I'll just come right out and say it in the beginning - Say Anything (North Star Games, 2008 - Satish Pillalamarri and Dominic Crapuchettes) is a great party game - the best new party game since these designers' last hit - Wits and Wagers. Combining the best and simple elements from Apples to Apples and Wits and Wagers, Say Anything is a game that will cause a great deal of laughter in a short amount of time for up to eight players. A winning formula, if you will.

Players are attempting to read other players, but the game will still work fairly well, even if they don't know each other; and the genius of the game comes from trying to determine just how well others know different players. A party game that I can guarantee will be played twice every sitting, Say Anything allows creativity and discernment, in-jokes, and more - a terrific package.

Each player is given a dry erase pen, an answer board, and two tokens of their color. A deck of cards is given to the shortest person, who will start first; and another player is the scorekeeper, keeping track of the scores on another erasable board.

On a player's turn, they simply draw a card and pick one of the questions on the card and reads it out loud. Examples of questions include:
- Who is the most overrated band of all time?
- If you could have any job in the world for ten minutes, what would it be?
- What is the worst topping for pizza?
- What is the best way to relax?
- Which celebrity would be the most fun to hang out with for a day?
Everyone then writes down an answer to the question that they think the person who read the card will pick. As soon as a person writes down an answer, they place it in the middle of the table. Once an answer is played, no one else can write down the same answer.

At this point, the asker secretly uses the "Select-O-Matic" to pick the answer they like the best (it's basically a wheel on which the player can manipulate the pointer towards one of the players' colors). At this point, all players place their two tokens on the answers they think the asker picked. They can put both tokens on the same answer or spread out their tokens.

Once everyone has done this, the asker reveals which answer they picked. The person who wrote that answer gets a point, and everyone who put a chip on it receives one point for each chip. The asker gets one point for every chip on the answer, up to a maximum of three. The score is noted, and the next person clockwise becomes the next person to ask a question.

The game continues until everyone has asked a certain amount of questions (1 to 3, depending on players), and the person with the most points is the winner. Say Anything certainly has one of the most unusual tie breakers, in that all players tied for the victory have to sing a line from a song picked by the last place player while dancing. The one to do better at this (according to the last player) is the winner. As you can tell, many people would rather avoid ties!

Some comments on the game...

1.) Components: Say Anything is equipped with eight dry erase markers and boards big enough to write simple sentences and answers. The score board simply shows a grid with colors and the rounds of the game and is actually quite useful. Players will have to provide their own paper towels (shouldn't be a problem), and it's important to wipe away the answers when the game is over - while the boards are erasable, they can be difficult to erase if the writing sits there for a while. The game is top notch quality, which is fairly useful, since it will take some heavy play as a party game.

2.) Questions: Even with almost five-hundred questions, you might suspect that the game would have limited replay ability, but that's not the case. Since every game will have a wide range of players, you'll find that the variety in the game will come from the answers themselves. A nice feature of the game is that the asker will have five answers to pick from, and almost always they will find one that suits them just fine. Since players can answer whatever they want, it also does not matter if they have any knowledge of the game. People can give silly answers or serious answers, all playing to the judge.

3.) Ages: Because the game allows folks to put down whatever they want, the game will have a level of maturity based on the players. The questions are innocuous enough, but (and not remotely surprising) many groups can take questions and twist them to mean anything that they want. In-jokes will abound, and it's interesting how a teenager's game and rowdy late night game at a convention have completely different flavors.

4.) Copycat!: The game is very similar to Apples to Apples, with a hint of Wits and Wagers thrown in. Players are trying to match something in both games: an adjective in Apples, and a question in Say Anything! However, in Apples a player is limited by the cards in their hand, while in Say Anything!, players are only limited by their imagination. This means that Apples is still probably the better game for all circumstances, because a brain-dead person can always draw a card from their hand and play it - even if it is random. At the same time, most people who play both games will likely prefer Say Anything, because the game allows such a wide range of answers. This does mean that the game can spiral out of control, with a person writing the same answer every turn, or things taking a decidedly "adult" turn. However, I prefer the freedom in answering, and some absolutely hilarious moments will occur. Just when you think you've thrown down the funniest answer ever, your sister-in-law will write down something better.

5.) Strategy: I like how a player can get a maximum of three points per round - not only does it keep game scores close, but it means that an "obvious" answer will not destroy the game. So if "What's the greatest board game of all time" is asked of my wife, even though everyone will throw all their chips at the Ticket to Ride card, she'll still only get three points. I personally discourage play of such obvious answers, rather enjoying the type of questions that most people don't get asked ("What would be the worst song for a wedding first dance?"). When writing answers, the main focus is getting the judge to pick your answer. But even if they don't, one can hope to have other players waste chips on their answer, keeping them from scoring points. There is always the possibility that the judge can pick an answer randomly (or even "strategically"), instead of the truth - but its effect on the game is minimal.

6.) Fun Factor: Game play is very short, but very funny. Answers in the seventh round will refer to those in the first. Jokes that come out of game play will be referenced by players for days. The game will cause shouts of laughter, arguments that will last for days (just what IS the best candy of all time?), and enough fun that players will demand to play it several times in a row.

Say Anything! is one of those party games that I urge everyone to go out and buy - now. It's already in my top tier of party games, and one of the most fun that I've played in the last several years. It will work at parties, as an icebreaker, in youth groups, late at night, with families - simply put - in almost every situation. North Star Games motto is currently "Games with Personality". But with this one, they might say, "Fun in a box". It's true.

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.thedicetower.com