ThinkBlot

Many years ago I was in a Christmas gift exchange with co-workers. After many rounds of stealing and trading and the usual nonsense, I came home with, what I think was the best gift: the board game ThinkBlot.

Have you ever taken the personality test where you look at ink blots and have to say what you see? The board game ThinkBlot lets you do just that—and try to convince others that what you see is really there. It’s kind of like looking for things in the clouds.

Object

The Object of ThinkBlot is to be the first player to reach the end of the score board by gaining points by seeing as many items in the inkblots as they can.

Set Up

Each player chooses a coloured path on the score board. The game book sets up to be an easel so many people can see it at one time.

How To Play ThinkBlot

On each round, a special die is rolled. It has blots and categories on it. This will be what players will be looking for. (More on this in a bit.)

Next, someone flips to any page in the book. Someone else turns over the timer. Players then write down any and all that they see.

When the timer runs out, players have to stop writing things down. Next, players take turns saying what is on their list and trying to convince the others that what they see is really there. If a player is successful in convincing the others then that player scores. If they can’t convince anyone then they do not get a point.

The Categories

When a category is rolled, then players are to look for items in the blots that match that category.

The categories are creatures, everyday people, food, wearables. (Personally, we found the categories too difficult and skip rolling the dice and looking for category items.)

Bonus Images

After everyone has a chance to share their lists, the page is slipped over. The backside of the page shows some items that can be found in the blots. If a player has these items on their sheet, they score bonus points.

Scoring

When a player has an answer that is accepted and that no other player has, then she scores 2 points. For answers that are shared with one or more players, all players with that answer score one point. If a player has a bonus image on their list, they score an extra one point for each bonus answer.

Winning ThinkBlot

The first player to reach the end and back of the score board is the winner.

What We Like

I love games that let you use your creativity and our power of persuasion. ThinkBlot has both of these. Each game is different, especially if you play with different people.

This game is very easy to learn to play. At most, players will only need one round to get the hang of it. This makes it great for newbies. It is also a “drawing” game without the need for drawing skills.

The easel board is great. The quality is good and sturdy. It also makes it a lot easier for many players to see which is good.

Last, there are lots of pages. So there is lots of playability.

What We Don’t Like

First, the categories are too hard. Often we wouldn’t have any answers or only one or two. As I said before, we simply stopped playing with the categories and that solved that problem.

Next, the bonus items are not in line with what we see. Often, we shrug and move on. This isn’t a big problem as it doesn’t impact the overall score very much.

The last thing is the scoreboard. Although it’s convenient that it’s part of the easel, we find that moving the pegs is a little clumsy. Also, all the pegs are the same colour—the player’s colour is on the board itself. It would be better if the pegs were the colour.

There is one other potential problem. If you play a lot, especially with the same players, you could start to remember the answers—especially the bonus ones. We haven’t run into this yet. There are plenty of pages but the potential is there.

Conclusion

ThinkBlot is a game that uses creativity and persuasion. It is great for families of all ages and groups of people. Sadly, ThinkBlot is out of print. However, I highly recommend picking up a copy if you’re lucky enough to find one. ThinkBlot is a great addition to anyone’s Family Game Shelf, especially if they love drawing games.

Look for your copy on Amazon.

Learn how you can make your own copy of ThinkBlot here.

If you’re looking for more fun games, check our game reviews, dice games and card games.

Rating:

Pros: creativity, good for groups, quality, easy to learn and play, playability
Cons: scoreboard, possible to remember answers
Mom: creativity, debate skills, consideration,