Before I go any further, and just in case you were wondering, Spot It is Major Fun.
Any further questions? Yes? 2-8 players. Another question? You in the front. Kids, of course, probably even as young as 7. Adults? You betcha. And yes, it’s a game for kids, a game for families, a party game for kids, families, and a very welcome filler game for grown-up gamers. And yes, still Major Fun. More Major Fun for kids or adults or families? Nope. In all cases, the fun is major. In deed.
It’s a card game. And the cards are round. Which turns out to be the perfect shape, considering. Considering what? Considering that you sit around the table, that everyone needs to look at the cards at the same time and see what’s on the cards without having to worry about which way is up, and that all the cards can fit into the palm of your hand, which sometimes they have to.
There are 55 cards. Each card has eight different symbols on it. There are more than 50 different symbols, and yet, given any two cards, one, and only one image will match.
The game is played as a series of four “mini-games.” The mini-games can be played in any order, but to play a complete game you have to play all four. Of course, you don’t have to play a complete game. Each one is fun enough. But all together, somehow the fun becomes, well, as they say, “Major.”
All the gamelets involve finding matching images. And in all, the object is to be the first. But each game introduces a different wrinkle. In one, you try to be the first to match a card that’s on the pile in the center of the table. In another, you try to find the match between the card in your hand and someone else’s. In one, you have to find the one match on one card that is the same on yours, in another, you have to find a match on anyone’s card before anyone finds a match on yours. In one you try to be the first to get rid of all your cards. In another, you try to have the most at game end. In yet others, the least.
There’s an online demo which, as advertised, amply demonstrates the perceptual challenge around which the games are built.
Spot It! is designed by Denis Blanchot and made available by the frequently-Major-Fun-award-winning Blue Orange Games. And it comes in a tin!