Title: Anomia: Party Edition
Designed By: Andrew Innes
Art By: Andrew Innes
Published By: Anomia Press
Released: 2013
Player Count: 3-6
Time to Play: 30 Minutes
Ages: 10 +
Overview:
Let me introduce you to a game that even my sister "who doesn't like games", has decided she enjoys. Anomia is a 3-6 player party game where players attempt to collect the most cards by the end of the game. The Party Edition features 6 game decks that can be played separately or combined for new challenges.
In Anomia players flip over cards from the deck one at a time, putting the card into a deck face up in front of the active player. These cards contain symbols and a category. If at any time the card that is flipped matches the symbol on another players face-up card, the two player's face off and the first person to name something in their opponents category wins. The winner takes the loser's top card can adds it to their win pile. When the deck runs out the player who won the most cards wins.
What's purr-ty cool:
Engagement - One of my favorite things about Anomia is that players are engaged during everyone's turn, and not just their own. Since your card could be a match at any time, you always need to be paying attention. This helps limit the downtime experienced with many party games.
No judging - Another thing I really like about Anomia is that there is no "judge" aspect in the game. So many party games I have tried involve the same mechanic where everyone does something and then one player acts as the judge to pick the winner for that round. In those games, it is easy to intentionally pick less than optimal
winners if it means giving yourself a leg up in the game. Anomia relies on players skills with real time reactions and it makes it much more fun. You also do not need to know the other players well in order to be good at the game. A lot of party games rely on players knowing what other players enjoy or their personalities, which can make playing with new game groups challenging, Anomia doesn't have that challenge since it relies more on random knowledge than anything else!
The waterfall - One fun aspect of Anomia is that it includes wild cards which allow symbols of different suits to temporarily match. This means that when one is drawn it is possible to set off a cascade of matches that did not match a few seconds ago. Since every time there is a match in Anomia, there is a face off, which will leave a new card revealed once someone wins a card, this cascade of potential matches really keeps players engaged and entertained.
It's non-gamer friendly - As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, Anomia is definitely a solid option for non-gamers. I really struggle to find games my sister enjoys, but once we finished she shared she wanted to play again. The simple straightforward rules make this game easy to teach to others who do not play games often. This will definitely be a game that will make your friends laugh. You think you are smart until you have to name a hair style and suddenly forget every option that exists so you blurt out something totally wrong. (Yup, that was me.)
If you are looking for a light-hearted good time game that you can play with family, friends, or coworkers, Anomia is a solid choice.
The cat's meow:
"The box is great for rolling around in" - Nova
Disclosure: Pudgy Cat Games was provided a copy of this game in exchange for a review, however, this review reflects the honest thoughts of the author.