Creationary

It seems like the perfect combination: all the party fun of Pictionary and all the building fun of LEGOs. Creationary's concept is simple enough: draw a card (of different difficulty level, one to three) and build what is pictured. The other players will then try to guess what it is. Unfortunately, in practice it seems like this game is more likely a fun exercise for LEGO's master builders than a good party game.

One small problem is that the cards only show a picture and don't name the object with text. Considering there are various boats, rowboats, ships, barges, and so on pictured, when is it appropriate to accept boat as an answer and when isn't it? This sort of thing is only likely to be a problem for serious gamers and Creationary is not that serious of a game. Letting the builder determine which answers were specific enough usually worked fine. The difficulty level also doesn't make sense all the time. Most of the level one cards were pretty easy, but some threw us for a loop, while some level three cards we found incredibly easy. Overall the difficulty levels worked.

What becomes a true problem is that few people are both quick and clever with their use of LEGO blocks. 338 pieces is a goodly amount (and a tray comes in the box for organization and storage), but often you would find yourself one or two short of creating just the right sort of structure to convey what was on your card. This could be improved by adding pieces from your personal collection, but that's a double-edged sword: more pieces means more complex structures and more build time. This game is meant to be fast and having fewer pieces you have to be more creative with helps keep the pace quick.

But ultimately it can be very difficult to build very organic shapes like animals with the blocks. The worst case I can think of is when someone actually laid blocks on the table like a mosaic, not actually connecting them, to form a picture of a rose. It worked, but didn't quite seem proper for the game. Perhaps this all comes down to personal experience with LEGOs and playing more, practicing more, is bound to improve that.

It's the best concept showcased in LEGO's recent batch of boardgames and can be played by three to eight people (recommended age seven plus), making it a unique and different party game. But it leaves me wondering if anyone other than LEGO Maniacs will truly enjoy it. If you love LEGOs and have about $30 then definitely check this out. If you love boardgames first and foremost, then this probably shouldn't be at the top of your wish list.