The problem with many trivia games is that no matter how many categories there are, it’s just a trivia game. Oh, What Fun! by Project Genius is more than just a trivia game. Trivia, or more accurately Tinsel Trivia, is one of four categories of competition that teams or players will randomly attempt, trying to win ten cards. It’s a woot.
For all of the cards, the answers are on the back of the cards. Which causes a slight issue that has an easy to house rule fix. The rules ask you to set the cards near the spinner (which is used to determine what challenges teams will attempt) but that allows you to see either the answers or the challenge ahead of time. The box is well designed with slots that fit each of the four card decks in place, so the solution is to stand up the cards in the box, and problem solved.
Unless you have really good eyesight, that really is only becomes a problem for the Claus’s Clues challenge. In Claus’s Clues, the cards have an image that represents a common carol or holiday phrase. The team attempting it, may pass once and attempt a second card. If they can’t guess the correct answer, the other team has the opportunity to also guess the answer and steal the point. This was the challenge that ultimately determined the winner of our games. Anytime a team stole the point, everyone just reacted with a resounding “argh, of course!” Anytime that is a consistent reaction to something in a game, I call it a win. That means the thing is challenging enough that not everyone is all but guaranteed to get it, but not so challenging that no one will get it.
If you look at the image I’ve included, you’ll see one of the cards from Claus’s Clues. You can try to figure out the answer, and I’ll put the answer all the way down at the bottom of this post. I also want to give props for styling the Claus’s Clues cards after Blue’s Clues. Bravo.
The next challenge was hard enough that we collectively decided that almost any attempt was close enough. Carol Collisions asks you to sing the provided lyrics of one well known carol to the tune of another. You get two attempts to do this without restarting or pausing for more than 10 seconds. Like with Claus’s Clue, if you don’t know the tune, you can pick a second card and choose between them. Even the rules are rather lax, stating that you can just repeat the same few notes over and over as long as it’s recognizably the right tune. That clause (not Claus) was a lifesaver. You’ll be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t know at least a line of music from Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells, or Here Come Santa Claus. Nevertheless singing Here come Santa Claus to the tune of Deck the Halls is not easy. Go ahead, give it try right now. This challenge is twofold; most people’s brains just aren’t wired to quickly do that sort of mix and match. Then you have the introverted issue of not wanting to speak, never mind sing, around people. I objectively love what Carol Collisions is, but I also hate it so much. (Just to clarify I hate it with a smile.)
Christmas Tree Conundrums is all about word problems. There are six cardboard ornaments and a board with a Christmas tree split into six segments. The team has one minute to follow the clues on the card, to determine where each ornament goes. There is a Turtle Dove, a Cardinal, a Ginger Bread Man, and a Yellow and a Blue bubble Ornament. You have one minute to place all the pieces in the correct space, to answer where one specific piece should be. The hard part is that you only have one minute to do it in. We had a few younger players, including a four year old so we extended the timer to 90 seconds to counter the “helpful” kids. Just to be clear, the game is rated for ages 7+ and as long as there are players who can read the cards it’s completely possible to integrate younger players. This is as good as anywhere to mention that teams flick a spinner to find out what challenge they have to do on that turn. This is a great way to let players that can’t otherwise contribute take part in the festivities. Like the Claus’s Clues above, I’ll give the answer to this card at the bottom. It might be harder to do without physical tokens to arrange but go for it.
The last category, which I mentioned first, is Tinsel Trivia. The questions aren’t super hard, unlike The Christmas Trivia Game I reviewed a few years ago. But like everything else in this game the questions aren’t super easy, but easy enough to not make players feel dejected if they miss the answer. There’s also an interesting mix of film, folklore, foodie, and just general holiday fun questions. I’m a fan of trivia games that manage to be thematic without getting impossibly specific for some players. Growing up, the sports category in Trivial Pursuit was the bane of my young existence and more than once was the reason I lost. No need to post images of cards here, but I’ll also put the answers to these questions at the bottom.
Q1: How many ghosts are there in “A Christmas Carol” and what are they called?
Q2: Many Commonwealth countries like Canada and the U.K. celebrate the day after Christmas as what holiday?
Of all of this year’s holiday reviews, this is probably my favourite. Project Genius started as a company that puts out brain teaser-style products, and expanded into games and that background shines in Oh, What Fun! Each of the four challenges is uniquely designed to stimulate a player’s thought process in a different way. That’s not something you often see in other games. Even games with multiple mechanics to them. It hits every sweet spot, where the younger kids, teens, and adults all feel challenged without getting unduly frustrated. It’s not uncommon to find games that feel unbalanced or even just slapped together in time for holiday shopping. This isn’t one of those games, it’s very well designed and worth picking up.
You can find Project Genius online at ProjectGeniusInc.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/ProjectGeniusInc.
Don’t forget you can read all of our current and past holiday reviews at TheRatHole.ca/Christmas!
Since part of this game is Christmas trivia, here’s an important piece of Christmas history. The Christmas Truce of World War 1. Below is a song by Sabaton, and a cover by multi-talented Sabaton member Tommy Johansson.
As promised, here are the answers to the challenges in the review:
Claus’s Clues: Run Run Rudolph
Christmas Tree Conundrums: The Gingerbread Man is Top Left
Tinsel Trivia Q1: There are four: Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, and Jacob Marley
Tinsel Trivia Q2: Boxing Day