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It's Blunderful Board Game Review

Hot
W Updated June 04, 2019
 
2.0
 
0.0 (0)
5594 1
It's Blunderful Board Game Review
There Will Be Games

Stumbling though life's awkward situations one party at a time.

Oh, you are here. Umm, I wasn't quite ready to start this review. Should I...

a.) Fake a long winded opening while I try to gather my thoughts.
b.) Make a groan-worthy pun.
c.) Create an unboxing video.

Place your bets folks, It's all about how well you know your friends and how you think they will react to a fistful of cards recreating those situations that we'd all like to forget. It's Blunderful is a party game for four to eight players. Each round, a player reads off an awkward situation card, like being caught with your proverbial review pants down in the midst of writing it, and then reads off the three “solutions” to getting out of the situation. Every other player then picks which of the three (A,B,C) they think you will answer and bet five, ten, or fifteen points on how “sure” they are about your answer. Match the answer the person reading the card gives and you gain that many points. Get it incorrect and you lose said number of points. Don't worry, unlike real life, you can never go below zero points.

Despite the 17+ age descriptor on the box, the game is decidedly non-offensive. You can play this one with Granny without creating a situation that would be at home on the actual cards. Plenty of the cards do reference “your partner/significant other” so the recommended age range might be apt in that way. (Wouldn't you love to see a recommended age rating of “15+ with dating experience and the actual ability to be embarrassed”).

As you would expect from a game made by Bicycle Cards, the cards themselves are of high quality and the scoring tracks feature recessed scoring areas to place your cube so they don't slide around (and hey, we didn't have to Kickstart an expansion to get them!). The situations on the actual cards, though, are pretty hit and miss. And if you do relate to a card, sometimes the answers provided miss the actual way you would react. I often found myself at a loss as to which answer to choose on how I would respond, so I'm not sure how the other players were supposed to suss out what I would do. 

I also noted that, when reading out the situation cards, we often ended up having to repeat the answers. “What was “A” again? Could you repeat “B” for me? What the heck does “C” even mean?” And in a “true” party atmosphere, when it's actually loud, it only gets worse. You always want a party game to flow easily and this was a negative towards that aspect.

It's Blunderful occasionally surges, sometimes blunders, but it is always a party. You might end up dancing with a lampshade on your head or gawkily sitting around swirling your drink...and if you end up spilling that drink on your best friend's date, at least you know there is probably a card about that.

a.) Blame the lampshade for impairing your vision.
b.) Point out that vodka and grapefruit juice will work wonders on getting rid of that cheese dip she dropped down her front earlier.
c.) Yell “Party Foul! Alcohol Abuse!” at the top of your lungs.

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It's Blunderful Board Game Review

Editor reviews

1 reviews

Rating 
 
2.0
It's Blunderful
It's Blunderful occasionally surges, sometimes blunders, but it is always a party. You might end up dancing with a lampshade on your head or gawkily sitting around swirling your drink...and if you end up spilling that drink on your best friend's date, at least you know there is probably a card about that.
a.) Blame the lampshade for impairing your vision.
b.) Point out that vodka and grapefruit juice will work wonders on getting rid of that cheese dip she dropped down her front earlier.
c.) Yell “Party Foul! Alcohol Abuse!” at the top of your lungs.
Wade Monnig  (He/Him)
Staff Board Game Reviewer

In west Saint Louis born and raised
Playing video games is where I spent most of my days
Strafing, Dashing, Adventuring and Looting
Writing reviews between all the Shooting
When a couple of guys reminded me what was so good
About playing games with cardboard and Wood,
Collecting Victory Points and those Miniatures with Flair
It’s not as easy as you think to rhyme with Bel Air.

Wade is the former editor in chief for Silicon Magazine and former senior editor for Gamearefun.com. He currently enjoys his games in the non-video variety, where the odds of a 14 year old questioning the legitimacy of your bloodline is drastically reduced.

“I’ll stop playing as Black when they invent a darker color.”

Articles by Wade

Wade Monnig
Staff Board Game Reviewer

Articles by Wade

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Gary Sax's Avatar
Gary Sax replied the topic: #298303 12 Jun 2019 14:57
I have such weird feelings about party games. Like, if a party game is really bad you definitely know.

But if a party game is really good versus being just good, does anyone notice any difference? Mostly I play party games with people who don't play many games so wouldn't know the difference... I always wonder.
Vysetron's Avatar
Vysetron replied the topic: #298304 12 Jun 2019 15:04
A great party game elevates the event its played at, to the point where you might even plan the party around it. A lot of party games try to be something you can just kind of play with half attention or drunk. Might explain why most of them aren't great.
Gary Sax's Avatar
Gary Sax replied the topic: #298305 12 Jun 2019 15:06
I've definitely played more of the 2nd type than the 1st, Vysetron... maybe that explains my feelings.
charlest's Avatar
charlest replied the topic: #298307 12 Jun 2019 15:29
There's a difference. For instance, play Time's Up and then play Weird Things Human Search For.
Vysetron's Avatar
Vysetron replied the topic: #298308 12 Jun 2019 15:32
Or hell, vanilla Werewolf/Mafia with no special roles VS most designated party games. Fraction of the rules but phenomenal social lubricant.
Shellhead's Avatar
Shellhead replied the topic: #298309 12 Jun 2019 16:00

Vysetron wrote: Or hell, vanilla Werewolf/Mafia with no special roles VS most designated party games. Fraction of the rules but phenomenal social lubricant.


Many years ago, I did board game assembly for FFG for a few months. I got to attend their company Christmas party, which was unexpectedly awesome. Good food, alcohol, and demo copies of all their games plus plenty of table space set up in the warehouse so we could play the games. But almost nobody at the party played any FFG games, because somebody brought a homemade Werewolf deck. With maybe two dozen players and many spectators, we played game after game of Werewolf. Then we headed out to see the midnight premier of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, because Christian Petersen bought tickets for everybody.