We’ve all played games when hanging out with friends to help drive the conversation: they’re conduits to let us tell stories and brag a little (or a lot) about the stuff we’ve done or are capable of doing.
Yeah NOPE by Wonder Forge is the perfect party game for just that end. It takes the “truth” element of “truth or dare” and combines it with “have you ever?” for a fantastic mix of personal storytelling and speculation. It lets groups of friends get to know each other a little better, and maybe even learn something new about themselves.
The game itself is straightforward, with the general premise being that one player (the It player) presents an experience (in the form of an Experience Card) and the other players (the guessing players) embellish that experience (with Situation Tiles) in a way that they believe it is still true for that person who’s It.
The It player then gets to use the super-nifty, reversible-sequined game box to say Yeah or NOPE to the statement.
If the answer is Yeah, another round of play can continue, with the guessing players changing the Situation Tile to something that they believe is also true. Play continues, as before, though the current Situation Tile is evaluated separately from the previous ones. The It player must obviously answer honestly, but should keep the secrets of their story until after they eventually answer NOPE, at which points they’re highly encouraged to spill the beans, and a new player is selected to be It for the round.
Guessing players can drop out of the round if they wish to bank their points (they get one point for every Situation Tile that got a Yeah response when they go Out). If they continue to play and get a NOPE response before they go out, they get no points (it’s a little bit of push-your-luck). The It player scores a point for every situation tile played that turn. If all the guessing players drop out of the round before the It player answers NOPE the It player scores no points.
The nitty gritty of play is all summed up in Becca’s How to Play video:
There are so many fantastic situations when you’d love to pull this game out to play. Because it’s relatively rules light and really all about player interaction and discovery, it’s a versatile game. It’s perfect to pull out for celebratory events like stags/stagettes and New Year’s Eve parties because you’ll have groups of people with varying knowledge of each other, with a shared attitude of openness for fun (and yes, this game is the perfect cocktail hour game.) Because it doesn’t have tons of fiddly components (just cards, tiles and the box) you can take it out for group picnics and camping trips.
Heck, it might even be a really fun game to pull out on those first dinner-dates: you can avoid awkward silences and actually drive conversation while getting to know the other person.
It’s quick playing, meaning that if you’re a part of drop-in RPG groups or just have that one player who is perpetually late for sessions — don’t we all have one of those? — you can break this out and get to know the people behind those player-characters. And what roleplayer wouldn’t want at least one slightly-embarrassing story about their GM in their back pocket?
If you want to get a real feel for how the game plays and what kind of fun you can have with it, check out the Game the Game episode below, where Becca Scott, Nicole Villela, Gina DeVivo, Kelly Nugent, and Anna Cecilia come up with outrageous scenarios for each other.
You can get Yeah NOPE at friendly local game retailers near you, or online at Target.
Image credits: Teri Litorco
This post is sponsored by Wonder Forge.