Bananagrams Review
THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER'S OWN.
Reviewed by Rebecca Cross
Bananagrams is one of those games that’s taken a classic like Scrabble but with a twist.
This was the first time we had played Bananagrams but it was easy to learn the rules and get going. We played with three people and it worked really well, taking about 15 minutes per game. The game works in a similar way to scrabble, except you are forming your own grid of words and racing against the other players. You turn all 144 tiles face down, everyone takes the same number of letters and one player shouts “Split!” to begin the game. It can quickly get out of hand if one of your fellow players is quicker at finding words to fit into their grid – each player has to take a tile every time someone has used all of theirs. So you can end up with quite a lot of tiles in your hand to try and use up (as I did!). I also enjoyed the banana-themed instructions and buzz words used throughout the game (from shouting “Peel!” when you have placed all your tiles in your own grid, to calling “Bananas” if you’re the first to finish once all the tiles are gone). If you picked up a letter that is proving difficult to use, you can also “Dump” it back down with the rest, however you must then take three in its place. The game is fast paced and a lot of fun when playing with friends and family. But be warned, there are no points in this game for complex or long words – it’s just about using up your tiles before the other players!
Within the instruction booklet there were also other “versions” of the game such as a shorter version and a version for playing solo – I found these weren’t as good as the original rules but they’re an option if you’re short on time or fancy a game on your own.
The game comes in a small banana-shaped case, making it very portable – perfect for taking on holiday or even to your local coffee shop on a Sunday afternoon! The tiles are a similar size to standard scrabble tiles, so are easy to pick up and the letters are clearly visible.
At £15.99 it’s much more reasonably priced than a lot of games, making it a good value product. It is aimed at everyone aged 7 and above but I would mostly recommend this game for teenagers and adults. Depending on their age, children may struggle playing against adults but would be able to have a fun game against other children of similar ability. Basically, anyone who can spell can play Bananagrams!
Overall, I enjoyed how easy it is to learn the rules and get playing. I also loved the banana pouch which makes it very transportable. Some of the games we played were a little stressful when your fellow players are quicker at finding words but overall it was a lot of fun! If you’re a fan of word games then this one is for you!
Rating: 4/5
RRP: £15.99
This product can be purchased from Asmodee here.