CRANIUM RELEASED

Regular readers of the magazine may recall our recent 50 Best Party Games Ever feature. Had we written that article twenty years ago it would’ve been a struggle to make a top 5 list, but somewhere on there would definitely be this forcibly jovial “monsterpiece,” Cranium.

Designed by Richard Tait and Whit Alexander, the game set out to be a new way of making board games more accessible. Tait found that he’d often win drawing games of Pictionary, but struggle at word games like Scrabble. He wanted to create a game where “everyone had heroic moments,” comprised of a wide variety of intellectual and creative challenges. The two designers playtested over and over, finding as wide a variety of challenges as they could cram into one box, from charades, spelling questions, clay modelling, trivia, charades and so much more.

Because they were a small company and couldn’t get the games ready in time for Christmas, they originally partnered up with Starbucks of all companies, selling the game at over 1500 locations. The game would become a sleeper hit, massively gaining popularity with families through its bright colours, focus on teamwork and accessibility. The franchise would go on to win over 130 awards and sell over 22 million games and toys, being bought out by Hasbro in 2008 for a staggering $77.5 million.

It certainly hasn’t aged gracefully over the decades, with its anxiety-inducing random challenges and focus on singling out someone to do something bizarre. Whilst we appreciate its contributions in popularising party games, it might be best that this tub of dried clay stay sealed.