I have to start this review by stating that I’m hopelessly biased toward this game. I had a hand in its early development as the designer, Kory Heath, and I worked on the first prototype together last summer. I’ve carried what became “my version Why Did the Chicken” with me ever since then. It’s provided many hours of entertainment with a number of groups. At the end of last year, I picked it as “the best prototype I played in 2003 that had yet to be published” for Fair Play Game’s year-end picks. Consequently, I was very excited to hear early this year that Kory’s version of the game would be published by the new company, Play Again Games. I quickly got my hands on a copy and I gave it a try with a few groups.

In a nutshell, this is a game of generating semi-random riddles and trying to come up with funny or clever answers. One player takes on the role of judge each round and he will pick his two favorite answers from among those offered by the other players. The rules fit on one side of a three-quarter sheet of paper. It’s that simple, but it offers so much. Colorful nouns and some great starter questions open the door for creative self-expression, surprises and a ton of laughs. When it comes to games in a social setting, I can’t imagine what more you could ask for.

Here’s a little more detail on the game play. The judge draws a question card and two noun cards. The question card has (surprise!) a question on it, but the question will have two blanks. The nouns from the noun cards will be inserted in those blanks in an order chosen by the judge. So, for example, if the question card is “Why does… love…” and the two nouns are “a fisherman” and “a woodpecker”, the judge could ask either of these questions:

“Why does a fisherman love a lawyer?”
“Why does a lawyer love a fisherman?”

Many times the order won’t change the question much, but even so, with 20 question cards and about 300 noun cards, that makes for well over 850,000 possible questions.

As soon as the riddle is read to the other players, they get two minutes (sand timer included) to write down as many answers to the riddle as they choose. If there’s any drawback to this game, this is where it will become evident. It requires some creativity and some people may feel their answers are too inadequate. I can say from experience that, by far, most players I’ve introduced this game to have enjoyed it immensely. I’ve been surprised that some people who I thought would hate it loved it. Others who were initially cold to it warmed up to it and have even won.

As an aside, some may wonder how I can be so confident about this game when it’s only been released a short time. So, I should mention that this idea of using the two-minute timer and the opportunity to submit multiple answers is the main difference between the published version of Why Did the Chicken…? and the version I’ve been playing the past several months. It turns out this is a great addition. So, while most of my experience with the game has been with an early version, I can say with confidence that the published version offers much improvement in gameplay.

When the timer runs out, all submitted answers are read aloud by one player. The judge considers them and picks his favorite two. The players who submitted those responses take one of the noun cards. Of course, since players may submit multiple answers, it’s possible that a player will get both cards. Cards count as points at the end of the game. We usually play until everyone has been the judge three times.

Some comments on…
Components: You get six pencils, a sand timer, several pads of paper (blank sheets), 20 question cards and about 300 noun cards in the box. The cards are quite thin, with only text on the front. The backs are illustrated with either a chicken (noun cards) or a question mark (question cards). That’s it for illustrations. I’m not one to be drawn to a game because of its components, so a slightly low-budget production doesn’t matter to me. It’s very functional and if the choices for materials and the look kept the cost down, all the better!

Fun & Replayability: With most groups, this game is non-stop fun from beginning to end. The questions themselves can cause everyone to burst into laughter, but the answers are hilarious—even the horribly lame ones! Most of the time they won’t seem as funny later on. On the other hand, I still crack up when I remember some of the better ones. With thousands of questions possible and so much room for creative expression this game is off the scale, in my opinion, when it comes to replayability.

House Rules: I suggest dealing six nouns and three questions to each player before the game starts. They can use these to make the three questions they’ll judge during the game. Dealing them out this way allows players to create the best questions they can using more options than are offered using the standard rules.

Also, there’s one small thing we do that, I believe, adds to the humor of the game. We’ve found the answers have an added punch if the judge reads the question aloud each time before the answer is read. When it comes to humor, timing is everything, right?

Conclusion
While this game is near and dear to my heart, I won’t benefit financially in any way from sales. My enthusiasm for the product at this time is only based on how much I’ve enjoyed it and how much I’ve seen it entertain the groups that I’ve played it with. While some of the questions will lend themselves to answers easier than others, the toughest ones offer an enjoyable challenge. Also, even the worst answers can be entertaining as well when everyone groans or offers a collective, confused, “What?!?”

I believe any group of creative individuals will thoroughly enjoy this game. As I stated above, I’ve been surprised to find it’s even worked well with groups that I didn’t view as particularly creative. For those who are intrigued by the description, but still have misgivings as to whether or not the game would work with their group of friends, I encourage them to find a way to try it before buying. I’d hate to see anyone miss out on what I think is one of the best party games ever created.