A few weeks back, before Thanksgiving even, I had a notion to make up a game for the family to play on Christmas day. The idea started also as an excuse to make gingerbread people (meeple?) or houses. Maybe points would be counted with M&Ms, and at the end of the game everyone should have a pile of candy, and then I'd bring out the cookie making stuff. And after we baked the cookie people, we could use them in the second part of the game, where we would take damage by eating our cookie (that part completely stolen from Run for Your Life, Candyman!).
But that game plan was a bit too big, and as most ideas do, it went through many various incarnations, and ended up being an idea about asking questions. Maybe Christmassy/Holiday type questions, maybe family trivia, maybe a combination, but I really didn’t want to ask family members “what was your best (or worst) gift you received” that could cause unnecessary hurt feelings, so I started thinking of maybe a more generic question answering type game.
And then I listened to The Speil holiday podcast, where they talked about Say Anything, and Good Question, and I realized that I didn’t need to make up my own game, one of these party games was going to be just what I was looking for, and much less work on my part.
I had already heard some buzz about Say Anything, we’ve played Wits-n-Wagers many times, and Cluzzle once, all three designed and sold by North Star Games, but I really wanted to get Good Question for Christmas gaming. (I figured we'd buy Say Anything later, too) So I started looking, and realized it wasn't one I was likely to find in town. Of course, I waited until almost the last minute to realize this, and more importantly, what this meant, which is that if I wanted it, I would have to order it online!
The big online stores didn't have it, and the game stores I checked out (sponsors of my favorite gaming podcasts) didn't ship quick enough. I told you I waited until the last minute! Then I saw an ad on BGG for Boards & Bits, and it appeared that their shipping would get the game to me in time, but fed'ex disagreed. (I think in my haste, I misread their shipping times)
So finishing the last minute shopping Monday night (I was really behind on everything this year!), we found Say Anything, and since I figured I'd eventually buy it anyway, I picked it up for our Christmas game. It was great fun, and was easy to teach, just like the box said. Plus, my parents got us Imaginiff, which we also played. The two went well together, both party games, both with some crazy questions or answers.
And Good Question came today! So now my Christmas game is three!
Other gifty-goodness: my kids each got D&D 4.0 books and minis, which they loved; they also got some Hero Clix, and my little munchkin got The Good, The Bad, and The Munchkin; we got my folks Family Fluxx, which I hear they've already played; and I got a very cool old book called The Boardgame Book, which appears to be part history, part rules.
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