NorthStar Games
Age Rating: 8+
Players: 3-6
Timeframe: 20 minutes
MSRP: $19.99
Style: Party Game
Do you know how your family members think? Can you guess an answer that will appeal to your kids, spouse, in-laws, or crazy Uncle Elmer? Do you love to heckle, barter, and bet with your family? Say Anything will let you come up with witty and amusing answers to hundreds of fun and ridiculous questions. Be warned, this is a great party game, but you might incite a little family feud at your game table.
Introduction
Say Anything Family Edition is the family friendly version of the award winning Say Anything game from NorthStar Games. It was designed by Dominic Crapuchettes and Satish Pillalamarri. Both designers left significantly different careers to start their own game company and with hits like Say Anything, Wits and Wagers and Cluzzle, it is clear that they made a good decision. Say Anything Family Edition is a party game that plays similar to Apples to Apples but it has some unique twists that add to the overall flavor of the game.
Game Contents
- 360 questions on 60 question cards
- 6 dry-erase pens
- 6 color coded dry-erase boards
- 1 Select-O-Matic 6000
- 12 color coded player tokens
- 1 dry-erase score board
- 1 full color rule booklet
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The components are of decent quality. The box is VERY well laid out and each piece has a place to fit. The colors are bright and varied. The dry erase markers don’t last long, but the company offers FREE replacement parts for life. Our only wish was that the player tokens were made of plastic like poker betting chips instead of cardboard.
Gameplay
Each player gets a Dry Erase Pen, an Answer Board, and 2 Player Tokens of the same color as their Answer Board. Choose a Scorekeeper and a Judge. The Judge goes first. They will draw a Question Card and choose any question from the card to read aloud. Everyone else writes and answer to that question on their Answer Board and places it face up on the table as quickly as possible.
Once all the Answer Boards are face-up on the table, the Judge will use the SELECT-O-MATIC 6000 to secretly select her favorite answer. Then the Judge places the SELECT-O-MATIC 6000 face-down on the table.
Next, everyone except the Judge uses their 2 Player Tokens to guess which answer the Judge selected as her favorite. Players can either: Place both Player Tokens on the same answer, OR Split their Player Tokens between 2 different answers. Players do not have to choose their own answer.
Finally, after the Player Tokens have been placed, the Judge reveals her favorite answer by turning the SELECT-O-MATIC 6000 face-up. The scorekeeper awards points as follows: 1 point is given to the player that wrote the selected answer. Players get 1 point for each player Token they placed on the answer that was selected. The Judge gets 1 point for each Player Token placed on the answer she selected (Max 3 points.) The maximum that any player (including the Judge) can score in a round is 3 points.
Play passes to the left and the game is over once everyone has asked 2 questions. The player with the most points is the winner. If there is a tie, all of the tying players win.
Is it a Family Game?
This game is certainly playable by children younger than 8 as long as they can read and write. The only difference between this game and the original Say Anything game is the number of players allowed and the questions on the Question Cards themselves. The questions have been culled through and made more family friendly by taking out references to pop culture, celebrities, and life experiences that may not be appropriate for younger players.
This is a lighthearted game that can be played with a mixed group of gamers and non gamers. The rules are easy to explain and play moves very quickly. The only thing that slowed players down was when two or more players answered with the same or similar answers; but the rules specifically address this situation. Lobbying for your own answer is encouraged and adds some excitement to the game. We enjoyed this more than some other similar games because all of the answers made sense and did not have to be forced because players write them in themselves. We really like the fact that you can customize your answers to be more appealing to the Judge based on your knowledge and experiences with the Judge. We also think the betting aspect added a level of depth to the game that is lacking in other games in this style. If a player likes someone else’s answer better than their own, they could use their tokens to score points off of someone else’s answer.
Conclusion
This is a lighthearted family game that plays quickly and is easy to learn. Say Anything Family Edition encouraged laughter and discussion around the game table without requiring a ton of focus. Because there are so many questions, we found that the game was certainly replayable. It is a great game to bring to family dinners and events that both game enthusiasts and casual gamers can enjoy.
FCC disclosure: A copy of this game was sent to us by the publisher for the purposes of this review.
Guest Writer 
Linda Wrobel