Hues and Cues Guessing Board Game 8+ Review
DISCLOSURE -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 Deborah Banasko
The box contains:
The game board
100 cards
30 Player Pieces (10 different colours)
1 Scoring Frame
As much as I love the outdoors, my ideal day with the kids revolves around movies, snacks and a good board game. Our games cupboard is well stocked but we seem to spend longer trying to agree what to play, than we do actually playing. Enter the boardgame “Hues and Cues”… my children are always thrilled to play something new and it saved time on the argument!
Testing out the game were myself and my husband, 13-year-old daughter and my boys aged 10 and 6. We struggled to get into the box as the kids spent several minutes deciding which was the favourite and least favourite colour from the cute little coloured squares on the lid.
First impressions on opening the box were the high quality of the game board and playing pieces, and also the sense that my husband was going to be absolutely useless at this.
The aim of the game is for players to guess a specific colour from the board based on one or two-word clues, with scoring based on guessing accuracy for both guesser and clue giver.
The game is played on a large rectangular board covered in small squares to represent a range of shades of every colour. Each square is located by co-ordinates which are numerical across the bottom, and alphabetical along the sides.
Players are given three game pieces of the same colour and the cards are placed face down. When the cue giver draws a card, they must choose one of the colours on that card to describe (the co-ordinates are given). A one-word clue is given to the other players, with game rules on the types of clues permitted followed strictly. The guessers then take turns to place their game piece onto the coloured square that they feel matches the clue, and only one player is allowed per square. The cue-giver then has the option to provide a new two-word cue, and guessers can place their second play pieces down in the same way, starting with the player who guessed last previously.
A scoring frame is used to calculate the points scored for both cue giver and guesser, depending upon whether they scored an exact match, within the scoring frame or adjacent to the outside of the frame. The players third playing piece is used to keep track of everyone’s scores on the scoring track at the top of the playing board. Depending upon how many people are playing, everyone may have 1 or 2 turns as the cue giver before the game is over.
What I love about this game is that everyone feels involved throughout as you aren’t waiting long to take a turn. It is fast moving, unlike anything that I have played before and it does feel that everyone is on a level playing field… as we all know colours, right? I thought that I did, but it is funny how people perceive colours differently or use clues which I hadn’t a chance of working out. The hardest part was keeping clues to one or two words, and with my 6-year-old we did have to bend this rule slightly and offer a little more help.
The guide of 3-10 players is possible, but my issue with so many players and being unable to share squares when you place your guess does mean that you feel denied points as you are forced to guess a square which wasn’t necessarily your first choice. We plan to get around this at our next big family get-together by jotting the co-ordinates of our guess on a piece of paper before placing pieces down, and allowing the sharing of squares. It just feels more fair with larger groups playing, but that’s personal opinion and not a real issue.
The age recommendation of 8 plus feels about right; as I say we did play with our 6-year-old as we are used to adapting games for him, so this is a game that you can work with if you have younger and older children playing together. You just adapt this to suit the child so it is a flexible game, and the concept and scoring are very easy to pick up.
However, I do have to say that it is more fun when you stick with the rules and limit the words, as things can become silly and confusing in the best possible way, and laughs are guaranteed particularly with vague children giving out the clues. Good lighting is also essential to avoid cheating claims from husbands (who, as predicted, are really quite terrible at this game… much to the enjoyment of the kids)!
£24.99 is a fantastic price for such an unusual, fun and high-quality game. Games only last around half an hour which is great for younger children, but can also mean there’s time for a second round.
I have received board games as gifts from my children and husband before and have always been delighted. This is a fantastic game for the whole family and a way to bring you all together, and as that is what Mother’s Day is all about, it really would be a perfect gift option for both Mothers and Grandmothers.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £24.99
Available to buy from Amazon here.