Boards & Brews at Home: Wise and Otherwise

We’re back with another at home segment to play Wise and Otherwise, a bluffing party game for 2 - 6 players.  Do you like to stretch your creative and witty thinking to bluff your way through a game?  How much do you know about old proverbs and phrases throughout history?  How good are you at deceiving others around you to believing that something sounds convincing, but is entirely false?  Are you a wise individual or just a smarty pants?  You’ll have to really prove your creativity in this one to get to the end first, so read on to see our thoughts.

In this game we are trying to bluff our way to victory by throwing the other players off with witty and creative quotes. It is a mixture of truth and deception. The active player draws a card that has an array of quotes from all over the world. One side the card has the beginning of multiple quotes, and on the other side are the remaining portions of the quotes, each corresponding to their respective country. Once the active player has secretly chosen a one of the five phrases to use for that round, he or she will first state the country of origin and read the beginning of the old saying or proverb from that corresponding region. Next, all other players using paper, pencil, and a creative wit, will create their own ending to the phrase. They write down their answer, and hand it to the active player (reader).  The reader then writes down their answer for the correct ending found on the back of the card.  Once everyone has turned in their answers, the reader mixes up the submitted answers with the correct answer.  The reader will read off all answers and provide a number to each of the answers.  Beginning to the readers left, the players will start guessing which answer they think the correct phrase is. The reader reveals the correct answer and points are awarded based on a 2 and 3 point criteria, with some instances of bonus points.  Whoever makes it to the end of the board (the 20th space) first will win the game.

This game is interesting and somewhat fun.  I wouldn’t say it’s like Balderdash where your sides will hurt from laughing so hard.  Wise and Otherwise is designed to be more sophisticated.  The creators really put in a lot of effort for the phrases on the cards.  The game itself is not difficult, and really requires more creative minds at the table.  You have to come up with something convincing to really throw the other players around you, and if it’s too obvious that one of the answers is not the correct one, the game will just drag and become lame and boring.  Other players can use various tactics by voting for their own cards in the hope of throwing others off.  The game itself is not much to look at, but it provides the entertainment and slight humor that you would enjoy in a bluffing game.  I think we're going to hold onto this one for a longer term because with the right group, this game excels quite well.  It's not the kind of game that I would do backflips over, but it's a good game to have in the mix if you are wanting to go beyond the more in depth strategy games and just enjoy some light weight bluffing.

Wise and Otherwise
Overall Meeple Rating: 6.5/10
  

Game Mechanics: 
1) Bluffing
2) Simultaneous Action Selection

Have any thoughts or questions?  Leave a comment below.