Cranium can stake a credible claim to be the pre-eminent party game. Originally designed by Who Alexander and Richard Tait, in the 25 years since it first appeared it has been through countless iterations and editions. To mark its first quarter century, however, Funko Games have published this Anniversary Edition.
Like the original game, this edition of Cranium claims to accommodate 4-99 players. The game needs to be played as a team game, however, so the game is now explicitly designed for two competing teams (the original edition envisaged up to four teams). Funko Games have also streamlined the board: instead of a Ludo/Parcheesi-like board, the game is played as a race around the circular circumference of a plastic board with the question and challenge cards stacked in the centre. The board (termed the 'Cranium Capsule') also incorporates storage for all the components: a neat, attractive and greatly improved edition of the game.
Gameplay is super simple, as it needs to be for a mass-appeal party game. Having divided the players into roughly equal teams, each team's marker starts off in the 12 o'clock position on the board. On your team's turn, one player rolls the chunky custom ten-sided die where the colours indicate the category of question or challenge. The other team draw a card and read off the corresponding challenge. These aren't all the same: there are four or five different types of challenge for each colour. For example, in the blue Pictionary-style category, Cloodle involves one member of the team drawing on a whiteboard to convey a clue to their team mates; Seismograph requires a player to draw by moving the whiteboard while the marker pen is held steady in midair; Sensosketch requires a player to draw their clue with their eyes shut; and Sculptorades has a player use modelling clay to communicate with their team by 'sculpting' their clue.
If a team succeeds in their task, they advance their marker around the track to the next position corresponding to the colour they've just resolved. Prior to undertaking their challenge, the team can play one of their tokens to re-roll the die or they can play a token to up the stakes so that they advance one or two spaces further if they are successful. The tokens tho' are all single-use, so teams will want to use them wisely.
Cranium has proved it has staying power and this bright new edition updates the game and gives it a new lease of life. It's a lot of fun and it's a game that all the family can join in to play together.