Funko Cranium Big Brain Detective Game for 1-4 Players Ages 5 and Up

My extended family has a monthly 'family game night' and we are always looking for games that are appropriate for all ages. Sometimes we have six-year-old kids playing and sometimes we have eighty-year-olds playing, with all ages in between. This game is suitable for the whole (extended) family. Set up is easy: everyone gets dealt 4 playing cards. On each card there is a Person, an Object and a Place. They're 'themed' cards, so an example a card might have Thomas Jefferson as a person, The Declaration of Independence as an object and America as a place. The rest of the deck goes in the center of the table, to replenish each player's cards as the players use them up during their turn. Game Play: also in the center of the table, there are four double-sided 'guides' (as I'll call them) which provide instructions on what to do. One side is 'basic' instructions and the other side is 'advanced' instructions. They are red (word games), yellow (this is escaping me at the moment), green (acting in a charades-type manner), and blue (drawing on the included dry-erase board). You roll the multi-colored die, and let's say the face on the die is Blue and the symbol on it is a Location pin. According the the 'guide' for that color, you have to look at your player cards and draw the 'location' on the card. Using the above example, that'd be America. If you were using the flip-side / advanced 'guide' then you'd have to draw it as tiny as humanly possible. If you rolled a green face with a Person icon, you'd have to act like Thomas Jefferson. If you were doing the advanced guide version, you'd have to act like Thomas Jefferson *but* your elbows would have to remain glued to your sides like a T-Rex. There are also 4 'coins' that you can use to change categories. The idea is that EVERYONE is on the same team, and you play against a timer. There's a link to install an app but we just used our regular phone's timer. You set it for 15 minutes and pause it in between plays (unless one person is playing and everyone is guessing, the timer gets paused). When someone guesses your drawing/word/etc: that card goes in a pile of 'winners.' You see how many winning cards the team can collect before the 15 minutes is up. It's fun, it goes quickly, and it's faster to play than regular Cranium. I am not a fan of learning new games, but this one was no problem. to learn and understand quickly.

This is the funnest game ever, we had the original and we're so glad to find this one for the grandkids, a great family game, that will get you dancing, skipping,hopping & all the rest

Oh my goodness! My 7 year old had a BALL with this game. We played the green cards at first, which are easier, and once he had the gist, he was off to the races. The back of card bonus question/activity adds some easy-peasy fun and a chance for wiggles and I'd say makes the most sense when playing with others so you can enjoy each other's sillyness. But the overall seek-and-find-and-puzzle part is brilliant and is both accessible and challenging for kids (maybe up to 10? 12?). My son started playing the red (harder) puzzles on his own and has come back and put hours into those when I wasn't available to play. Occasionally he'd check in when he had a stumper and we would figure it out together or flip it over for the answer, but that fact this game can provide solo entertainment away from a screen can be a huge plus for a busy mom! I don't know who did the art for this but it is SO creative and filled with hidden visual jokes and puns for adults to enjoy and more than a few hidden references to movies/TV/pop culture. I think I laughed out loud at the sand-witch. And there is just so much of it. It's an enormous multi-part board that pieces together into a giant map with very dense detail. I think you could stare at it all day and still find new things to notice every time you come back. If you and your kids like Where's Waldo but wish it had some brain teaser and puzzly-ness, this is a home run. (I almost wrote No-Brainer! LOL) It challenges them to interpret what they see, not just find it. I think this game has a lot to offer and I would give it six stars if I could. Instead I'm just going to buy copies for everyone I know with elementary age kids.

This game can keep my kid occupied for a while and I love that it's active and imaginative. I just don't like having to use my phone to play the music. The older version of this game (like 15 years ago) had a device that would play the music and give the instructions which was perfect. Using my phone is fine, but if my kid is occupied with this game, then I'd like to be able to check some messages while she plays which is not something I can do with the current design.

Fun to play! Quality product and we will enjoy on game night and winter evenings!

This game is so fun. My kids are all different ages and this kept them all engaged. We skipped a couple of the bonus’s but overall we enjoy the challenge.

This game is so much fun, any age, it’s good to play anywhere

You need the app to play the music. I cannot use my phone or tablet because they are too new and an older version of android is required.