Cranium Family

My son has recently expressed a renewed interest in board games. We tried our hand at Trivial Pursuit but the questions were a bit advanced for a ten year old. We have had great fun with Charades, but there are limitations on a game like this…it has a tendency to get off track at times…and there is no set goal…which means it can drag on forever. After Christmas, I browsed for some clearance games and ended up giving Cranium Family a try. The game is geared for ages 8 and up and splits players into two teams. So you must have a minimum of four players, but you can create teams much larger than that.

There a couple of things that really appealed to me about Cranium Family. The best aspect of this game is the fact that it is not an “every man for his self” game. By creating teams, younger players can be matched with older players allowing everyone a chance to participate. There are activities that may be a bit challenging for really young players, but there are others that even players much younger than the age of 8 can engage in. This creates a great opportunity for family bonding across age groups. The other thing I like about Cranium Family is the fact that a single game can be completed within half an hour. The limited time frame allows for shorter attention spans (like those of the adults in the room). The game is great fun for any age group.

The game board in Cranium Family has a fairly simple design. The two teams select between an orange or green plastic “mover piece.” The team that has a person with the next birthday gets to go first. In this game, you complete a task BEFORE you roll the dice. The tasks are divided among four color-coded “character card boxes.” The playing area is comprised of five corresponding colored squares…one for each character card box (red, blue, green and yellow) and purple which is player’s choice. The spaces alternate with some containing stars. If a team completes their task before time expires then they get to roll a standard six-sided die. If they are on a space with a star they get to double the roll and move that many spaces, otherwise they move the number they roll. With the potential to move up to twelve spaces per turn and a minimum of twenty-eight spaces to win, this game can move quickly.

The game board is very similar to a Trivial Pursuit board in size and construction. The board is cut on one side to allow the board to fold into quarters for easy storage. It takes thirty-seven spaces to win this game. There is one shortcut that eliminates nine of those spaces. The game comes with two mover pieces, one six-sided die, six six-sided letter dice, an hourglass timer, four character card boxes with about one hundred cards per box, a pencil and sketchpad and two tubs of clay. The game uses a variety of the enclosed props as well as items found around your house, individual creativity and some acting to accomplish tasks. Players are given a question or task based on the color space they are on, with purple being decided by the team being challenged. The character card boxes are Word Worm (Yellow), Creative Cat (Blue), Data Head (Red) and Star Performer (Green).

The Word Worm box uses language related tasks to challenge team members. The timer seems to run quickly on these challenges. For instance, the task may be to spell the word “watermelon” backwards, alternating between each member on the team. This must be accomplished in the allotted time…the added pressure of the draining sand can add some pressure! The letter cubes are used for many of these challenges. Your team may have to roll the cubes and write down a list of items beginning with each letter rolled. Another challenge would be to name five articles of clothing starting with one team member and moving to the next. Each progressive answer must begin with the last letter of the previous answer.


Read More About Cranium Family