Games To Play While Waiting For Pie On Thanksgiving

Hours of cooking have ended....the feast consumed...now you have several hours to digest before pie is served.  What should you do?  #PlayMoreGames!

Here are 5 games to play on Thanksgiving to help you avoid food coma.  Click on any title to be taken to the game in our eBay store.

Speechless

Players in Speechless take turns being the “presenter”. The Presenter will act out 6 words, trying to get the other players to correctly guess what word they are acting out. They only have 90 seconds to do this! In Speechless, cards are separated into 3 decks by color and difficulty:

Easy cards are Green, Medium cards are Yellow, and Hard cards are Red.

While the presenter is acting out the words, the other players are watching and trying to guess what word is being acted out. If they think they know the word, they write it down on their marker board with their dry erase marker.

Both presenter and the other players are not allowed to talk during the acting!

After the presenter’s time is up, he or she will reveal the words to the players, one at a time, asking the players what their guesses were for each word. For example, the presenter may say “What did you guess for word #1?”. Then, the other players, one at a time going clockwise around the table, reveal their guesses.

After all guesses have been revealed for that word, the presenter then reveals what the actual word was.

Players score 2 points for guessing the correct word!

However…If a player did not guess the correct word, but at least one other player made the same incorrect guess, all players with the same guess score 1 point!

Bound to bring bouts of laughter and memorable moments for all players, the sheer fun and enjoyment Speechless brings on game night truly makes this an Essential game for any collection!

SLAPZI

A fast-paced, strategic matching game perfect for the whole family! 

The rules are simple: Players get 5 double-sided picture cards that they must lay out in front of them. A Clue Card is drawn and placed in the middle of the table and the first person to find an appropriate Picture Card to match the clue must quickly slam their card down on the Clue Card and yell, "SLAPZI!" 

At this point in the game other players have the opportunity to challenge whether or not the Picture Card matches the clue; if it doesn't, the player who slammed it down must take it back and also draw an extra Picture Card to add to their 5. 

The first player to get rid of all of their cards wins! 

Happy Salmon

Happy Salmon is the simple, fast-paced card game packed to the gills with high-fivin’, fin-flappin’ fun. Actions including the classic "High 5", the unifying "Pound It", the frantic "Switcheroo", and the delightful “Happy Salmon” will leave players doubled over in laughter. With so many mini-celebrations built into the play, it’s the happiest game ever!

Everyone calls out the action shown on their top card.
When two players have a match, they celebrate by performing that action together, then discard their top card.

The first player to match all of the cards in their deck wins!

Codenames...

The two rival spymasters know the secret identities of 25 agents. Their teammates know the agents only by their CODENAMES.

The teams compete to see who can make contact with all of their agents first. Spymasters give one-word clues that can point to multiple words on the board. Their teammates try to guess words of the right color while avoiding those that belong to the opposing team. And everyone wants to avoid the assassin.

Codenames: win or lose, it’s fun to figure out the clues.

...(and Codenames Pictures)

What are these strange symbols on the map? They code for locations where spies must contact secret agents!

Two rival spymasters know the agent in each location. They deliver coded messages telling their field operatives where to go for clandestine meetings. Operatives must be clever. A decoding mistake could lead to an unpleasant encounter with an enemy agent – or worse, with the assassin!

Both teams race to contact all their agents, but only one team can win.

Codenames: Pictures differs from the original Codenames - Pictures in that the agents are no longer represented by a single word, but by an image that contains multiple elements.

Kill Doctor Lucky (Deluxe 19.5 Anniversary Edition)

Welcome to Lucky Mansion, a sprawling country estate seven miles north of nowhere.

You've hated Doctor Lucky for as long as you can remember, and this is your perfect chance to take the old man out. And unbeknownst to you, everyone else in the house wants to kill him too.

But he's not called "Doctor Lucky" for nothing. He has an uncanny knack for staying out of harm's way.

Take heart. Persevere. Someone is going to kill Doctor Lucky tonight, and it might as well be you.

This is the 19.5 Anniversary Edition of Kill Doctor Lucky, a classic board game from the late 1900's.

What is your favorite game to play with your family on Thanksgiving?  Let us know below or send us a tweet @howlingfungames, use #FoodComaGames.

Review - TENZI & TENZI Party Pack

5 TENZI Tubes, each supports 2-4 players

Players: 2 - 4/6, add more players by adding more sets.  Unlimited players are possible.
Playing Time: Less than 5 Minutes
Age: 8+
Suggested Retail: $14.99 for TENZI, $22.95 for TENZI Party Pack

Everyone gets ten dice of one color. Someone says ”Go.”  Then everyone rolls and rolls as fast as they can until someone gets all their dice on the same number. Sure, there are a few more rules, but you get the idea!

The basic version of TENZI comes with 40 dice, in 4 different, random colors, enough for 2-4 players to play.  Add additional copies of TENZI to add any number of players.  This version comes in a long, skinny tube.  This is the version shown above.

