Out of the Box Games provided our family with their Snake Oil Party Potion game for review. The game is aimed at players aged 8 on up to adult and anywhere from 3-6 players can join in the fun. Younger players can also play if they are good readers. The games are quick averaging about 20-30 minutes each. The game comes with 112 word cards and 14 customer cards containing a customer on each side for a total of 28 possible customer types. It also comes with a tray for the cards and directions. You can even learn a little history about snake oil.
So what are the word cards and customer cards all about? I’m glad you asked. Basically, each player draws six word cards. If a young child doesn’t know what one of their words are, they can switch it out for another card. One player is chosen to be the customer for that round, and he or she draws one customer card, chooses which customer to be, and then tells everyone “who” they are for that round. The other players select two word cards from their hands and combine them to form a “product” to pitch to the customer. Everyone has a chance to quickly pitch their ideas and the customer picks the one they like best. The player who wins that round is given the customer card. The game ends when everyone has had a chance to be the customer. The player with the most customer cards wins. If the game ends in a tie, a special tie breaker round happens per instructions.
I’m skipping the How We Used It section I normally include on the TOS reviews because, well, we played it. Per instructions. As a family. And the kids really enjoyed it. My husband and I also enjoyed the game.
As soon as the package arrived, my kids were immediately curious about the game. They each examined it and decided we needed to play it soon. Smiles abounded as we gathered around to play. Snake Oil Party Potion is simple to learn, and relatively quick to play. It’s neat to see what they come up with for their products and pitches. It takes imagination and creativity to sell the weirdest items. There are definitely laughs to be had with this game. It’s great family fun, easy to take with you, and doesn’t require much time if you happen to be in short supply of it. Even our adult kids found it fun to play when their younger siblings introduced the game to them.
One neat thing about this game is you can combine it with the other Snake Oil games for even more card combinations. You could probably even add more players this way although the game would last a little longer depending on how many you add. I definitely recommend this game . . . and guess what? Christmas is coming…
Snake Oil Party Potion has a suggested retail price of $14.99. Out of the Box has a variety of other games on their site, too.
You can find Out of the Box Games on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
