Cranium (game)

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Cranium
Game data
author Richard Tait , Whit Alexander
publishing company Cranium, Inc. (1998, 2001),
Jumbo Games (2004),
Hasbro (2009)
Publishing year 1998, 2001, 2004, 2010
Art Board game
Teammates 4 or more
Duration 30-90 minutes
Age from 12 years

Awards

Game of Games 2004: Hit Games (Games for Many)
2004 TOTY Game of the Year

2004 (Toys Industry Association)

Cranium is a creative thinking and guessing game in which up to four teams of at least two players compete against each other. They have to prove their skills in four different categories in order to be the first team to reach the goal. The tasks make some demands on creativity and thinking skills, as the category names suggest: Star-Steller, Wort-Wurm, Kreato-Kater and Denk-O-naut (in early versions the English names were still used: StarPerformer, WordWorm, CreativeCat and DataHead).

The game

The name of the game is derived from cranium (lat .: skull ) and is intended to indicate the nature of entertainment with this product.

Game setup

The cranium playing field is divided into four differently colored areas. Each area stands for a category. The box with tasks / questions from this category is set up here. Each team receives a writing pad with a pencil, the cranium clay is laid out next to the playing field and the hourglass is positioned in the middle of the playing field. The team pieces are placed on the starting field.

Course of the game

The team with the teammate whose birthday is next may begin.

When it is a team’s turn, they are asked a question from the category the character is currently in. One possible task in the StarSteller area would be, for example, to pantomime the saying "Make an elephant out of a mosquito". One player in the group must then try to explain this phrase to the other players on his team. If they manage to guess the term within the time limited by the hourglass, the team can now roll the dice and place their pawn on the next space with the color rolled. Then it is the turn of the next team.

Cranium fields

There are four normal cranium spaces on the game board, marked with purple brains. The pawn must definitely stop at these spaces, even if it is allowed to advance further from the value rolled. In the cranium fields, the team can choose from which area they would like to answer a question. If it answers the first question correctly, it can continue on the shorter inner lane. If it can't answer the question, it has another chance in the next round, but has to take the longer outside lane.

The final of the game is the cranium central field. When a team enters the central field, you place the piece on the category rolled. Now the team has to solve a task from each task area. As soon as this is done, a task from a category chosen by the other teams is waiting in the cranium central field in the middle of the playing field.

Club Cranium

There is a Club Cranium symbol on some task cards. This symbol means that this question will be played by all teams at the same time. The team that has the solution first receives a bonus move. Then the team that actually had its turn may draw a new card.

Victory conditions

The team that is the first to master the task set by the others on the cranium central field wins the game.

Web links