By Summer:

One of my favorite board games is Mattel’s Apples to Apples. We’ve been playing it at parties with friends now for … gosh … 8 years I think, since we’ve been married. We would have a game night all the time with our friends, but as we got older and had babies (and kids) the adult game time died. My husband and I game on out Xbox, and we dig playing on LIVE. And now we can have the best of our former years and now! Apples to Apples has come to Xbox LIVE!

Never played Apples to Apples? You’re in for a treat!!! This is a game of quick thinking:

In the board game there is a judge who lays down an adjective green card all players to match with a noun red card from their hands. The slowest play is penalized by not being about to lay down a card. You can play to the judge’s interests of you know the players well enough. The judge picks their favorite card of those provided and they player earns a point. The judge job rotates and game play continues until someone has collected six points.

The single player arcade game is a battle of wits as you “guess” what the computer would pick. The apple judges have a personality (i.e. – astronaut or princess or pirate) and you have to play to the judges personality. The apple judge will lay down an adjective and for the first several rounds they help you figure it out by providing the words. You have to type in the CAPPED word to earn guessing time; incorrect words take time away. In the later rounds you have to figure out the missing word and then type it in. My husband and I spend about an hour playing together to beat the computer. It was a fun way to play on the “same team”.

Local multiplayer is VERY interesting. It took my husband and me a bit of time to figure this game out. At first it seemed so simple, one judge plus two to three other players – basic. As a player, however, you can submit your card in secret. Of course as you look at them all player can read your cards, but you can select using “Play In Secret”, “Play Next”, or “Play Previous” in addition to simply selecting your card. However what through us was the play next and previous as the buttons are crisscrossed from cards.

Multiplayer LIVE arcade is a fun challenge as you might not know the players in your game. You can have a “party” and pick your game guests, or play with others just wanting to game online. . I did both (NOTE: you need at least 3 players to play a round – 1 judge and 2 players per round; 6 players is the maximum for any game) and found it all around entertaining. It was real people so made the emotion invest of the game more of a challenge for me; or in other words, I hate losing, so it was a fun challenge to try and beat other competitors. To play Apples to Apples on Xbox LIVE arcade you must have Gold LIVE membership

One thing I did notice when I first started, if you play more than a couple of games you’ve see many of the cards; then it just becomes a rotation. But each game is different since every time you play red cards are assigned at random and who knows when you’ll see the same green card – maybe in the following game or maybe 6 more games in. But the best thing about online is they (the game gods) can add more and current card as desired unlike a board game where you’d have to purchase an extension package.

Apples to Apples is totally fun! I recommend having a family game time on arcade with Apples to Apples.

My Mom Start Review Grade of Apples to Apples on arcade: A

About Summer:

Summer is very active in our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living while cooking up a storm