Game 73: Anomia

Anomia is another game we hadn't played for a long time.  Elisa came over last night, and this is the game we settled on.  David, Jacob, Ocean and I were the other players.  This is our last chance for a while for large group gaming, as Jacob and Ocean fly to Australia tomorrow.  I hadn't remembered how outrageously fun this game is and how outrageously frustrating it is!  The idea is very simple. Each card has a symbol and a category on it.  You draw a card, and if the symbol on your card matches the symbol on someone else's card, then you have to try to come up with an object in the category on their card before they come up with an object in the category on your card.  Whoever comes up with a word or object first wins the other person's card.  Whoever has the most cards once the deck runs out is the winner.
 The came contains 6 different decks.  I imagine that this is so up to 6 groups could play at the same time.  (It is the "party edition" after all!)  Even if just one group is playing, swapping out decks keeps anyone from just memorizing responses that were recently used.
 In the middle of the table we have two draw piles.  The right-side-up cards in the middle are wild cards.  The wild card in the picture below has a circle and a group of 4 dots on it.  This means that those two symbols are considered the same, which makes it all the harder since you are looking for a matching symbol, but also, perhaps, a symbol that "matches" because of the wild card.
 Below is a sampling of symbols and categories.
I think what makes this game so hard is that it is so wide open.  I'm VERY good at trivia games, where there is only one answer - no matter how hard the question is.  This game, on the other hand, leaves it wide open, and I find my brain freezing up as dozens of possible answers flood my head but won't come out of my mouth!  It's fun to hear other people shouting and sputtering as they try to get something out before someone else does.  It is a game that is high on energy and high on laughter.

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