles performing ballet in Egypt." In this game, that's exactly what players have to do: sketch answers found on game cards, then let other players guess what the illustration means. (Pazow, ages 12 and up, $29.95.) Apples to Apples. The Game Report Web site, which tests and reviews games, says about this game where players match nouns to adjectives: "That may sound like an SAT exercise, but there's far more hilarity here than you're likely to get filling in dots with a No. 2 pencil...Players make a single, hurried decision each round and hope for the best. Just the right speed for a party game. Apples to Apples has all the markings of a huge hit." (Out of the Box, ages 12 and up, $19.95.) Donna Williams Vance |