The TENZI Party Pack comes with 60 dice, in 6 different, random colors, enough for 2-6 players to play.  The TENZI Party Pack comes in a plastic, hinged case.

You can mix-and-match TENZI and TENZI Party Packs in any combination.  You can even duplicate dice colors, just don't sit right next to each other so your dice don't get mixed up.

The Goal:

Be the first player to get all ten of your dice to show the same number.

The Setup:

Each player gets a set of 10 dice of the same color.

The Play:

Each player chooses a set of dice. Players hold all ten dice in their hands. Someone says “Go” and everyone rolls at the same time. Quickly look at your roll and decide which number you are going to go for. (For example, if you have more 3’s than any other number, that’s what you want to go for.) Put all your dice with that number aside, collect the remaining dice and quickly roll again. (You do not have to wait for others to roll again. Everyone rolls together only on the first roll.) Keep rolling until all ten of your dice show the same number.

This is how you play the basic game, the rules come with several other ways to play and there is an add on item "77 Ways to play TENZI" which has cards that describe 77 new and different ways to play TENZI.

Game End:

The first player to get all ten of their dice to match (ten 3’s, for example) shouts out “TENZI” and wins the game!

Review:

I'll admit, when I first heard of TENZI, I was sure it would be a play once or twice and then forget about it game.  I was very wrong!

TENZI is a really fun and addictive game!  I have played with several different groups with players of all ages and one game is never enough.  Most players are not what I would consider as "hardcore".

Each game lasted for about 1 or 2 minutes.  When the winner shouted "TENZI!" the other players are all close enough that they want to try again.

Of course, TENZI will never go down as a deep game.  It is definitely a total luck game.  However, it is fast and it is a great filler and we usually play several rounds when it is brought out.

Overall, I give TENZI 7 out of 10...mainly because of the luck factor, but the speed and addictive play makes it an easy game to add, especially for non-hardcore gamers.

Here is a short video that the folks at TENZI put together to show how to play:

You can buy TENZI and TENZI Party Pack in our eBay store (www.howlingfungames.com) or by contacting us directly.  You can also buy TENZI on Amazon.


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Review - Anomia

Players: 3-6
Playing Time: 10 - 20 Minutes
Age: 8+
Suggested Retail: $15.99

Anomia: [uh-NO-mee-uh] - Noun - 1) A problem with word finding or recall. 2) Chaos. 3) The game where common knowledge becomes uncommonly fun!

Anomia plays off the fact that our minds are positively brimming with all sorts of random information; things to eat, pop songs, websites, etc... Sure, under normal circumstances, it's easy enough to give an example of a frozen food, or a dog breed; but you will find that your brain works a little differently under pressure!

The directions are simple. Draw a card from the center pile and flip it over. Does the symbol on your card match one on another player's card? If so, you must quickly face-off with the other player by giving an example of the person, place, or thing on their card before they can do the same for yours. If you blurt a correct answer out first, you win their card and drawing continues. Sounds simple, right? Wrong!

Wild cards allow unlike symbols to match, increasing the number of things you must pay attention to. Cascading face-offs can occur when you hand over a lost card revealing a new top card on your play pile. All this adds up to a high-energy, hilarious play experience where everyone is involved at all times.

Easy to learn, fun to play over and over again, Anomia will have any group of friends, family, even perfect strangers, shouting and laughing out loud as they try to beat each other to the punch!

The Goal:

Collect the most cards.

The Setup:

Shuffle one of the 2 decks and create 2 draw piles in the center of the table.

The Play:

The starting player draws a card from either deck and flips it face-up in front of them.  Each additional player does the same thing.  Watch for symbols that match, when a match occurs, the players whose cards match much shout out an answer that matches their opponent's card.  The winner collects their opponents card and places it in a collection pile in front of them.  Play continues with the next player.

Wild cards will add additional symbols to watch for, so face-offs happen more and more frequently.  Once a card has been collected, it will reveal the card underneath, which often leads to a casade of face-offs.  Pay attention!

Game End:

When both draw piles have been depleted the game ends.  Each player counts the number of cards won in face-offs, the player with the most cards wins!


Review:

Anomia is an easy game to play from a rules prespective, but it is a brain cramp waiting to happen.  The hardest part of the game is to remember to shout out an answer for you opponent's card (not your own).  It is very fun as cards start to cascade and the face-offs start lining up.

We played with 4 players, which was very good, but I think 5 or 6 would make it even better.  You can play with 3 players, but I think that more is better.  Younger kids will likely have a harder time with it, but teenagers and adults will love it!

It reminds me a bit of Snorta, but it is more challenging because you have to come up answers for a variety of subjects.

Overall, I give it a 8 out of 10...it will work as a filler game on game night, or it would be a good primary game to play as well.

You can buy Anomia in our eBay store (www.howlingfungames.com) or Our Amazon Store or by contacting us directly.