"You Said It"

Game Review

Review by Sam Shirley


Innovations of Dallas PO. Box 790562, Dallas, TX 75379
Released: July, 1985
Catalog No. 0182
Price: $19.95
Complexity: Beginner
Solitaire Suitability: None
* * 1/2

"You Said It" is a word guessing game from Innovations of Dallas. The game is played wit two teams trying to bluff each other with definitions of obscure words. As the publishers say, "You Said It" is "designed to tickle your olecranon and stimulate your spizzerinctum," but the price can cause a reaction more closely resembling acute pantalgia.

To begin play, one team picks a word from the stack of word cards. Each member of that team tries to convince the opposing team that his is the correct definition, while in fact only one of the team members is telling the truth. The opposing team has one minute to pick the right answer; if they are correct they receive one point and get to say the next word. If they are wrong, then the other team gets the point. The game can be played either until all the words on one card have been used, or until a predesignated amount of time has elapsed.

"You Said It" is made of top quality materials. The 75 word cards are made of high quality card stock. The printing is first quality The cover art is eye catching. It even has a one minute hourglass timer.

As a party game, "You Said It" can be fun. It is fast, easy to learn, and encourages group interaction. There are enough words and definitions to keep you playing long after you're too sloshed to talk.

The rules are very simple and very short; they fit on a single 7 x 2 inch card. It really isn't possible to get confused about how to play this game, so you could be playing it literally within minutes of opening the box.

The words, too, are truly uncommon. Some of them I recognized, but most of them you won't find in a standard dictionary. They can be found in a dictionary of uncommon words. Here is where we get to the major shortcoming; you don't need this game to play this game. The rules are so simple that it's barely worth writing them down, and for $19.95 it would be cheaper to buy Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of uncommon words and use the second hand of your watch as a timer.

What "You Said It" does offer is 1,800 preselected words in a very attractive package. It can be fun to play at a party, but it isn't going to occupy much of your normal leisure time. Whether you would pay $19.95 for it is up to you.

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