Apples to Apples Party Box - The Game of Hilarious Comparisons
by Mattel
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Toys and Games Reviews of Apples to Apples Party Box - The Game of Hilarious Comparisons
Customer Review: The Best Game Ever!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
OK. I admit it. I am truly an addict, and many of my friends are too. For a while, I had a monthly games night with a group of my twenty-something girlfriends. This was the one game that we HAD to play every single time!
The premise is simple: The green cards have adjectives printed on them and the red cards have nouns. You show a green apple card on the table and all players except the judge choose what they feel is the "best-fitting" red apple card from their hand. The players then place their red apple card face-down on the table. The judge shuffles the cards and chooses their favorite, and the owner of that red apple card wins the green apple card for that round. Everyone takes turns being the judge, and once a player has won a set number of green apple cards, they win!
The best features of the game are how bizarre and funny some of the cards are AND how creative and funny you can be with the interpretation and juxtaposition of the adjectives and nouns! For example: The green card is "jealous" and the red apple cards played are "Eleanor Roosevelt," "Giant squid," "The JFK Assasination," and "Cauliflower." Which one would YOU choose, and why?
In this game, it's fun to be the judge and equally fun to compete. It's worth noting that although the decision of the judge is final, some players will try to sway the judge's choice. I've seen heated arguments break out during this game, and it's common practice to play the card that you feel the judge will be most likely to choose ("playing to the judge"). There is also strategic thought required about when to keep a card and when to make a "card dump" getting rid of difficult cards that you don't see much potential for.
This game is most fun with 4 players or more, but you need at least 3 to play.
Customer Review: 3 1/2 Luck of the Draw
Summary: 3 Stars
I have to agree with the reviewer who used the recently popular expression, "Meh." The mechanics of "Apples to Apples" are well described by others here; briefly, the "judge" reads off an abstract concept, and players choose the card from their deck that best matches that concept.
For example, the judge might choose (this is done randomly) the card "scintillating," and each player selects from their (also randomly drawn) deck the word that he or she believes the judge will most likely say is the best "match." That's it... there really isn't that much opportunity for discussion, and if you defend a particular choice (they're all read aloud after each player makes a selection), the judge will probably know which one is yours. Then it becomes a game of favorites.
Another problem is that the ratio of luck over skill is too high: You may be a creative and imaginative person, tuned into connotations and allusions, but you're always limited to the cards you draw. That's an important flaw with the game that our group experienced. Theoretically, the element of chance evens out with time, but in the short run it became frustrating for players who drew "bad" potential matches.
Positives include the fact that's it probably easier to play than "Balderdash." Moreover, there are also a number of blank cards, so that you can customize the game according to words and concepts that appeal to you and/or the other participants. The manufacturers suggest some variations to the game, but these don't substantially change it. To maintain interest, I suggest throwing out all of these suggested variations and implementing your own creative ideas. (Any word-based twist will generate a variation.) Finally, "Apples to Apples" is outrageously priced for what you get.
Customer Review: Just cards...but they are more fun than most "fancy" games!
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Upon opening the box, I looked for the game "board" without success. It was then that I discovered how simple the game setup is. There are just two types of cards--no buzzer, no dice, no spinners, no hour glass timers--just cards. What I thought was funny, was as my friends and family sat down to play Apples to Apples, almost everyone had the same reaction--where was the "stuff". That is when it occurs to you that this isn't a normal game--which left it up the air as the question lingered--would it still be fun without all the stuff.
The answer is yes. The beauty to this is that it *IS* simple and quick to get started and yet the lack of other items allows them to include a great deal more cards which provides much longer "fresh" game play. This really is the game plus an expansion pack or two bundled together, which makes it a good value. The fact that it is VERY fun makes it a GREAT VALUE. We have played the game way past the normal stopping point every single time because it is simply so much fun that no one wants to stop playing.
I am not going to explain the game play because I think that has already been covered well, but this game is without a doubt worth picking up. One of the friends I played with already purchased her own copy because she fell in love with it. I expect the next week will include a lot of Apples to Apples fun as my family comes together for the holidays. So if you are looking for something different to play with a group of people, you have found it!
Customer Review: Easy to Play, Enjoyable Word Association Game
Summary: 5 Stars
It is understandable why Apples to Apples has become so popular. Because it is a simple word association game, a group at a family gathering or a casual get-together can easily be persuaded to play. What makes the game a standout is that the psychology of each player is on exhibit, providing a great deal of group entertainment. Everyone gets a chance to be the judge: With each new round, a new person takes on this role, in which he or she must pick the best match for the green adjective card. Everyone else picks up subject cards, from which they choose the one they think the judge will select as the best association. The items on the subject cards present a broad range of topics including people and places, entertainment and sporting activities, science and nature and food, history and culture. Even poison ivy and off-the-wall topics like pond scum come into play!
Studying and understanding the psychology of the judge of-the-moment is a critical aspect of winning the game. One can get a clue from the cards he or she discards when not the judge. Is the judge-of-the-moment goofy and given to oddball or off-the-wall matches, or staid and given to straightforward connections? I have had a number of situations in which my card was chosen because it made for an amusing or "contrarian" fit, and I have done the same as a judge. There can still be skill at winning because more often than not, judges will pick something that is similar in an ordinary way. But because of the subjective element along with twists, subtleties, and ironies, anyone can win. Even when one does not win the overall game, there is enjoyment in being picked by the judge for an amusing match that makes everyone laugh or shake their head.
Customer Review: Fun party game
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This is a fun game and would be great for parties...here's why:
-Simple rules~deal 7 cards, flip over top subject card and pick, out of your hand, which cards you have best describe the subject card. For example the subject card may say "Idiotic" and you have a hand of cards that say random items, like "Adam Sandler", "Jellyfish", "Fingernails"...you pick as many cards out of your hand that relate to the subject. You can be very subjective here, which makes it more fun. The judge (dealer) picks the 1 card out of all that best describes the subject. After the turn the person to the left becomes the dealer and subsequently the "judge".
-It's a loud game because people are trying to persuade the judge why their card is the best description of the "subject" card.
-Game play is pretty quick depending on the amount of discussion there is over a certain card.
-you can make the game as long or short as you would like.
-There aren't a lot of pieces that can get lost, only cards. The game came with a TON of cards, so the possibilities are endless, really.
We have played this game with our 2 teenage sons and they really had a good time trying to persuade us to see their point of view. The sillier the card was the more creative you have to be to plead your case, which a lot of times ends up being the winner.
The packaging of the game is not exceptional, but play a few times and you will be hooked!
Shelly