Apples to Apples is a great game best suited to 4 players and up. The emphasis is on fun and not knowledge and it is a great alternative to games like Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary or Scattergories. Each round sees one player declared as the judge and they must reveal a card from the green deck - these contain keywords relating to people, things, events or places. Each of the remaining players must then select 1 or 2 cards from their hand (7 cards to a hand) that they think are best described by the green keyword card. All cards selected are placed face down so the judge does not know which cards were put forward by which player. It is then the judge's job to choose which card they think offers the best match to the green keyword card. As they are making their decision, players are free to offer convincing arguments to try and persuade the judge one way or the other. Of course the judge does not have to go for the most obvious match, they may choose the most humorous link or even the card that had the most convincing case put forward by one of the players. The player who has their card selected by the judge wins that card and the role of the judge moves clockwise ready for the next round. The eventual winner is determined by gaining a set number of green cards (this number varies based on the number of players).

The Final Word

Apples to Apples is a game where winning is never a certainty but the fun is always guaranteed. This is very deliberate and a key theme to a large group game. The mood of the game is very light with laughs a plenty as players try to come up with new and novel ways to convince the judge that their card offers the best match. Angst is just as likely too, as players cringe at the sight of the judge smiling at an opponent's convincing argument. Another plus for Apples to Apples is that it offers over 1000 cards and categories with almost limitless combinations adding much to its replayability (please note that this review used an edition which included the expansion and retails for $20 more than the standard version which has less cards). So unlike a quiz based game, players cannot get familiar with the answers as there are none - the matching combinations are only limited by the twisted minds of the judges. Fun can be had with any number of players, but more is generally better. I'll leave you with one hilarious moment from a game we played. The green keyword card was Clueless, which included keywords such as clueless, unaware, oblivious and ignorant. Players selected their cards and the judge turned each over in turn. As soon as the whole table saw the George Bush card revealed my wife stood up and took a bow - no lobbying needed! Apologies to any American readers out there.