The Game of Crazy Comparisons 4 to 8 players ages 9 and up
One day, I was shopping in the local second hand store when I saw a copy of Apples to Apples Junior. I had been curious about this game for a while and snapped it up to take home to my kids. The first surprise we had was that there were no instructions.
A game with no instructions? What good would that be?
Then we saw that the instructions were actually printed on the box. This was good for so many reasons. First, the game is so simple to play that there doesn’t need to be a long rule sheet to read and remember. Second, if the rules are on the box then your can’t loose them. (How many times have you had to look for rules that have gotten forgotten and left out of the box?)
The Object
The Object of Apples to Apples Junior is to be the first player to win five green cards.
The Apples to Apples Junior Cards
Red Cards – The red cards are the answer cards. These are simple items that kids know like “my dad” or “fireworks”. There are a few cards that have popular children’s characters on them. Because our copy is a little old there are a few that our kids don’t know such as “Teletubbies” (and I’m thankful that my kids don’t know that one!) but there are classic ones like “Prince Charming”. There are descriptions under the word to further help you recognize or understand the word. For example, “Play-Doh. A colorful clay-like dough used for making shapes.” These saying are often. “ Pounding Nails – use a hammer and watch your fingers.”
You could simply remove the cards that don’t work for your family but we have found that it isn’t necessary for our family.
Green Cards – The green cards are the questions cards. The questions are really simple such as, “Funny.” These cards also have descriptions at the bottom to help you understand. “Dirty. Unclean, filthy.”
Set up
Before playing, every player is dealt five red cards. They can look at their own cards but shouldn’t show them or discuss them with other players.
Playing Apples to Apples Junior
The first player to be the judge takes a green card off the top of the stack and reads it out loud.
Next, all of the other players choose a card from their hand that best matches the green question card. They then place their red card face down in the middle of the table.
When all of the players have submitted their answer, the judge picks up all the cards and shuffles them. Then he reads the cards out one at a time. He then chooses the card that he feels best matches or answers the green card. The player who put in the winning card, takes the green card and places it in front of her.
The played red cards are then placed in the box to be shuffled back in at the end of the game. The judge then passes a new red card to the other players and the judge title moves on to the next player.
Winning Apples to Apples Junior
The first player who wins five green cards wins the game.
What We Like
Apples to Apples Junior instantly became a family favorite. I think it might be our favorite game to play anytime we have company. It is easy to understand and play. A game of Apples to Apples Junior doesn’t take a lot of time to play—depending on how many players are playing and how much arguing and convincing the players do. The more players who are playing, the longer it takes to play but the more fun the game is.
We love the descriptions on the cards; we usually read them even though we don’t need to. Also, we love to convince the judge to pick a certain card. This sometimes lets the judge know who’s card is whose but not always. We also like the complaining after the decision has been made.
Another thing that we like about Apples to Apples Junior is the laughter. Sometimes you have no good answer for the question asked so you go for the laughs and put in something that doesn’t make any sense. The laugh is a win in our way of thinking.
The last thing that we like is our catch phrase in the game. We always say “consider your judge.” If you judge loves cheese then you can use that to your advantage. If the question is “Tasty” then this would be a great answer. However, if the judge is not a fan of cheese, this might not be the best card to play.
We liked Apples to Apples Junior so much that we bought the Apples to Apples Party Box that is for adults. You can read the full review here.
What We Don’t Like
There is not much that we don’t like about this game. The only thing that we could say against this game is the few cards that are outdated. But as I’ve stated before we haven’t found them to be a problem and you could always remove them from play.
Three Player Apples to Apples Junior
To play with only three players is not as exciting as it is with more players. The games are also too short. To make a three player game more interesting, we also take one from the top of the deck and place it in the middle for the judge to read. Sometimes this is very obvious but there have been times when the judge chooses the deck’s card. One time the deck was even winning. It’s not a perfect solution but when you want to play and there are only three players around it works just fine.
Conclusion
Apples to Apples Junior is a great family game. Anyone who is able to read to an early level can play this game. It is fun, quick and easy. As a family, we actually prefer Apples to Apples Junior over the Apples to Apples Party box. We highly recommend adding Apples to Apples Junior to your Family Game Shelf.
Get your laughs with your own copy of Apples to Apples Junior here. Canadians can get theirs here.
To find out about the Apples to Apples Party box, read the review here.
For more game reviews see our game review section here.
If you’re looking for more games be sure to see our dice games and card games section.
Pros: easy, quick,
Cons: some character cards can become outdated
Mom: critical thinking, judging skills
Rating:
Julia:
Carrie-Anne:
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