Spinergy lauds itself as “A cool, modern game.” The main mechanism of the game, the spinner itself, looks rather modern and cool, so I thought I might try it out. The problem with many party games today is that they take a neat party idea and expand on it. Sometimes the idea is a roaring success, such as Apples to Apples, Time’s Up, and Balderdash. Other times the idea is fun for a game or two, then it’s time to get rid of the game. I’d tell you some examples of these, but I’ve forgotten their names. J

So is Spinergy a great new party game, or a tired addition to a bloated category of games? The short answer is that yes, it is a great new party game that is overlooked by many.

And now for the longer answer…

First, a short description of game play.

Spinergy comes with a large (about a foot diameter) circular stand with three spinning rings on the top. In each of these three rings, a plastic overlay ring with words on them (around 60 words on the smallest ring, and 120 on the a largest.)is placed on top. Six plastic rings come with the game, allowing for eight different combinations of rings.
There are three rounds of the game, during which each player gets one turn. Each player takes their turn in order, as follows…

The three rings are spun, in any direction and as hard as the spinner wants. Then, the three words that line up with the pointer are used for this round. (An example of three words – ones I just spun while writing this review – are: nervous, cowgirl, and conspiracy). The player then draws a card from the Scenario box and reads it aloud. (Example: Sing Around the Campfire – Create a campfire song and sing it to your fellow players.) At this point, the timer is flipped and all players write down (on their scratch tablets) a response to the scenario card, using the three words that were spun.

Meanwhile, the spinner tries to guess some of the words that the other players will use in their responses. In the first round, the spinner guesses three words, six in the second round, and nine in the third round. They can guess any word except for very common words like “the” or “on”. A list of unguessable words is listed on the back of the rulebook. When time is up, each player reads their response. If one of the words the spinner picked is in the definition, the spinner gets the points on the scenario card – 2, 3, or 5. Otherwise, the writer of the response gets those points.

After 3 rounds, the game is over – and the highest point total wins! The rules include rules for variants, and more info pointing towards their web page.

Some comments on the game:

1). Components: Wow! This game comes with some of the best components I have ever seen, especially for a party game. The only negative thing I can say is that the box is rather large and square. However, it is incredibly sturdy and looks really good on the shelf. Inside the box, everything fits fantastically inside a plastic mold, one of the sturdiest I have ever seen in a box, and has spots for everything, from the pads to the pencils, to the box, to the large spinner mechanism. Everything is then covered with another clear piece of plastic that holds everything in the box, even if it’s flipped upside down. I dropped the box off a table, and everything still stayed in! The game comes with six pads of paper, and six very nice large pencils. A game like this doesn’t have to include pencils, but it is a nice touch. And I’ve never seen a game provide such quality pencils, as most games provide small golf course type annoyances. The large spinner sits firmly on the table on its three legs. The rings spin well, and each has three finger spaces for ease of spinning. The ring overlays fit on nice, and do not come off as easily as I thought they would. The entire game is easily washable. I really like how the timer (a very nice one) sits in the middle of the spinning rings – well enough so that it doesn’t come off when spun. The scenario cards are a little drab looking, but are really good quality and should hold up well over the course of time. All in all, I have to give this game one of the highest marks for components in a game – ever!


2). Price: For a party game, Spinergy isn’t cheap – coming in at around $40. The website also sells additional rings for even more words – but they also wield a hefty price tag. I was fortunate and got the game for a rather large discount. However, now that I’ve played it, I might pay the full price. The game is frankly worth the price component-wise and, in my opinion, fun-wise. You are getting a game that will last for quite a while, so I think that your money is well spent.

3). Fun Factor: Spinergy is a lot of fun! There are over a hundred thousand word combinations with the 6 rings. This coupled with two hundred Scenario cards creates huge replayability. The definitions that people give in this game can really bring down the house. When your words are “neon”, “diaper”, and “donut”, and the scenario card wants you to create the plot for a movie that will make the audience boo-hoo and give it’s ending – you are just asking for hilarity. As with most party games of this type, however – if someone tries to win, they could in theory write as few words as possible. This gives the spinner a harder time trying to guess the words, and also makes the definition less funny, and thereby the game less fun. But as long as a party pooper like that isn’t playing, then this game is chock full of fun! And because it’s a writing game, reserved people have an easier time getting into this game. The fun factor is high with this game!

4). Time: One thing of note here- we found the timer too short in our games, even though it’s 75 seconds. We flipped it over once to give the writers more time to come up with crazy yet believable responses. This was actually recommended in the rules, and we liked it so much that we still play that way. The time of the game runs about an hour to 90 minutes, but went by quickly, as everyone is involved with every spin.

5). Strategy: Even though the game is fun, it does take a bit of thinking. You would be surprised how hard it is for both the spinner and the responder. As spinner, it is a quandary to come up with words that others will use, and as a responder, with words that the spinner won’t guess. We found that the spinners got better in time, as they were able to follow the responder’s train of thoughts over the course of a game. The strategy in this game matches the fun.

6). Website and Expansions: www.gnugames.com is the website for the makers of Spinergy. The site is nice, but is mostly just up to sell the game and sell expansions and refills. The expansions are nice, but I think that the basic game would satisfy all but the most rabid of fans.

7). Rules: The rulebook is small, has illustrations, and is very simple to understand. The back of it has the unguessable words on it, and is small and handy as a game aid.

So over all, I have to highly recommend this game. It’s not inexpensive, but then again – I think it’s worth the price. It will come out often at our table, and everyone who plays it will like it. Give it a try!