Nitty Gritty is a neat little game that shifts the spotlight squarely onto couples and raises the prickly question - How well do you know one another? The aim of the game is quite simple, be the first team to reach the finish line. Couples can advance around the board by rolling the dice on their turn and moving that many spaces. The coloured space they stop on results in a particular category of question being selected. One person in the team must ask the question whilst the other writes their answer. If the partner who asked the question can guess what their partner wrote the team is rewarded by getting another go and pushing ever closer to the finish line. Couples then alternate between asking the question and being the one to answer. This ensures that both people are tested thoroughly. This sums up the game pretty well but I should offer a few more details. The categories are unlike most other games as they offer a good mixture of fact, opinion, personal taste\beliefs and memory. The game really sparks to life as it uses the lives of those playing as the central focus. This gives the game a real edge as players do not need to grapple with complex rules and the game is very familiar as it is all about them. The categories have names like; Life, Skeletons in the Closet, Love it\Hate it, Dilemmas, Opinions and Open Question. As you can see the categories allow for a bit of mischief, result in a lot of laughs and generally offer the players something very different to other games on the market. The Open Question category is also a nice touch as this means that all teams must answer the same question and their partners guess like normal. Each team that can guess their partner's answer will move the value of the last dice roll. There are also '?' or Nitty Gritty spaces and these allow the other players to choose the category for the couple who are having their turn. This situation also occurs when a team reach the finish line and if the couple get a matching answer they are declared the winners.

Our play test group really had a lot of fun with Nitty Gritty. The timeframe is great as it makes for a great after dinner game with guests or good friends on a 'stay in' Friday\Saturday night. The fact that the game relies on the opinions, beliefs, memories and lives of the players is also a nice departure from the IQ based games like Trivial Pursuit which are not to everyone's taste. But basically Nitty Gritty boils down to one important factor - fun! Some of the categories can really put partners on the spot. Take for example the question - Name your first love? Often you can actually see the answering partner frown in concern as they weigh up the dangers of answering truthfully or taking a more diplomatic approach. One word of warning is that this game really is an adults only affair. Many of the questions throw up sensitive ethical and personal questions that are not suitable to a younger audience. All in all Nitty Gritty is a great game if you are looking for a light-hearted good time or a dinner party diversion. There are over 1000 questions provided which offers great re-playability and that equals good value for money.