Me: A Compendium - A Review

This journal is the cutest. It has so many pages to fill out. My daughter has loved looking at it with me and asking me to read her the questions so she can doodle. She is a bit too young for the book, I would think that the intended audience would be 6+ years, but nevertheless, she's enjoying having a book of her own she can color and scribble on. And that's worth it to me.

**I received this game from Blogging for Books for review purposes. All opinions are my own.**

Punderdome: A Review

If you're like me, you've played Apples to Apples before and loved it. Not only was it fun, but it's one of those games where even when you lose you don't regret playing because laughs were had and from now on you have new inside jokes with your people who are now your friends if they weren't already before. Yet, admit it- even with as good as the game is, you feel guilty playing it. Deep down you know that as funny as the game was, it was all luck- the creativity comes down to sheer dumb luck and timing. What if you could eliminate that guilt without sacrificing the laughs?

Enter: Punderdome. It plays basically the same as Apples to Apples (and other similar games), but you are in charge of the creativity. If you win the round- you've earned it! The game gives you a subject (i.e. Michael Jackson) and situation (i.e. fishing) and gives you 90 seconds to write down a pun with the two (i.e. "It don't matter if you're cod or pike!"). The "judge" of the round picks their favorite pun and awards it to its creator. Obviously coming up with a pun is much more difficult than choosing a card at random and hoping that it's funny enough to get picked, but sometimes the worst pun wins with the right judge (one of mine used "Taxes" and "Grocery shopping" to be "Who will do the taxes this year? AISLE do them!"). Even if it doesn't win- your worst puns are guaranteed to at least award you an eye roll.

Yes, this game is fun. Yes, you'll be surprised at just how creative you've been this whole time. Yet, it does seem to lack polish. The game suggests that it ends by choosing an actual object to award the winner. The instructions actually suggest prizes such as a microwave or a used napkin. This idea is so bad and overkill that I suggest everyone considers this optional. My only other gripe with the game is the lack of mechanic for what to do when you just can't think of a pun in 90 seconds (for example, 3 times a game they can write "CHEAT" and switch papers with one in the pile of puns). Such a mechanic might help others be more willing to come and play- which is imperative to this game's success as it requires at least 3 people (or teams) to play.

Overall, this game is a wonderful idea. It doesn't quite feel like it's in its final, polished form, but with the right group of people this could just be a game you'll never forget.

**I received this game from Blogging for Books for review purposes. All opinions are my own.**