Never Have I Ever Review
Never Have I Ever
Reviewed by Jenny Seymour
Never Have I Ever is the game of poor life decisions.
The packaging is attractive and compact, which makes it a great game to take on your travels or to nip into a handbag to take to a dinner party! (although it’s a bit on the heavy side to be really portable).
It is sold as “the game of poor life decisions”, which would be enough to gain my interest and get me to pick up the box for a look…
It is stated on the side of the box that this is for adults only (age 17+), however, I wonder if this should be made clear on the front of the box, so that it doesn’t get into the wrong hands?
It says this is for a minimum of 4 players, but actually if you wanted to get to know your partner’s life history better and don’t mind finding out a few secrets (!) you may want to play with just the two of you!
I would love to meet the person who patented this game – I think I must have known them in a former life! This now brings what was once a “classic” drinking game or ice breaker (!) into the official world of games.
I always used to play “I have never” when I was younger, but we used to go around in a circle and each person could make up the question that they wanted to ask the group. The only rule was that what they asked must be something they had NEVER done in their life. It may be that they’d never swum the channel, or it could be something a bit more revealing. However, if someone in the group had done this thing, they had to stand up and take a drink (and usually then explain themselves or tell the tale!).
With this game, the questions are already set and the twist on this classic game for me is that there are “rule cards”.
Each player gets 10 play cards (these are the cards with the statements or actions on that you may or may not have been guilty of doing in your life).
All the rule cards are placed in the centre of the table at the start of the game. Each player takes it in turns from “the player to the right of the player with the coolest shoes” (why? Because no-one likes a show off!). I just love the humour built into everything about this game.
You take a rule card which explains what everyone must do for that round – from the classic: go around the group and people admit to having done the thing in question; to truth or lie: the group has to decide which of the two things the person asking the questions has done; putting others on the spot and seeing if you can decide what their answer will be; to acting out in charades style what they are guilty of!
If you are guilty of a play card and have to admit it following the rule card, then you get to keep it face up on the table in front of you (to remind your friends what you’ve been guilty of). The winner is the first person to get 10 play cards. “Congratulations – you make horrible life decisions!”
BEWARE as some of the play cards are of a sexual nature – this is an adult game of course.
Depending on who you are playing with, you could always review the play cards beforehand and remove those of a sexual nature! However, it could be more fun to draw out those truly poor life decisions and take pot luck with what you are dealt!
So, have you ever…. “borrowed your roommate’s underwear?”, “worn the same underwear twice in a row?”, “passed out on the beach without sunscreen?” or “made a fool of yourself at a work party” – all will be revealed after a game of “Never have I ever” with your closest friends…
You must be prepared to follow the single most important rule of this game though – NO JUDGMENT!!
Overall, I would love to meet the person who patented this game – I think I must have known them in a former life!!!
Be warned – this is an ADULT ONLY game that you need to play with those to whom you don’t mind revealing all…!
Rating: 5/5 
RRP: £19.99
Never Have I Ever is available to buy from Firebox here.
