A game about games? Meta!

A couple months ago, I tried out Apropos of Movies, a cute little trivia game. It’s a deck of sixteen movie qualities and you have to determine movies that either have or don’t have them.

It’s a clever little game, and I like how there isn’t a single right answer so you can get a lot of mileage out of such a small deck. You really just have to add a house rule of not reusing the same movie in the same session and you’re good. I am even planning on making a spare copy For potential classroom use. 

Well, Apropos of Board Games is the same deal… only for board games! 

(Yeah, probably not that big a surprise)

You have a Must Have and a But No cards that you’ll be forming rows next to. Draw a card and place in the Must Have line. Figure out a game that has that particular characteristic. Draw another card. If the last game you picked has that characteristic, put it in the Must Have line. If it doesn’t, place it in the But No line. Five cards makes a game. You set a timer for five minutes and you need to beat the clock to win.

One interesting change from Movies to Board Games is that the Movie version has rules for higher difficulty by adding more cards. The board game version doesn’t have that option. Maybe the world of movies is vaster than board games?

(Nah, that could never be)

I rather like trivia games that have you find ideas that fit into categories rather than have a single right idea. I feel they have more replay value and have more scope for imagination. And the Apropos family definitely fits that.

With that said, Board Games are a lot more niche than movies. I can’t see pulling out this version for group play, even with dedicated gamers. On the other hand, it will probably see a lot more solitaire play by me lol

I do wonder if there will be more Apropos games. Literature or video games seem like fertile media for it.

Apropos of gaming with non-gamers

 Apropos of Movies is a game I hadn’t heard of until I saw it on PnP Arcade’s Black Friday sale. Which is slightly surprising because I tend to at least look at what Button Shy is doing. (If PnP micro games are of any interest to you, Button Shy is your jam)

Apropos of Movies is an 18-card party/social/trivia game that can be played solitaire. It pulls off the later by being a cooperative game that you are playing against a timer. The timer is the bad guy.

Sixteen of the cards are movie elements and the other two cards are a ‘Must Have’ and ‘Must Not Have’ 

Set down the ‘Must Have’ and ‘Must Not Have’ cards. You’ll be forming rows of cards beside them. Set the timer. Now, draw the first card and put it in the Must Have row. Figure out a move that fits. Draw the next card. If the first movie has that element, the second card goes in the Must Have row. If it doesn’t, put it in the Kust Not Have row. Now,’figure out a movie with the new restrictions.

And so it goes.

The game ends when you’ve either successfully played five to seven cards or the timer goes off. You lose if the timer goes off. 

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the mission statement of Apropos of Movies was ‘Make a game to play while waiting for your food at a restaurant… that you have to play with non-gamers’ Because, if that is the one thing this game is supposed to do, it delivers. Trivia/Party games aren’t really my jam but I _know_ people would eat Apropos of Movies alive and without ketchup.

I do like how you have to come up with your own answers. The game just supplies you with the questions. That means, with maybe a house rule or two, you could get a lot of mileage out of it.

If I am packing one social game for a trip, it’s going to be Flipword. But if I want to throw in a second game, Apropos of Movies is a good backup choice.

I have learned that there is another game in the Apropos family that is about boardgames. I’ve gotten the PDF files for that but I have a feeling that will actually be one I will end up playing solitaire.