games
by rmabrahams

Sculptapalooza: The Squishy, Squashy, Sculpting Party Game

1936_playfoam_sculpting_party_game_dt_grande.jpgPurchase Sculptapalooza HERE.

TV and City received a sample copy of this new game for review. We played a few rounds and had a great time! The game is essentially a combination of Pictionary and charades but with play foam. The box includes enough play foam to play the game, a cardboard mat to work on, 200 clue cards (more than enough for many rounds of the game), and a scorecard, die and timer. There are an additional 20 blank cards to make up your own clues.

The game is supposed to be played in teams, so you need a minimum of four people to play. One person on the team sculpts at a time and the other guesses (only one chance). The numbers on the die represent different tasks:

1) Straight to Sculpt – build the clue out of playfoam

2) Put in on Your Face (or body) – these are to make you look like a type of person or a well-known figure

3) Just Close Your Eyes – build the clue with your eyes closed (hard!)

4) PlayFoam Props – build something that helps you act out a charade

5) Sculptor’ Choice

6) Lightning Bolt – go to the Lightning Round – build as many/guess as many as you can in 60 seconds (also hard!)

One really wonderful feature of the game is that it is bilingual – in addition to instructions, all the cards are in Spanish. That’s still fairly unusual for board games in the US. The game is supposed to be for ages 10 years old and up, because the clues are pretty hard. It would be great if there was a younger version because the play foam is sure to be a hit for younger elementary age kids.

To be honest, I was kind of wary of kneading the play foam and didn’t really want to put in my face, but once I started to play, I saw that it’s comfortably pliable and much cleaner than Playdoh or molding clay. Little beads can come off though, so be careful if you have infants around.

A few things for version 2:

  • The game could use 2 mats and it would help if they were larger.
  • Only the lightning round is timed, so builders can take as much time as they want. It’s a good idea to set some time limit, or each round can take a long time.

If your family wants to take charades up a notch, Sculptapalozza might be just the thing!

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