buffalo
2-8
14+
20+
Flex your recollection muscles and charge in!
What do a flamboyant popstar, a blind scientist, and a skinny superhero have in common? You'd better think fast, or your fellow player will leave you Buffaloed.
A card game of quick wits and zany combinations: name-drop faster than your friends, collect the most cards, and win! How fast can you name a vain artist? How about a glasses-wearing heartthrob?
Don't be surprised if you find yourself surrounded by curious players eager to name an annoying conqueror or perky religious figure!
buffalo is a quick party game for adults and families (2-8 players ages 14 and up), and players are encouraged to join in the middle of a game!
images © Tiltfactor
User Reviews (4)
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So let me start by saying that Buffalo is actually a cute little party game good for a fairly wide audience. It is simple and straightforward, while providing a wonderful opportunity for folks to come together and try to see who can come up the quickest exemplar of a skinny comedian or a grumpy puppet (for instance). (And who hasn’t been looking for such an opportunity?) The game consists of two stacks of cards (over 400 total) and a rulebook. Make that rulepage. The rules are very simple as is the game itself. I can’t overstate this enough: It is a simple and a cute game that can be a lot of fun with the right group. If your group is very diverse, there may not be a lot of familiarity with the references made, which could prove entertaining or informative for players, or it could result in folks just losing interest.
The card backs have a cute buffalo on them, and the cards themselves are uncluttered and basic. There’s a buffalo card in the deck as some folks have mentioned, where if he turns up, you can collect all the cards with a match. I don’t know that the buffalo card adds a ton of value, but it can change the tide in a game. There’s no real setup involved and the game can go for as little or as long as the players want! The replay value with this game is huge due to the number of cards and card combinations.
For me though, I’m torn on this game. I really love the idea behind it and the ridiculous amount of cards that are included is fantastic; however, I HATE those, “Be the fastest person in the group to say it,” games. So while I’m sitting there tripping over my tongue, everyone else around me is collecting all the cards. And ultimately, I’m staring at those cards thinking about how they are just nouns and adjectives. Folks are throwing their hard-earned Jacksons down on the counter – for nouns and adjectives on cards. If only I could have invented this game! I mean, do we really even need the cards to play this game? Oh, but without the cards, we wouldn’t get to enjoy the artwork of the cute buffalo. 🙂
All in all, Buffalo undeniably has its charm and is an enjoyable party game; however, for me, some serious house rule modifications will need to be worked in before it is the kind of game I’ll want to bust out on a regular basis.
buffalo is an extremely simple game that I can play with my family, which is a rare occurrence.
buffalo comes with 400+ cards, each one with an adjective or a noun on it.
The game has exactly three rules:
1. If you can shout out the name of a real person or fictional character that matches two or more cards, you take those cards. For example, if “Teenage” and “Book Character” are out, you could say “Harry Potter,” and take those two cards.
2. If your group cannot make a match (either because the cards out are too hard, or there are 0-1 cards out since matches need to be 2+), you flip two more cards over and players can match across any 2 (or more) cards.
3. If a “buffalo” card is flipped, the first person to match 2 cards takes all the cards on the table. The buffalo card just institutes a “winner take all” situation for one round. This has the added benefit of clearing out difficult cards.
But these rules rarely, if ever, need to be explained! Very often I’ve seen a game of buffalo start off with two or three players and end with eight. Hearing players shouting out the names of famous people draws party-goers or strangers over to the game, and it really only takes a minute of watching to figure out how to play.
My family and I played a prototype version of the game, and they’ve wanted to buy it every time I’ve talked to them since!
My one word of warning is the game works well for ages 14+, as younger kids often don’t recognize the words or don’t know enough pop culture to play without their family present. Also good to play with grandma, because the more life experience you have the better you’ll be at buffalo.
Ramenhotep seems to have given a nice summary of the game in his review, so I’ll stick to other impressions.
1)It’s a great game to play if you have a diverse group of people. I once played with two parents, their young (middle-school-age) children as well as some college friends, and everyone still had a blast.
2)It’s an awesome game to get people to join in the middle of play, especially if you’re playing non-competitively. I once started the game with 4-5 people, and ended with half my fraternity playing.
3)You feel a cool sense of accomplishment when you name obscure people with interesting characteristics.
4) It’s educational. I played it with a group of freshmen over orientation, and one of them said: “Wow, it’s actually hard to think of an Asian Scientist off the top of my head: shows what I know!”
Get ready to yell and laugh and all of these things, but only if you like charades! If you are like me (and if so, congratulations), these types of games are only appropriate during the right get-together and with the right group. It is for fun-loving people already looking to have fun or for trying to get people out of their shell – like a drinking party. If you pop this out on game night with a gaming crew expect them to get distracted fast, this game is too simple and just encourages socializing. There are too many easy card games that do the same for free with a poker deck!