Huh?

I am always eagerly searching for games that support large numbers of players, so I was super excited to learn about HUH?, a party game where you give cryptic hints about a movie or famous person/character in the hopes that you will clue in just one (or a few) people. The fewer people who guess correctly, the more points you both get - unless no one at all guesses right. And lucky for me, the game supports up to 17 people! 

So how do you give these subtle hints? The example on the game box goes like this:

- It's a movie that starts with Irish dancing and ends with swimming.

Huh?!?! Well, I know the hint is being intentionally vague, so I imagine the swimming may not be intentional. Jaws? No, there's no Irish dancing in that. Oh! TITANIC!

If no one gets it from your first clue, or if someone thinks they might have it but are not sure, you may keep giving clues until you're confident at least one person has it. Then you stop, and everyone writes down a guess.

Depending on how many people are playing and how many guessed correctly, the clue giver and the correct guessers will then all score an equal number of points - 3, 2, or 1, depending on how many people guessed correctly (fewer people means higher score.)

That's the game! But here's something really cool. It's not just about verbally describing the film or the person. You can provide information however you wish:

• Act out a scene from a movie.
• Do an impression of the person or character.
• Hum or whistle.
• Sing.
• Perform charades/pantomime.
• Quote from a movie or a movie's tagline/advertising.
• Or anything else.

The possibilities are vast. Performer types and movie buffs will love this game. As you play, you get a feel for how obtuse you can be in your clues, and what makes a good clue.

The one and only Achilles' heel of the game is some people insist they are "not good at this kind of game" or don't know pop culture. I think if people will just relax they would have fun with it, but not all games are for all people. Still, this is one of my favorite party games and high on the leaderboard right now. I encourage you to check it out at Eagle/Gryphon Games.

Oh, and a final note - while I was showing this game off at a recent game convention, one player went to fetch his wife to have her play too.  The exchange went like this:

Him: We're going to play a party game, want to play?

Her: What game are you going to play?

Him: "Huh?".

Her: WHAT GAME ARE YOU GOING TO PLAY?!

(grin)