included
is an instruction sheet (but instructions are also found on the DVD.) With high
roller going first, the game begins.SCENE IT?: THE DVD MOVIE GAME (Screenlife, 2-4 players or teams; less than an hour; $49.99)
Let's be honest. Trivia games don't generally make it into the pages of GA REPORT. There's too much "sameness" to them and limited replay value. But there are always exceptions to the rule. Scene it? turns out to be one of those exceptions.
Scene it? comes in a large square box which holds a folding game board, a
set of the obligatory trivia questions, four heavy metal (no pun intended)
player tokens, a set of Buzz cards, two dice and, the core of the game, a DVD.
Also included
is an instruction sheet (but instructions are also found on the DVD.) With high
roller going first, the game begins.
On turn, a player rolls both dice. One die is a regular six-sider with numbers 1 through 6. The other die is the category die (an eight-sider which depicts the available categories in the game). The active player moves his token on the gameboard track the number of spaces equal to the number rolled on the six-sided die. Then, that player (or team) must answer the challenge in the category appearing on the category die just rolled.
Three categories (Take Three, Songs and Slogans, and Pop Culture) are typical trivia fare. Take Three challenges you to identify the actor, actress or movie from three clues. Songs and Slogans involve a question focused on a song, slogan or tagline. Pop Culture relates to movie pop culture.
Two categories make use of the DVD: My Play and All Play. When these categories come up, the matching DVD menu item is chosen and a film clip and question(s) appear. With My Play, only the active player can answer; All Play (and TWO of these icons appear on the eight-sided die) allows ALL players to attempt to be the first to respond with the correct answer. In all cases, if the active player or team gets the question right, they go again. Get it wrong and play passes to the next player or team.
The sixth category, Buzz Cards, are chance cards which can bring good (or bad) luck to you or your opposition. Regardless, drawing a Buzz Card ends your turn. The final category, Player's Choice, allows the player to choose ANY of the other categories.
As in the standard trivia game, the object is to race around the board and be the first to finish. To make things a little more difficult (and to make more use of the DVD aspect of the game), all players nearing the end of the track must stop on the space labeled "Stop: All Play to Win". This results in an All Play to Win challenge. If successful, that player wins the game. If not, he moves into the Final Cut ring. This section of the board consists of three rings, marked 3, 2 and 1. The Final Cut challenge is chosen from the DVD game menu and the number on the ring (3, 2 or 1) indicates how many correct answers are needed to win the game. Get them all and you win. Miss and you advance to a closer ring and you get a chance to try again next turn. First player or team to successfully answer wins!
The core of the game is the DVD and the technology here is striking. The film clips vary from classics (such as "The Creature from the Black Lagoon") to modern contemporary films. The sharpness of image makes you think you're seeing the film clip for the first time (and whets your appetite for seeing the entire film once again - or for the first time!) And the questions here are NOT trivia. They focus on what you've seen in the scene. This is a welcome break from the landslide of trivia questions and forces players to "get into" the film clips, which adds to the fun. Another interesting twist adding to the play value is that there are multiple questions associated with each film clip so even if you happen to hit upon the same clip, the questions will be different! (Isn't technology cool?) This increases the game's playability and value.
It's all about the movies. If movies are something special for you, you can't do much better than with this new adult party game, Scene it?, which brings the movies into your home in a sharp DVD format. While the game does contain trivia components, its saving grace is that trivia is NOT the key: it's paying attention to what is on the screen and using your brain to solve challenging puzzles. And LOVE those film clips! - - - - - - - - Herb Levy
