Vladimir

Trivia? Love it, but it can be difficult to review or recommend. Fun, but with a set ‘shelf-life’. Only so many plays before the same questions start coming up; hurting replay value. Here is the brilliance of Geek Out!, there isn’t a ‘right’ answer; only accepted ones. Geek Out is a blend of trivia, Name That Tune, and game-night debates. Convinced you know more about animal themed super-heroes than your friends? Time to prove it! Take turns rolling for category deciding minimum bid and topic. For example, Two Animal Themed Super Heroes; now comes Geek Out’s twist. You can agree to that number OR you can bid higher, then everyone will have a chance to do the same until everyone is out and the highest bidder must deliver on their geeky bragging. Can you outbid, out-geek or outwit your friends through a combination of knowledge and strategic bluffing? If the high bidder manages to name the promised quantity, they get the card (worth 1 point) and the bragging rights. If, however, their bidding bests their brains, they get a Penalty Chip (worth -2 points) making more work for themselves. The official rules suggest playing to 5 points, but you can adjust as you see fit for longer or shorter play. If time is a factor, you can also play ‘marathon’ style; set a timer and see who can get the most points before the bell. Get the determined point total and hold your head high; you’ve out geeked your foes! Play or Nay: Quality: Cards are a bit on the cheap side. Not unheard of in the genre but with so few components and most being cards, it is notable. NAY Ease: Setup is basically just opening the box, play is quick to get into. Perfect for a party game. PLAY Fun w/ Friends: Great for any number of people. Teams are best with more than 8. PLAY Fun for One: Not made for solo play, but I’ve been known to challenge myself with cards in downtime. PLAY Value: Coming in under the 20 dollar mark, with mechanics that lend themselves to greater replayability. PLAY Overall: We don’t know about you, but arguing about nerdy things is a large portion of our day anyway. Add in that I can do so and maybe win? Don’t mind if I do! PLAY Pros:

Lends itself to replayability thanks to bidding mechanic
Engages all players with bidding and challenging answers
Easy to set up and clean, as a party game should be

Cons:

Group Dynamics can make or break the fun, best with nerdy but amicable groups that are looking to have fun, not ‘rule lawyer’ their way to victory.