Monday, August 29, 2011

Board Game Review: Wits & Wagers

So I'd been thinking of doing Board Game reviews on the Podcast and with it having ended and me never achieving that goal I'm definitely going to use this Blog as an outlet now. I'm an avid Board Gamer and love them as much as Warhammer so you can definitely expect to see some Board Game Reviews coming through here. Hope you enjoy them!




I won this game out of a Christmas Geek-list on Board Game Geek from the creator, Dominic Crapuchettes. Part of the agreement was that if you entered the contest and won that you would write a bunch of reviews on some of the larger retailers websites, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target, etc...

So happily I won and while I didn't win early enough in the thread to win a bonus game I was thrilled nonetheless. The game is a lot of fun, and very quick! It can also get people playing who may not necessarily enjoy trivia games on the average.

The game takes place over 7 rounds, each round consisting of a single question. Each player is given a marker and a dry erase board and 2 cardboard betting chips. The 1st question is read out loud and every question has a numerical answer. Each player writes down their best answer/guess on their dry erase board and after all the answers are written they are placed in order from smallest to largest on a green felt betting mat, somewhat like a Craps mat from a casino. Each answer depending on where it falls in the order has specific payout of odds.




The players look at the answers and then place there betting chips on answers that they think are correct. They can place their chips on two separate answers or on a single answer and nothing requires them to bet, although you can never lose your original two chips so there's no reason not to at least bet those.




After everyone has placed there bets the answer is read aloud and odds are paid out. Anyone who bet on the correct answer receives chips according to heir bet and the payout odds. So if you chose let's say a middle-ish answer with odds of 3 to 1 then if you'd placed 1 of your cardboard chips you'd receive 3 poker chips. In the successive rounds you can not only place your two cardboard chips, but you may if you wish increase your bets by placing your poker chips under the cardboard ones. However if you choose the wrong answer you lose these chips, while obviously if you choose the right answer you get even more chips!

After seven rounds the person with the most chips wins. It's a very simple game and while it wasn't a huge hit, everyone certainly seemed to enjoy playing. The game accommodates 7 players, after which you can of course form teams to increase player numbers which I've heard is pretty fun; but I have yet to play it with more than 7. The game is great for a number of reasons. The first is that people who may not like trivia games but love gambling will probably be sucked in due to the betting mechanic. Second and this is my favorite part, is the fact that you don't actually have to know the answers to win; you just have to be able to guess who in your group will since there is no requirement to bet on your own answer.




I definitely give this game a big thumbs up, I'm pretty fond of it, its' certainly worth checking out; I've put a link below to the Board Game Geek page.


Wits & Wagers

2 comments:

spaceVulture said...

I love these! I have a work in progress Beatmen army, my first, but it always gets pushed to the side because I'm so much more of a board gamer too.

I can't wait to read more of your reviews! Of course my wallet and shelf of games probably can...

Keep it up though, I like the podcast, it's the only Warhammer one I listen to regularly and this is just that much more of a bonus to me.

Thanks

Dominic said...

Woot! I'm glad you enjoyed the game. Cheers!

You should also check out our next game, Say Anything. It won Party Game of the Year from the Board Game Geek and from Origins. It is now available at Target and Toys-R-Us.

Best,
Dominic