family game Archives - Page 5 of 5

I’m sure at some point we’ve all played one of those games where a post-it note is stuck to your forehead and you have to guess who or what you are. Hedbanz follows the same concept in a family game – with some hilarious results.

Much as the game name suggests, in Hedbanz each player gets a headband to put on your head which can hold a playing card size card. The idea is that everyone wears on if these with a card placed in it, and they have to guess what they are.

How to play

Game play works in that each player is given three counters, or chips, at the start of the game. When it is their turn, they turn over the timer and then have that long to ask questions to help them work out what they are. The rules don’t specifically say that it is has to be yes / no questions, but they generally are.

Helpfully the set also includes a card for each player which has sample questions on it. We played with 8 year old Little Miss C and she found this really helpful on her first go to have a bit of structure and guidance to help her work out what she was. Although – I’ll be honest and say that none of them really helped me to work out that I was a toaster in one round!

If you guess what you are before the timer runs out then you put one of your chips back in the bank. The first player to get rid of all their chips wins. If there’s still time remaining on the timer then you can also pick up another card to place in your headband, and try to guess a second time.

What we thought

For a game you can have between two and six players. We tried it out with two adults, a thirteen year old and an eight year old. It worked really well with some hilarious results. I can definitely see it being a firm family favourite at Christmas time, or just the next time we have extended family to stay. I’m also guessing that after a couple of drinks it may also go down well with the adults playing alone!

I though the whole chips side of things a bit of a complication. In a way it would just be easier to each take a chip when you guess correctly. But you can easily tweak how you play to accommodate that.

Added bonus

There’s also one extra added bonus of the game which has to be mentioned. It’s wonderful for helping you to get new online profile pictures of people!

Headband is produced by Spin Master and is available in most high street toy shops as well as online. It has an RRP of £12.99 but if often available for less, especially at sites like this one.

Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of Hedbanz for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links.

For a while now Bonn and I have been collecting various vintage board games. We’ve been picking them up from charity shops all over the place with the aim of featuring as many as we can here on Penny Plays. The idea is that we can feature each of the games and maybe include some in videos and podcasts that we have planned. I guess that means it’s time to welcome our first vintage game here on Penny Plays – Rack-O.

Last Monday saw us luck enough to stumble across a car boot sale as we headed home from the ferry port. We managed to pick up quite a lot whilst we were there. One such game being Rack-O. For the grand price of 66p!

Now I have to admit that I’d never heard of Rack-O before last week. The box told us that it was a card game that involved putting things in order, but not much more than that. As general card game fans we were very much up for giving it a go though. Aimed at ages 8 to adult we played with my Mum and step-daughter.

The aim of Rack-O is to get your cards in numerical order. Much like you might do in the regular card game of Rummy, or “Threes and Fours” as I always knew it. Rack-O isn’t played with regular cards though. Instead you have cards numbered 1 to 60.

Game play

In the regular four player game, which we played, each player is dealt ten cards and has to place each card in his or her Rack-O rack immediately. In the order that they are dealt. Each space in the rack has a number next to it and these go in fives from 5 up to 50. The first card dealt goes in the 50 slot and the final one in the 5 slot, with others following in-between.

At this stage I literally found myself having to sit on my hands as not being able to put the cards in numerical order was very hard to bear! It’s something that you so naturally do in card games, but not in this one.

The remaining cards are placed in the centre of play in a pile. This is the stockpile. The top card is turned over next to them and forms the first card in the discard pile.

Game play goes around the table clockwise from the dealer and the aim is to get your cards in numerical order from front to back in your rack. When you do this you then shout “Rack-O” and win that game.

The way you get the cards in order is that you need to take cards from the table and replace cards already in your rack with them. Each turn you can either take the card on top of the discard pile or one from the stockpile. If you want to keep a card you put it in your rack, in whichever position you choose. The card you have replaced is then put on the discard pile.

You don’t have to have straight runs of numbers (at least not in the regular four player game), but they just need to go from lowest to highest.

Scoring

What makes the game particularly interesting is the scoring. And for this you definitely do need paper and pencil whilst you play. The overall winner is the first player to get to 500 points.

The person who shouts Rack-O first in a game gets a total of 75 points. 25 of these are for shouting Rack-O whilst the other 50 are for the cards in his rack. 5 points for each of the ten cards in the rack. Other players score 5 points for each card in their rack in low to high order, starting with the card in the number 5 slot. This counting of points stops when you get to a card that is out of order. Also, the last four cards in the rack do not count. This means that whilst the winner of the game gets 75 points, the maximum anyone else can score is 30.

Game variations

We tried out the standard 4 player game, but variants are available for 2 or 3 players. In these you use less cards and the two player version also requires your to have at least three cards in immediate sequence in the rack to call Rack-O. It is also possible to play as partners when playing with four players.

There is also Bonus Rack-O in which you get extra points for runs of numbers when you shout Rack-O. Get a six or more card run and you can end up with a massive 475 points when you shout Rack-O.

History of the game

A bit of a search online suggests that Rack-O was first brought out in 1956 by Milton Bradley – more commonly known as MB. The version we found is probably early 80s as it says copyright 1980 on the box, but 1978 on the instructions. In later years the game was produced by Winning Moves.

It seems that Rack-O wasn’t actually all that obscure. A quick look on Instagram with the #racko hashtag, also suggests lots of people are still playing it. All around the world. There are also lots of old versions of it still for sale online.

Nice touches

Whilst we all had a great time playing Rack-O there were a couple of nice touches that are really worth shouting about. Firstly the racks and tray for the stockpile and discard piles. It’s lovely to see both made from a sturdy plastic that shows no signs or raging or wear after all these years.

Secondly, and most importantly in my eyes, the card design. In particular the positioning of the number on the cards.These go across the top edge, but are done so that they are in a different position for each number, with lower numbers at the left and higher ones at the right. This means that as you look down your rack you can easily see any card that is out of position. A small thing that makes game play so much easier.

In conclusion

When we buy games at car boots and charity shops we always do so with the idea that we’ll try them out and then either sell the on or donate them to a charity shop if we don’t like them. The measure how a good game is if we decide to keep it. Rack-O is definitely in the keep pile! 66p very well spent.