My cousins and I used to play games all the time. We would spend hours playing board and card games. We had some epic battles too that would last for a very long time (Monopoly comes to mind).
Sometimes we were places where we couldn’t bring board games, so we played a lot of card games, as well as games that didn’t require anything. The first game that comes to mind is “Would you rather?”
“Would you rather?” might go by other names, but basically you would ask someone would they rather do this, or that? For example, would you rather eat a bowl of Earth worms, or confess to your crush that you love them? When you are a kid, that could be an embarrassing thing. Ha Ha.
Perhaps a better (adult) example could be “would you rather quit your job or move out of your home?” You get the idea.
There is a fun game from the brand All Things Equal, that puts a fun twist on the “Would you rather” game. It’s called The Worst-Case Scenario.
All Things Equal is a tabletop game company based in Miami Beach, FL. The company was founded in 1997 by Entrepreneur Eric Poses, who drove around the country for 16 weeks selling his first game invention, Loaded Questions®, out of the trunk of his car. Today, All Things Equal’s games have generated more than $30 million in retail sales at Target, Kohl’s, Amazon, Meijer and hundreds of specialty stores. The company’s portfolio of family/party games includes five versions of the bestselling Loaded Questions® brand, Loaded Answers, Awkward Family Photos® Greatest Hits, Happy Endings®, The My Weird School® Game, Major Woody’s Wild Foursomes®, and The Worst-Case Scenario® Card Game.
I was sent a copy of the game to review with my family.
The Worse-Case Scenario game is for 3-6 players, ages 10+.
The Worst-Case Scenario game is based on the world’s best-selling survival manual, The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook. The book, which was written by David Borgenicht and Joshua Piven, has been in print since 1999. It has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and has spawned TV shows, merchandise, and a museum exhibition, as well as countless sequels. Worst-Case Scenario® teaches us to face our fears, to help ourselves and others survive.
The Worst-Case Scenario Card Game comes with a spinner, situation cards, “chips,” a pencil, a score pad and instructions.
Everything fits nicely in the box. The box is small in size, so it could be easily taken with you camping and traveling.
The games is very simple to play. Each player takes turns being the “victim” and spins the “Victim Wheel.” The “Victim Wheel” explains how the scoring will be added it. It might give all players triple points, doubt points, bonus points and more.
The “victim” chooses five (5) cards from the deck. The cards reveal “worse-case” situations. Here are a few examples;
- Deal every day with a bully at school.
- Learn your family has joined a satanic cult.
- Stop a run away camel.
- Jump from a bridge into a rushing river
- Lost for a night in a jungle
The “victim” lays the cards down on the table for all to see. Without revealing their ranking, the “victim” places their chip (number side down) and ranks to cards on the table. Number one (1) is bad, and number five (5) is the worst.
Next, the players take their chips (number side down) and tries to think how the “victim” ranked the cards, in order to match them.
After all of the players have laid down their chips, the chips are flipped over the reveal their ranking. Next, the “victim” flips over their chips. If a players number chip matching that of the “victim,” they get the point. Depending on what was spun with the wheel, players can get double point, triple points, or more.
The winner is the person who has the most points after 10-12 rounds (depending on the number of players).
I played this game a few times with my husband and our two young adult children.
My kids are hard to impress, and I can honestly say they really enjoyed playing this game. They didn’t see it as a “kiddie game” (my husband and I still play Candyland from time to time). And dare I say I even saw smiles on their faces (ha ha). They even laughed at some of the “worst-case” cards.
The great thing about this game is that you don’t have to match ALL the cards to score points. Even if you match one card, you can still get points.
The “worst-case” cards are funny, in a way. I mean, the situations are not funny, but when you see the five cards in front of you, it’s “funny” to think as to which would be the worst. I know personally I had a hard time sometimes figuring out the absolute situation. Some of the cards had situations that were equally as horrific.
A few are silly, like skateboarding down a hill while holding a baby. Then you have others, like your parachute fails to open, are the things nightmares are made of.
The game does prompt a lot of conversations, especially when it comes to how the “victim” ranks their cards, and how they (the other player) would rank them. There were also a lot of conversations that started off with “Could you imagine…(inserting the worst-case on the card).
It helps when you know the “victim” well. My husband and I seemed to do well with each other’s cards (we know how the other thinks). Surprisingly, our kids seemed to know us well too. I was impressed.
This game is not for little kids. First and foremost, they wouldn’t have a true grasp on the severity of the cards. For example, being lost in a jungle for a night. Little kids might think that is a “fun” thing, especially if they love animals. They might see it as trying not to be eaten by lions.
Overall I think this is a fun game. My family would agree.
The Worst-Case Scenario Card Game is available at Target for $19.99.
Below is a brief video that gives you an overall look at the game.
Kimberly
*I received a free sample copy to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.