Anomia: [uh-NO-mee-uh] - Noun - 1) A problem with word
finding or recall. 2) Chaos. 3) The game where common knowledge becomes
uncommonly fun!
Anomia plays off the fact
that our minds are positively brimming with all sorts of random information;
things to eat, pop songs, websites, etc...
Sure, under normal
circumstances, it's easy enough to give an example of a frozen food, or a dog
breed; but you will find that your brain works a little differently under
pressure!
The directions are simple. Draw a card from the center pile and
flip it over. Does the symbol on your card match one on another player's card?
If so, you must quickly face-off with the other player by giving an example of
the person, place, or thing on their card before they can do the same for yours.
If you blurt a correct answer out first, you win their card and drawing
continues. Sounds simple, right? Wrong!
Wild cards allow unlike symbols
to match, increasing the number of things you must pay attention to. Cascading
face-offs can occur when you hand over a lost card revealing a new top card on
your play pile. All this adds up to a high-energy, hilarious play experience
where everyone is involved at all times.
Easy to
learn, fun to play over and over again, Anomia will have any group of
friends, family, even perfect strangers, shouting and laughing out loud as they
try to beat each other to the punch!
Players: 3-6 players, Ages 10 and up.
Goal: To win the most cards by facing-off with other
players.
Cards: 2 decks. Each deck has
92 unique playing cards and 8 Wild Cards.
Duration: One round lasts about 30 minutes. Two rounds
are suggested.
Vibe: It can be your turn at any time and
anyone can be your opponent!
2-PLAYERS
It's
definitely possible to play Anomia with only two players, and it's pretty fun
too. First, we suggest you make yourself familiar with how a three to six player
game works. Once you understand that, you can start a two player game by simply
having each player maintain two separate Play Piles.
When it's your
turn, draw a card from either Draw Pile, and quickly flip it face up on either of your play piles. If the symbol on
your drawn card matches one of your opponent’s symbols, then you must face off
with your opponent, just like in a three to six player game. However, if the
symbol on the card you draw matches the top card in your own (second) play pile, then EITHER player may
attempt to give an answer for the newly drawn card. Whoever gets a correct
answer out first wins the Face-Off (and the card).
MULTI-ANSWER
VERSION
Consider upping the ante by requiring players to name
two or three examples (your choice) for each Face-Off. Instead of just blurting
out a single answer, you must be the first to blurt out two (or three) correct
answers.
TEAMS
Got more than 6 people? You can team
up with another player and share a Play Pile. Potentially you could have as many
as 12 people playing at once, 2 people to each team.
CHARADE-ANOMIA
I'll
admit that we haven't quite worked this one out fully. That said, we have a
hunch that incorporating a Charades element into Anomia could make things pretty
interesting, and quite funny as well.
The basic idea is that, instead of
shouting out your answer, you must act it out to anyone who is not your
opponent. The first player to get someone else to shout out a correct answer
wins the Face-Off. You will need to get another player to guess an example of
something based on your opponent’s card. All the standard rules of Charades
apply here, as well as the standard Anomia rules.
