Introduction

In my review of In a Pickle, I gave my reason for reviewing it as an alternative to Apples to Apples. The Big Idea is also a good alternative to those burned out of Apples to Apples, but The Big Idea is much more. In fact, the "Nouns and Adjectives on Cards" is all they really have in common.

The Big Idea is a game of inventions and investments. The players are combination inventors and investment capitalists, trying to make money with the next Big Idea.

Components

The Big Idea is published by Cheapass games, who have a philosophy that you already have play money, tokens, pawns, and dice, and just need the rules, cards, and map to play a new game. True enough! The Big Idea includes:

1 Cardboard Box
1 Rules Sheet
192 Cards (Half BIG (Adjectives) and half IDEA (nouns).)
Several milliliters of breatheable air.

What you have to provide:

1 6-sided die
5 unique tokens per player, with an additional 30 or so tokens if you play with outside investors.
Play money, in the form of bills, poker chips, or what have you (Finding a game that uses 100 as the base unit like Acquire rather than 1 like Monopoly adds to the fun.)

The Rules that come with the game are quite good, readable and understandable. The Cards have a little gloss and are very sturdily made, if a bit pointy on the edges.

Setup and Gameplay

The Big Idea starts with every player being dealt 3 Big and 3 Idea cards. They all start with $10 in bills (their own money), and 5 investor tokens (Money they control, but don't own.)

A Dealer is chosen, and that dealer will begin the round. Each round has 4 phases:

1. Invention Phase
2. Secret Investment Phase
3. Open Investment Face Phase
4. Selling Phase

the Invention Phase is the phase where players combine cards to make inventions. The typical card combination is 1 Big and 1 Idea card, though any combination works as long as you can explain it well. After everyone says they are ready, the players reveal their inventions. You get 1 investment token on your own investments for free, much like the founder's bonus in Acquire. This bonus gives you the incentive to make it a good invention so others will invest.

After everyone's explained what their inventions do, Phase 2, Secret Investment begins. Players secretly decide which NEW invention belonging to someone else they will invest in. Investing is not mandatory, and you can't invest if you have no tokens. Once again, when everyone is ready, all the tokens are played at once.

After that is done, the Dealer starts an open investment phase. During this phase, players may invest in ANY invention, even ones from previous rounds. If the product he's investing in contains no tokens or only his own, he pays nothing. For every token on the invention belonging to another player, he pays $1. For example, if Green is investing in something that Blue has 2 tokens on and Yellow has 1 token on, He gives $2 to blue and $1 to yellow. A player may also choose to do nothing, or divest his money from an invention that's going nowhere. If, at the end of this phase, an invention has no tokens on it, It is removed from play and the cards placed in the Discard piles.

After all players have done the open investment phase, a die is rolled to determine if inventions sell. Inventions sell if the die roll is the same or lower than the number of tokens on an invention; If 6 or more tokens are on an invention, it is guaranteed to sell.

If an invention doesn't sell, it simply sits there. If it does, it's removed from play, and the players who invested get money. The payout is double the die-roll per token. If an invention has 1 green, 1 yellow, and 2 blue tokens on it, and the die roll is 3, 3 is less than or equal to 4 so it sells. Green gets $6 (2x3), Yellow gets $6, but Blue gets $12 (2 tokens at $6 each.) The system is elegantly simple.

If you are playing with outside investors, outside investor tokens are placed on any invention that doesn't sell. They do not recieve money during Open Investment if someone else invests; they just bump the die roll to get the invention to sell faster. We usually play without them.

After 10 rounds or twice around the table, game is over. Player with the most money wins.

My Thoughts

I will not deny it even one bit. I love The Big Idea. In fact, I've got it rated a 10. Is it the best game, mechanics wise? No. But it's the most fun I have while gaming, period. I will play this game anytime, anywhere, and will give up most other games to do so with the right group (I have only turned it down once, and that was to play Viktory II, which I hadn't gotten to play much yet.) Despite the 3-6 player range on the box, We have found it adapts to groups of 8-10 with no loss in fun. In fact, the more the merrier almost applies here! With that many players, though, Each person should only be dealer once before the game ends.

Some have said the game requires players to roleplay a bit, especially during secret investment. This is true, however; the idea is to get an investment in with others to maximize your chances of making money. Part of that, in fact the entire "Party game" aspect of The Big Idea, is to figure out whose sales pitch was most appealing to the other players, and invest that way. A good sales pitch or a good invention like "Sexy Erotic Love Secretary" really DOES draw investors. After that, it's mostly a numbers game, but that doesn't mean the negotiation and party apsects no longer apply (for example, choosing to invest in someone else's product during the Open Phase because she invested in yours.)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Fast
Easy to Teach
Simple
FUN!
Generates a lot of laughs.
Price

Cons:

Not nearly enough cards
The Dice and Cards may join forces to screw you sometimes (Though this is actually fairly rare.)
Batteries Not Included, though if you frequent BGG you shouldn't have a problem scrounging what you need. The main thing is remembering to bring a game that uses play money when you bring The Big Idea somewhere.

Apples to Apples?

I did mention that didn't i? Well, though the mechanics are hardly the same, they do both have Adjective and Noun cards. Personally, The Big Idea never seems to get old like A2A does. It's always fun. And there's more than just the whim of the current judge deciding your fate. The Big Idea is definitely a good alternative to A2A, and should appeal to the same crowd. In fact, I unhooked my Fiancee's family from A2A with this game.

Conclusions

The Big Idea is a real winner, and possibly the Gem of the Cheapass catalog. The party game with an economic game hidden inside appeals to both kinds of gamer. Both my non-gamer friends and family and my gaming buddies love it. If you like to have fun while gaming, but want something a little meatier than your standard party game, get The Big Idea. It's more fun than a Flammable Battle Kilt.

EDIT: I rate The Big Idea a solid 10/10.