Title: Blank Slate
Designed By: Robert A. Kamp
Published By: The Op.
Released: 2018
Player Count: 3-8
Time to Play: 20-35 Minutes
Ages: 8+
Looking for a great family-friendly party game? Like word games? Are you really good at being telepathic? We have the purrfect game for you! Introducing Blank Slate from The Op.
In this 3-8 player party game, players work to fill in the blank to complete a phrase, trying to match one other player without ever uttering a word.
Setup:
Setup takes all of about 30 seconds. Give each player a dry-erase slate and marker. Write player's names on the matching colored spot on the scoreboard. Get the box of cards out and put it within reach of all players. That's it! See we told you it was simple.
How to determine the first player:
Pick a person of your choice. They will be the "selector" first.
How to Play:
If you thought setup was easy, you are going to love gameplay! The goal of Blank Slate is to be the first person to reach 25 points. Points are scored by matching your answer with another player.
To play, simply have the selector pick a card from the "draw" side of the box and read it aloud. The card will have a word with a blank before or after it. All players then try to fill in that blank with another word to make a new word or phrase, by writing their answer on their slate. For example, the card might read "______ house. Player's may respond with answers like "Full House", "Doll House", "Tree House", "Beach House", etc.
When all players have finished writing, everyone reveals their answers. If you match exactly one other player, you will both score 3 points. If you match multiple players, you will each score 1 point. If you match no players, you score 0 points. Tally the points on the score tracker and if no one has reached 25, the person on the selector's left becomes the next selector and the game continues. If someone reaches 25 points they win!
See! This may have been the simplest how to play we have ever written. Simple and fun, sometimes that is exactly what you want in a game!
Our Thoughts:
We brought Blank Slate along on our family vacation, hoping that we might have found a game that everyone on the trip could enjoy. Picking out a game to play with 8 adults, some of whom don't even like board games is no easy task, but I managed to convince the whole gang to play a round with me "just to see what they thought". Everyone and I do mean all 8 people, loved Blank Slate. My sister, who never wants to play anything, actually asked to play it multiple nights. I credit this with how simple it was for them to learn and play. Being able to sit down and explain the rules and get started in about two minutes meant that no one got distracted or stopped paying attention during the rules explanation. This meant that when we actually started playing, everyone actually knew what to do. Because of that, the first game went really smoothly, and we all know that smooth gameplay means new gamers are more likely to enjoy their first play.
I personally loved that it was a party game that I felt comfortable playing with my parents. A lot of games for groups of 8 or more are not safe for work and aren't always something you want to break out and play with Mom and Dad. It was great to be able to have our whole group play something that didn't leave anyone feeling awkward or uncomfortable.
Also, don't let the simple rules fool you into thinking Blank Slate is a simple game. We found that brainstorming words to fill in the blanks could actually be more challenging than you would initially think! Do you pick the easy, safe word that others are sure to pick, or do you go with an obscure choice, maybe an inside joke with another player, and hope to score the 3 points instead? And for some fill-in-the-blanks, we struggled to come up with any words that made sense, meanwhile other players were like "oh there are so many options for this". It was really funny to see how everyone's brain worked with each blank.
We also want to note that there are A LOT of cards in the game. Each card is double-sided so when you finish with the first side you flip it over and put it in the other way so you essentially have two decks of cards. There are 500 fill-in-the-blanks in the game. For reference, we played this game every night for almost a week and only made it through about 1/3 of the options.
Blank Slate is a game that left our whole group in fits of laughter. Blank Slate will absolutely be one of my go-to party games going forward. If you are looking for some truly wholesome fun, Blank Slate is for you!
Pudgy Cat Games makes no profit off reviews. Should you wish to purchase Blank Slate, you can help support us by purchasing the game through our Amazon Affiliate Link below. It will cost you nothing extra, but will help support our site! More information can be found on The Op's website.