I am very excited to bring to you this wonderful game! As a homeschooling mom, a lover of grammar and words, and an all around crazy gal, I have to say this game is now one of my favorites! It’s challenging, hilarious, and almost too much fun! I have to tell you that finding a family game that everyone loves and keeps your brain working is hard to find. This game encourages a healthy dose of brain training along with pure family fun.
Let’s get to the basics. The game is designed for ages 8 and up. You will need at least 3 players but can have up to 10. You can expect to play for about 30-45 minutes. Well, you can expect one game to be about that time, though you may play much longer.
So how do you play? Well, each player is given cards (pentagon shaped…let’s not leave that adorable detail out) with words to form a sentence. There are thousands of words, which makes for even more word combinations and sentences so you will never run out of fun! The words will include your basic nouns, verbs, adjectives and so forth. In addition, the words could be proper nouns like famous people, funny words, odd words, familiar places and more. The perfect combo for making hilarious sentences. Your goal is to combine your funky words into a funky, yet grammatically correct, sentence. To add to the fun you get to read your sentence aloud to the rest of the players and have them judge it.
I played this game the first time with my two kids, ages 13 and 11, and they asked to play it three times in a row! Yes, it was a long afternoon but it was also filled with laughter. Honestly, it encouraged such creativity and proper sentence structure that my kids were applying what they learned in their lessons to this game and vice versa.
I highly recommend this game for family game night or any game night. A group of adults will have just as much fun with this!
Bonus Game to add to the fun:
Twisted Fish
My kids and I love a good card game. We would be card sharks if Uno, Phase 10 or Old Maid went for top dollar in Vegas. We are also picky about our card games. You see, a card game is hard to make unique and exciting. All you have is a deck of cards to work with. No crazy game pieces, no colorful board, no dice to keep things interesting and detract from a rehashed version of a game you have played for the past 10 years.
To be honest, I was not excited at all to play Twisted Fish. I reluctantly opened the box hoping that somehow I could be civil when describing the ultimate boredom that ensued during this trial run of the game. Upon lifting the lid, my spirits brightened, my soul soared, relief like a Tums hitting my heartburn, fell over me! You see inside the box is a little yellow rubber ducky! I was always an Ernie fan when it came to Sesame Street. I totally related to his love for his rubber ducky.
How can you not love a game that comes with a rubber ducky? It’s like the toy that comes with a happy meal. Now, the ducky is part of the game but not necessary. Which is good since my 20 month old grabbed it in delight and it has not been seen since.
Besides the rubber ducky, Twisted Fish, turned out to be just as creative, fun and imaginative as You’ve Been Sentenced. The game puts a twist on your old tired game of Go Fish. The game is always exciting and incorporates memory. Which, I didn’t see as fair since it would mean my kids would always win. My daughter became the Twisted Fish Champ! So, that left me with the rubber duc….wait…my other daughter took that…ahem…
It’s been a long time since I’ve been impressed with a game. Now, I’ve been impressed with two games. Both of these fun games can be found at McNeill Designs for Brighter Minds. The name says is all, huh? How I would love to be in a think tank at that company!
Find these games at Toys R Us, Kohl’s and Barnes and Noble. Perfect for your Christmas list!