See It? Slam It!

See it? Slam It!

You will have to be observant and able to move fast to play See It? Slam it!. You will also have to know how to spell and/or sound out words to play this fast paced, family card game. 

See It? Slam it! includes only cards - 36 letter cards and 264 picture cards. The picture cards feature everyday things, like you see on the image above. However, eyes (and sometimes a mouth) are added to each card, whether the object has them or not, which now opens up words about feelings, emotions, attitudes, etc. Also, most things are pictured with other things to imply they are doing something or are posed in action, which opens up additional nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. This will give you more options for using the letter. For example:

Words you could use for the letter C could include carton, cucumber and carry. For the letter T you could say tortoise, twine, tie. For the letter B you could say box, balance, bow, bug-eyed. I'm sure you can think of more.   

Not every letter is represented in this game on a letter card. The game manufacturers did not feel there were enough words that start with E, I, J, K, Q, U, V, X, Z,  so these letters were eliminated. Since there are 36 letter cards, obviously other letters are represented more than once, including A, B, M, T, W.

I see on the manufacturers website they have a new version called See It! Slam It! Say It!, which I have not seen yet. From the preview I can see there are letter cards but no picture cards. Instead cards with categories printed on them, such as ice cream flavors, biblical name and vampires, are included. Outset Media is also the makers of Pickles to Penguins, a fun game of associations.

Object:
Have the most picture cards when all the letter cards have been played. Or, choose a certain amount of time to play before you start and whoever has the most cards when the timer goes off is the winner. Or, choose a certain number of cards to win, such as 5, and the first person to win that many cards wins the game.

Set up:
Mix the picture cards and place them in a face-down stack. Mix the letter cards and place them in a face-down stack. Turn three picture cards up in the middle, and in reach of all players.

Play:
On go, turn one letter card face-up. Players all play at the same time. As soon as the letter card is turned over, all players race to 1) call out a word that begins with that letter that describes something from one of the pictures and 2) slam the card. The player who slammed, removes the card and keeps it. From here you can either: 

• Play until all three cards are claimed. Turn over three new picture cards and one new letter card. Repeat until the end of the game.
• Leave the remaining two cards and add one to it, so there are always three face-up picture cards to each round. Discard the old letter card and turn over a new letter card and go again. Repeat until the end of the game. If you run out of letter cards, flip the discard deck and start reusing the cards.

If adults and kids are playing together you may use one or more of these suggestions to help even the playing field:

Try this:

• Play with younger kids and use more picture cards so there is a better chance of finding a match.
• Make a list of words that come up a lot and don't allow their use. For instance, since most pictures have eyes, add eyes to the list. 
• Carefully separate and lift each card off the stack without toppling the stack or sliding off more than one card.
• Skip the letters. Give everyone a piece of paper and a pencil. Turn over one picture card and start a timer for 1 minute. All players write single words that they see in the picture. Compare lists and get 1 point for each original word (no one else wrote). First with 20 points wins the game.

In the box: 264 picture cards, 36 letter cards

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.

Eye Know

Eye Know - Trivia for the Eyes

Eye Know is billed as trivia for your eyes because the trivia cards have images on them. Eye Know offers two ways to play - with betting and without betting. I always like games that offer options for play, so let's check it out.

What you see in the image above is what you get - a game board, trivia cards and two dice. The game board holds 12 cards. One die has the numbers 1, 2 and 3, and the other die has four different colored sides and two sides with the word WILD.

Each trivia card has a solid stripe across the top that will correspond to one of the colors on the color die. The cards fall into a number of different categories including fictional characters, U.S. landmarks, ad characters, actor, symbol, politician, flag, plant, instrument, world landmark, singer, author, toy and animal. 

Each trivia card has an image on one side and three questions on the other side. The first question on the back is a true/false question, the second question is a multiple choice question and the third question is open ended. The open ended question will have a very specific answer, but no clues to what it might be. That's not my idea of an open-ended question, but that is how they describe it. Here are a couple examples of the questions:

• Image on the front: Scrabble tiles
• Yes/No - In the English version of Scrabble the Q is worth 8 points. False - Q is worth 10 points.
• Multiple Choice - Which of these statements is true?
• The letter J is worth 6 points
• There are no Qs in the German language edition.
• There is a Scrabble edition based on The Hobbit.
• Open ended - How many bonus points are awarded for using all 7 of your letters at one time? 50 points
• Image on the front: Uncle Sam
• Yes/No - Uncle Sam was first pictured on the fuselage of an airplane? False. First depicted on a recruitment poster
• Multiple Choice - During which war was the term Uncle Sam first used to depict the U.S. government?
• Revolutionary War
• War of 1812
• World War 1
• Open ended - What words appear on the famous First World War recruitment poster featuring Uncle Sam? "I want you for the U.S. Army."

On each turn you will pick one of the cards on the game board that you want to answer a trivia question about. Now before you think this sounds way too easy, the dice may throw you a curve. The color die will tell you which cards you can choose from and the number die will tell you which type of question on the back you will be asked. 

ORIGINAL RULES

Object:
Be the first to collect five cards.

Set up:
Place the board between the players. Mix the trivia cards. Place 12 on the individual spaces on the board, image side up, and place the rest of the deck on the board (see image above). Place the dice near the board.

Play:
Players take turns. Roll the dice. Look over the cards on the board that have a stripe of the same color that you threw. Choose a card, point to it and name the image. The individual on the player's right picks up the card and checks to see if you are correct. If no, your turn is over. Discard it and replace it with a new card. If you are correct, the individual will look at the number die and ask you the question that corresponds to that number. If you are correct, you get to keep the card and your turn is over. Add a new card to the board in it's place. If you are wrong, discard the card and replace it on the board with a new card. 

If there are no card colors on the board that match what you threw, or you throw a wild, you get to choose any card you want. 
 
Continue playing until someone collects five cards and wins the game.  

BETTING RULES

Give each player five chips. Play as in the instructions above until it is time to answer a question. Based on how well you know the topic you will choose which type of question you will answer and you will bet from one to five chips. The harder the question and the more chips you bet, the bigger the payout if you are correct. Play until everyone has played five rounds. Each player counts their chips. You can also make extra chips if you have sets of cards. A set will be either three of a color, four of a color, five of a color or one of each color. The person with the most chips is the winner.
In the box: Game board, color die, number die, 400 image cards (each with 3 trivia questions)

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.