Time's Up!

Players: 4 or More/Teams Ages 12 and up

Review by Worthy

Ed brings a game out called, "Time's Up".  This is a party game.  Now most party games suck, but then again Apples to Apples is a big winner.  So we had some apprehension, even after the first round.  Then all was revealed. Here is the concept.  Each player is dealt 8? cards.  You look at them and each card has a famous person on them.  Take two of them and toss them away.  All the other cards are collected from the players and mixed together to form the deck. No other cards will be used.  Now in this deck are all the card chosen by the players.  So each player has already seen some of the answers.  Each turn, you draw a card and try to get your partner across the table to guess the famous person.  You can talk as much as you like, without using spelling clues, or 'sounds like' clues and the other obvious cheats.

In the first round, there were some amusing moments.  The Poet Robert Burns you have to get across to someone who doesn't know who he is. Same with the baseball player Catfish Hunter.  And sometimes you just can't remember a Strom Thurmond.  Still, for the most part, it was pretty easy.  We were now very confused that as with Take 6, there was a Mensa sticker on the box.  Here is where it starts to turn around.  After all the cards are guessed, you gather the SAME cards back up and reshuffle them.  In round 2, you are only allowed to give a one word clue, which can be supplemented with non-verbal clues.  What happens is that when you are reduced to one word, you are often better off using a word that reminds someone of the previous clue rather than of the answer itself.  When Ginger Rogers ended up being derived in the first round from Ginger on Gilligan's island, the second round clue was 'Gilligan'.  And he guessed it right.  It is at this EXACT moment that everyone realizes that not only did we not pay enough attention to the round one  clues, but that the alcohol was affecting our memory too. The Charles Darwin clue was now the fish symbol (from Christianity) with legs (a popular variation right now).  Ed doing the 'Be seeing you' symbol from Prisoner, then letting his fingers do the walking was amusing.  Some remained very easy, such as Curious George.  It was also weird for me picking up a card, staring intensely, my only utterance being the word "BLACK" (in a very loud voice) and having Jen get "Jesse Jackson".  Rodin was also difficult, because you had to get his first name, Auguste.  Prich drew this one, but did not remember any of the round one clues (such as 'the thinker').  SO, he starts waving his arms madly.  I am cracking up, because I INSTANTLY recognize this as the monster Rodan, fighting Godzilla.  Everyone else is thinking, how is that Auguste?  And his clue for Al Pacino was not the word Godfather, but rather something less significant, forcing Prich into a very bad Godfather impression.  Now even though he was doing Marlon Brando, Ed gets it because it is the same cards as round one.  It also gets amusing because you run into situations were everyone gets the clue except the person guessing.  (There were other amusing moments with Hands (sic) Christian Anderson and another with the number 3 that I can't even recall at this time.) This would be Rumpelstillskin! George Bush, is simply 'president'. Now round 3.  You see, in round three (again, the SAME CARDS), you can use no verbal clues at all. Not even sound effects.  But you have already seen every answer at least twice.  The funny part is that the previously easy ones are now hard because nothing memorable happened for that answer in the earlier rounds.  Early on, Suzanne gets Jesse Owens and takes off running. An easy guess, but amusing. I got Nicholas Cage and completely blanked and started drawing a tattoo on my chest like the one he had in Valley Girl, until suddenly I came to my senses and gave a better clue (this would be placing your index fingers near your mouth for fangs). Sammy Davis Jr. was Isaac the Bartender by now (index finger pointing at you, one eye closed). Prich once again gets Al Pacino and simply pulls out his jowls.  That is a sight to see.  Jen tries desperately to get me to Robert Burns.  When the guesser doesn't get it right away, oh boy.  After a full minute of knees bent running about, I think I got it at the wire.  Suzanne drew Ginger Rodgers and is trying to get Steve through pantomime to get Ginger.  She is running her hands down herself, and the runs towards the doorwall and crashes.  NO ONE realized she was trying to do the crash of the SS Minnow! 

So now Steve draws a card and gets Suzanne as far as George something.  In a brilliant attempt to make it on time, he resorts to pointing at Suzanne's crotch.  Suzanne now blurts out "Curious George".  It is at this point that I (we) start laughing uncontrollably.  I mean, I literally had to lay my head on the table.  But that was the warm-up.  Steve waves her off, points to her crotch again and Suzanne blurts out "George Cunt". Ok, even remembering this now, I am laughing so hard that my hands are shaking as I type.  I almost pass out from laughing.  I am banging my hand on the table, tears flowing down my face. Everyone is just screaming with laughter, trying to contain themselves.  I declared it the first 'Game Night Hall of Fame" moment.  Even now, I don't even know if she ever got it. Sadly, she didn't get it, but this helped John and I by giving me the "point to Suzanne's crotch clue to give to John. Everyone knew that crotch=Bush except Suzanne.

Now there is enough time passing in the round to reset.  George Gershwin was amusing, as was people trying to use the number 8 to represent Auguste. Now it comes back to Steve and he draws Catfish Hunter.  He is casting like a fisherman and Suzanne remembers Catfish, but not Hunter.  It was at this point I blurt out, "try using you previous clue with a 'sounds like' " (Catfish Cunter). Again, uncontrolled laugher, but mostly from now remembering the first joke. 

There were other funny moments, too many to even recall.  In the end there was a score, but who really cared at that point.