Home > Categories > Games & Puzzles > Board Games > Cranium review
Who would have guessed that your uncle with the bald spot could hum the BeeGee's "Stayin' Alive"? You'll find out during a game of Cranium, as you hum, whistle, sketch, sculpt, act, puzzle, and even spell backwards to win.
Cranium, the smash hit Game of the Year, gives everyone a moment to shine.
Who's it for? 4 or more players, adults and teens.
What else? Try Cranium Primo Edition, the deluxe version of Cranium. Booster Boxes 1 or 2 will refresh your Cranium game with all-new cards. You can even create your own cards with Cranium Custom at www.cranium.com.
Game comes with:
• Cranium game board
• Timer
• 800 outrageous Cranium cards
• Custom Cranium pads and pencils
• A ten-sided Cranium die
• Cranium rules
• A tub of cool Cranium Clay
• Four funky Cranium play pieces
Product reviews...
This is a great game for the whole family. I would personally recommend it for children over the age of 6 as some of the general knowledge questions would be a bit tough for children under that age. However when we have played it with the whole extended family we have played it in teams so the whole family can get involved with the younger children doing the playdough sculpting or drawing so they can get involved too.
The game really has it all from answering questions, acting, sculpting, and drawing. The aim is to make your way around the board but the fun is in how you get there. Always has our family in fits of laughter especially when someone tries to act out a famous characters or does a really bad job of drawing something. It is a game you could play for hours as it doesn't get boring.
It is a little more expensive than some games but in my opinion is really worth it as it is so packed full of fun. I would give it a big 10/10 for fun factor and would recommend it for families with pre teen or teenage children as a game that the whole family can play.
Cranium is a great game, more geared for adults, but also fun to play with a mixture of kids and adults helping.
I agree with the other reviewers, the rules can be interpreted in a couple of ways, but once everyone agrees on how they want to play, it is a fun game.
One of the key points is making sure you play with people who actually want to play, having played this with people that weren't too keen, they really dragged the game down.
If you like pictionary, charades, using your brain to solve questions, all while having fun with other people, then you will like this game.
Ok from an adults point of view this game is awesome. Purchased it for my kids some time back and we adults found it great... once we figured it out that is! Sorry but the directions/instructions were not at all very clear and in places were extremely difficult to understand.
And the same was to be said for the kids. 4 children aged from 9-13 had attempts at it, but being young and all eager to play, the long instructions and the arguing over how it was supposed to work nearly resulted in 4 children packing the game up and deciding not to bother.
I believe when it comes to board games the instructions/directions need to be simple, clear, concise and quick to read. Children dont want to spend hours or even many minutes trying to work out the concept of something... they want to play, right now!
Once we did take some time to read over instructions, the game was played and everyone had a wonderful time... many laughs to be heard which is what great games are all about.
Played this with some of the other reviewers at our most recent games night. I think it is absolutely fantastic! Take pictionary, charades, trivial pursuit, add some Cranium Inc. ingenuity, and glue them all together with a bit of cranium clay and you have a recipe for hilarity. To be honest I think I spent most of the night in hysterical laughter...
*remember Ray's skinny dipping?*
This game is pretty easy to learn, although the rules could be a little clearer in some places.
I highly recommend this game for family nights, party nights, or any other social gathering!
Cranium is THE game for teens and adults who want to let loose and have some big kid fun.
Combine quirky charades, pictionary type challenges, a blob of sculpturades putty, and you have the makings for hours of goofy fun.
The game is played in teams. Each team making it's way around the board by engaging in some absolutely hilarious antics. The challenges range from answering trivia questions, sculpting in squishy clay, and humming popular songs for your team mate to guess.
I'm not usually one for new games but I found Cranium particularly easy to learn and totally enjoyable to boot. The average game kills a good couple of hours, and is a great social activity for groups of friends on those nights when you just want to have a laugh.
I'm not the best at learning new games, and even when I do, I usually bore of them quickly. Which is why I was extremely surprised to find myself giving such an advanced score.
Now, I don't profess to being a genius, or even an artist, but even so, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. Elements of modelling, charades & blind drawing added to the fun factor.
I look forward to the next games night, so I can find out more tid-bits of possibly unknown information.
Enjoyed this game very much. The rules are very simple to understand once the game has started.
A game that caters for everyone whether your a genius, know your history, an artist or an actor. With challenging twists to keep the game interesting.
Most suited for adults, as trying to hum the tune to a song or act out a person a bit before your time becomes quite interesting and no doubt entertaining for other teams.
Wow! This game really DOES have it all.
Four of us gathered at a local bar and took over an upstairs booth, grabbed some munchies and drinks and sat down to play.
After a couple of warm-up games of Cadoo we set to the task of figuring out how to play Cranium. This game is many 'steps up' from Cadoo, but carries the same basic principles... meaning the two games play well together, and advanced Cadoo players can find a new challenge in Cranium.
We spent a good 3.5 hours (which is how long you need to watch TV to offset the calories of a block of chocolate, BTW) playing, and loved every minute of it. We boogied, we hummed, we drew (eyes open, and shut), we played with the Cranium Clay and mimed our way through one fun game.
There were more than a few challenging cards, and the game-pausing Cranium Club cards are an interesting and novel twist. Keeping track of the turns can be a bit difficult for the novice player, but after an hour or so, you get the hang of it.
All in all, I was very impressed, and despite a few teething troubles until we learned the pitfalls of the game. Overall, this will be a great favourite, and we are already planning more games nights.
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