TOS Review: Wits & Wagers Family Game

Does your family like board games?  Does your family like trivia?  Does your family like not needing the correct answer and still scoring points? My family does!  We love board games and we love tidbits of facts. We’ve been playing Wits and Wagers Family from North Star Games and my side hurts from laughing so much.

How to Play:  The youngest player gets to be the first to read the question  Each player or team is given a dry erase marker ( 5 are included in the game), a color coordinated dry erase board for making their “wager”, and two “meeples” that match the color of their board. 

Every answer is a number. After the question is read, each person ( or team) writes his answer on his dry erase board and turns it upside down.  After everyone has recorded an answer the boards are flipped and arranged in a line from smallest to largest.  Now you place your meeples.   There is a large meeple, worth two points, and a small meeple worth 1 point..  

If you are confident in your answer you can place both of your meeples on your board.   Not so sure you got the right answer?  Place your meeples on someone else’s board. Pretty sure you got the right answer but maybe your spouse is right?  Put one meeple on your board and one on his.  

After all the meeples have been placed the reader reads the answer.  Along with the answer is a bit of trivia or a fact relating to the question.  To score points look for the board closest to the correct answer without going over.  The board is worth 1 point.  So if you place both your meeples on your board and your board is closest to the correct answer without going over you get 4 points.

  

Wits and Wagers Family states ages 8 and up and for 3 to 10 ten players.  I would say that it is good for 3 to 5 individuals or teams or combination of individuals and teams.

My family loves board games.  This game has become a family favorite.  Why do we love this game so much? With so many board games it can be difficult with young children.  Each person takes a turn and you sit and wait and do nothing while you wait for your turn.  This equals boredom for a couple of my children, but with Wits and Wagers Family there is no real down time.  Everyone participates in every question.

Sometimes those trivia style games go on forever and ever and this also leads to boredom for the children, but with this game from North Star Games there isn’t time for the doldrums.  The games are fast paced and only take about 30 minutes to complete.

My favorite aspect of the game is that you do not need to know the answer!  The points are scored based on which answer is closest to the correct answer without going over.  Don’t know how tall the Sears Tower is in Chicago?  That’s OK, give your best estimate!

Not needing the exact answer takes the pressure off and lets us relax and enjoy the game.  In many many rounds, NO ONE has the correct answer so we actually learn something.  Maybe not something I need to know but still it is something new I didn’t know before :)

Wits and Wagers Family states ages 8 and up and for 3 to 10 ten players.  I would say that it is good for 3 to 5 individuals or teams or combination of individuals and teams.   This game can be adapted to younger children.  Supergirl functions around 6 years of age.  Most of the time that we play she is “partners” with a sibling but we did play a few games where she could play “alone”.   She loved it!  She liked trying to write her number down and then choosing where to place her meeples.

My “big” girls enjoyed trying to remember if they actually knew the correct answer.  They even liked estimating and getting it wrong.  Turtlegirl has even asked for the Say Anything game from North Star Games.  I see from the website that there is a family version of Say Anything coming in the spring.  I think that is going on our wishlist!

Wits and Wagers Family retails for $19.99.   As of this morning it appears to be sold out through the shopping cart link.  To check for availability click here and then click on the shopping cart on the right hand side next to the game.  You may want to check your local retailers such as Barnes and Noble.  This would make an excellent Christmas gift.

You can also click here to see what games North Star Games has produced as well as  what is coming soon.

Click on the banner below to read what my fellow crew mates have to say about Wits and Wagers Family.

Disclaimer: As a TOS Crew member, I received this product free of charge to review. This review is my honest opinion with, hopefully, enough detail as to why I liked or did not like a product so that my readers can make an informed decision. I received no compensation.

North Star Games provided the game Wits and Wagers Family for review