Sunday, September 11, 2016

Punderdome: A Review

I love puns--the cheesier, the better.  You might have noticed that about me.  My oldest boy shares my love of puns, so it was with great anticipation that we opened Punderdome--A Card Game for Pun Lovers.
Punderdome is based on the renowned live game show.  The renowned live game show that I had never heard of.  So...just in case you've never heard of it either, here's a clip.

Warning for sensitive viewers--adult topics.



In this clip, contestants are alternately coming up with as many TV show puns as they can.

In Punderdome the card game, the Prompter draws two prompt cards, then at least two contestants have a set amount of time to come up with one pun that combines the two prompt cards.  The prompter then chooses his favorite pun, and that punster receives the points for that round.  There's also a speed round, which rewards the winner by giving them extra time to come up with a winning pun in the following round.

The game includes 200 double-sided cards (100 White and 100 Green), 2 Mystery Envelopes with fill-in prize slips, 2 80-page pads for drafting puns, 1 instruction card and 1 pun example card, all in a sturdy box.  The box and cards are good quality, and the directions are clear and easy to understand.  The pads of paper are pretty small (2.5 x 3.5 inches), so I would suggest using a small dry erase board for brainstorming, as I saw in a few of the Punderdome clips I watched.

AKD and I opened the box and eagerly read the instructions.  Then we dutifully drew two cards, read them out...and stared blankly at each other.  I don't remember what those two prompts were, but both of us were at a complete loss as to how to incorporate them into one pun.  Maybe we're not good thinking on our feet, but I feel like this game is much too difficult if played according to the directions.  It was disappointing, because we had great hopes for this game.

I do think we could still have fun with Punderdome, especially adding additional pun-lovers to the mix (Hubby's family is full of 'em).  I would definitely play in teams, and I would allow puns based on just one of the prompts, with extra credit for combining the two.

Bottom line: while this game has great potential, it's just too difficult.

I received this game for free from the publisher through Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

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