Rolling the Dice

I don’t remember who gave us the Apples-to-Apples game that sits on our shelf, but I sure am glad they did.

Describing the game to people, it sounds lame. So I’m not even going to bother. If you want to read about how the games works, visit the Wikipedia entry. Or the “official” website at: http://www.otb-games.com/apples/apples_partybox.html

According to the box, this is a game for 12 and up, but I say that as long as a kid can read, go for it. Of course, just like any time you’re playing a grown-up game with younger kids, you may have to modify the rules a little.

For example, many of the pop culture references may be missed, so give the kids the option to trade in cards if they don’t know anything about the person, place or thing printed on it.

I think the appealing part of the game for me is the fact that there is never a right or wrong answer. The person who is the judge can use whatever criteria they want to select the winning card.

And you are allowed – even encouraged – to try to persuade the judge to pick a certain card. It doesn’t even have to be yours.

One of the little quirks of the game that our family has picked up is the idea that the green apple cards you collect (with the descriptive words on them like smelly, heart-warming or sordid) are accurate descriptors for that person. So, at the end of the game and go through them.

“Oh, I’m smelly, heart-warming and sordid. Sounds about right.”

And then much giggling ensues. At least from me. I’m going to blame my love affair with words for that one.

This is a great game to play with your teens, who will get a kick over having a turn to be the judge of you for a turn, and you end up finding out a lot about them in the meantime. This game does more than just entertain – it gives insight into a person’s sense of humor and how they look at the world.

And for parents of teens, that is a refreshing (and often surprising!) turn of events.