Ginger Fox Special Edition Catchphrase Game Review

Reviewed by Deborah Banasko

Who doesn’t love watching Catchphrase on a Saturday Night?!  I have such fond childhood memories of Roy Walker and his friendly wit and banter, and now my kids watch their favourite presenter Stephen Mulhern lead the show.  So naturally, reviewing the Catchphrase Card Game was always going to go down well… time to “Say what you see!”

The box is compact and will take very little space up in your hand-luggage or rucksack, so it’s the perfect game for a long journey.  If you are a family with older children and try to avoid electronic devices in restaurants then this is a great game to pack in the games bag.

You can play the game with or without internet access depending upon whether you wish to view the animation bonus rounds.  You initially must separate the blue catch phrase cards from the silver bonus catch phrase cards; the blue cards are double sided so twice the number of Catch-Phrases which is a huge bonus.  The buzzer card is placed in the centre of the table, so you just need a pen and paper or a device to record the scores.  You then need to decide how many rounds to play.

The first stage of the game is “Catch Phrase” and a card is turned over and placed for everyone to see.  The first player to place their hand on the buzzer card can shout out their guess.  They then must check the back of the card for the correct answer.  An incorrect answer will freeze them out of just this Catch Phrase, a correct answer will score them 100 points.

Once 6 Catch Phrase cards have been played you move onto the Bonus Catch Phrase, and the player with the lowest number of points acts as host.  The game is played the same way at first, but each correct guess is worth 200 points.  Once a player guesses correctly, they have the opportunity to guess the bonus catch phrase by revealing a square for each correctly guessed Catch Phrase.

I loved the bonus round as you can either play with the cards and use a special sleeve and cover card to reveal a section of the card at a time so that you can have your guess, or you can scan the QR code and use the animated feature.  You scan a code on the back of a card to reveal a covered catchphrase on your phone just like in the show, then select a square to reveal a section so that you can have your guess.  The catchphrase was not the same one as that on the card, which means that you have access to extra bonus catch phrases!  I don’t know how many online bonus catch phrases there are, but I really loved this idea as it feels like two games in one.  Oh, and it’s 500 points for a Bonus Catch Phrase!  The host player checks the answer after each guess and you play until someone guesses correctly.

This can be a quick game to play if you are short on time, or can be a little longer for those never ending journeys on holiday so it has a place in so many home, away and on the move situations.  The box states that game play is 20-30 minutes but you can adjust the number of rounds to suit yourself.  The only drawback is you do need at least three players which may be an issue depending upon how many people are in your family and their ages.  The suggested age is 12 and over, and I am inclined to agree as the Catch Phrases can be tricky and a younger child just would not have heard of them.  Personally I would buy this for families of teens and older, and adults travelling or holidaying in groups; my 12 year old daughter loved the game and the idea but she had no chance of winning really as she couldn’t answer without clues and hints.

There are 123 cards in total so obviously you can play the game many times but there will come a stage when you know the answers.  That’s the point where I would gift it to a friend.  The £12.99 price tag is more than fair for the amount of play you get in the two different versions of the game.

If you love the show, you will love the game.  If you have never seen the show, I’d say there’s still a strong chance you will enjoy this fun game but be warned it can get quite noisy and competitive! I would give this 5-stars out of 5.

Rating: 5/5 

RRP: £12.99

You can purchase this product from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ginger-Fox-Special-Official-Catchphrase/dp/B0B77MX4S4/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=catchphrase+travel+card+game&qid=1693158232&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1