For my first game lab, I played Cards against Humanity and Cranium. I do not normally play card games or board game with others, so this activity was a breath of fresh air. While I enjoyed both games, I liked Cranium more. The objective of Cranium is straightforward; players start on the first space of the board and must reach the end. Players roll a die with a colour on each side; each colour corresponds to a category of cards. The player draws a card from the category and follows the card’s directions. If the player succeeds, then the player moves forward to the next space of that colour. There are four categories: Creative Cat, Data Head, Word Worm, and Star Performer. Creative Cat generally involves drawing a clue, a la Pictionary, or model with clay. Data Head generally involves answering a question, a la Trivial Pursuit. Word Worm involves various word problems, such as filling in a black in a sentence. Finally, Star Performer can involve a player acting out a clue, like in charades or humming a tune.
Eight of us played Cranium, all of us in teams of two. I was new to Cranium, but even still, I quickly became familiar with the rules of the game. The card that I enjoyed the most was a Star Performer card where I had to mime a woman being sawed in half by a magician. I started by lying on the floor and used my hand to mime sawing through my stomach. My partner was not yet on the right track, so I mimed a magician pulling the two halves of a woman apart, but my partner was still unsure. I then mimed taking off my top hat and waving a magic wand over it. My partner guessed “Magician!” I nodded and went back to lying on the floor and pretend to saw myself in half again. My partner finally correctly guessed that I was a woman being sawed in half, and the victory sent our team several spaces across the board.
The game continued for some time after that. We did other card activities, such as my partner making a clay person wearing swim briefs, but the charades were still my favourite part. By the end of class time, my teammate and I won, to my pleasant surprise.
