Wig Out! is a fast, fun, easy-to-learn card game where players compete to be the first to get rid of their cards by matching pairs and piles of the same image.
When you consider how much fun and engaging it is, the game is remarkably easy to learn. All you have to do is find a pair of your cards that match, or match one of your cards to a pair (or pile) of cards that is already on the table. It’s that easy. And that, in itself, is a praiseworthy accomplishment of what, in our estimation, is of major significance. Though not as significant as the fun it creates.
There are 14 different characters depicted on the cards. The characters are all funny-looking, and the color and design of each makes it exceptionally easy to see when there’s a match (another major accomplishment, design-wise). Each player gets 7 cards (if there are 5 or 6 players, each gets 5 cards), and when the game starts, the action keeps going, getting more and more frantic, until someone shouts “Wig Out!,” thereby implying that she has gotten rid of all the cards in her hand and is deserving of all the accolades due to the manifestly victorious.
Since there are 14 different characters, as the game progresses, you get more and more piles to look at. And, of course, the more piles, the more concentration you need, and the more frenzied you get. If you can find no piles for your cards, you just pick another card. As the game draws to its tensely dramatic close, it often seems like everyone has been waiting to get rid of exactly the same card, which, given the nature of the design, is almost always the case.
Lovely, lovely game. Victory is a matter of luck and focus. Anyone can win. The closer you get to winning, the closer everyone else is. And it all happens so quickly that you don’t even have time to feel competitive, or care, really, who wins. Because by then it’s time to start the next round.
Yes, of course, you can play for score, the player who wins the most rounds winning the game. But that’s not really the point as far as we’re concerned. It’s the ease of the game, the funniness of the images, and the fun of playing such a silly, but challenging game together.
Wig Out is for 2-6 players, ages 6 and up. It was designed by Forrest-Pruzan Creative with illustrations by Dean MacAdam. It comes to us courtesy of Gamewright.