For years, kids (at least ours) have always acted as if they know everything. We, as adults, don’t know a thing, even though we’ve lived longer than they have. I do admit to forgetting a lot of the things that the kids are currently learning in school, but I’ll put my life experiences and know-how against knowing all the different species of shark known to exist any day of the week. *Shrug* Well kids, here’s your chance to get one up on your elders…
Beat the Parents: 2+ Players (At least one adult and one child), Ages 8+, Average Play Time = 30-45 Minutes
In Beat The Parents, adults will be siding with adults and kids will be siding with kids, trying to out trivia the other team. Each side has pawns that they must collectively move to the other team’s starting spaces by answering trivia questions correctly. Let’s take a quick look at what comes in the box, how the game is played, and finally, the review.
Components
Trivia Cards – Trivia cards are split between questions for parents and questions for kids. Each card has three questions for each team, but only one set is used on a turn.
Wild Cards – There are wild cards for both the parents and for the kids. They provide bonuses to their respective teams.
Board & Pawns – There are two pawns on each side. The board is designed so that each team’s pawns must pass each other and get to the other side to win the game.
Top Row = Wild Cards, Bottom Row = Trivia Cards.
Setup & Gameplay
Place the board lengthways between both teams. Shuffle the trivia cards, yellow wild cards, and the red wild cards separately. Place the pawns in their starting location. The kids always go first, that is, are asked the first set of questions.
On the first turn, the parents pick up a trivia card and read the first question listed on the card, under the “questions for kids” category. If they get the answer correct, they can move one of their pawns one space. The parents proceed to ask the second question and if the kids get that correct as well, they move the same pawn again up a space. Finally, parents ask the third and final question, and the kids move the same pawn only if they answered correctly. An incorrect answer means that you don’t get to move, and your turn is over. At the most, a team can move three spaces per turn (one for each question).
The kids took turn asking us questions. This included the dog.
If a team lands on their own wild card space, they take a wild card and receive its effects. If a team ends their turn on the other team’s wild card space, they take the other team’s card and follow their effects. Like trivia cards, wild card effects are split between parents and kids. Parents receive a negative effect for ending their turn on the kids’ wild card space and vice versa.
Also, if you happen to land on a space occupied by an enemy pawn, you can “bump” it back two spaces. Depending on their positions, this can lead to some intense (and drawn out) tug of war matches.
The first team to get both of their pawns into the other team’s starting locations is the winner!
The Review
The idea of the trivia questions being balanced for kids and adults is what attracted us to this game in the first place. We would often play games like Trivial Pursuit, TriBond, and Know It Or Blow It, but were sometimes hard-pressed to find questions appropriate for each other’s skill level. This game takes out all of that guesswork.
The kids didn’t have to hunt for skill appropriate questions to ask us, which made play quick and easy.
While the idea is sound, some of the questions were a bit…off. Some of the questions that we posed to the kids seemed a bit difficult for them and others could have been answered by a chimpanzee. The adult questions seemed all over the place, quizzing us on things like Disney, Lord of the Rings, The Jonas Brothers…we consider ourselves fairly intelligent people but I think that these questions could have been balanced a bit better.
Despite my reservations, the game was well received by all involved. The kids were working together to answer their questions, while Jennifer and I were answering questions the other didn’t know. I didn’t know who “Fergie” was, but she didn’t know what hatched from Eragon’s egg…in effect, our unique interests helped compliment each other.
Thumbs up for “bumping.”
All in all, it’s a fun family friendly trivia game that our family enjoyed playing, and we all have a feeling that you would to.
Final Verdict: 6/10
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is it even possible for anyone to win this game? It is fun, but once you get to the “wild card” barrier of your opponent, and you will every time b/c you can only move one space at a time, you always get sent backwards. it is fun spending time together, but eventually will the players get frustrated?