Hobbies And Interests
Apples to Apples
This game by Out of the Box publishing is easy to learn and play. Players get dealt a random hand of "stuff," including well-known persons, places, things and ideas. A second deck of cards includes descriptions like "lovely," "rambunctious" or "valuable." Players then try to put down the card that best fits that description. For example, if "lovely" came up, players might put down Marilyn Monroe, birthday cake, a sunset and love (if they were lucky enough to have those cards). One of the players judges the round and awards points to the best or most creative answer.
The twist is in trying to choose the card that the judge will think is the best answer, not just what you find to be loveliest. So really the game is a test of how well you know your friends, or how well you can guess their reactions.
Apples to Apples is fun, extremely casual and often hilarious. The cards friends choose to play will often surprise you, and a lot of the time creativity and lateral thinking will be key. The nuances and jokes might be lost on younger girls, but you do not need to be an adult to play and enjoy it. Playing a game of Apples to Apples does not take long, but is a game that can entertain a small crowd all night.
Cranium
Cranium may be the perfect party game. Teams compete in a variety of challenges to move their piece around a board, but unlike Trivial Pursuit or Pictionary, these challenges cover a lot of mental ground. Drawing, singing, trivia, charades, language, celebrity impersonation and even sculpting comprise an eclectic -- and extremely fun -- mixture of team-oriented challenges.
This game is great for mature girls because everyone gets to contribute. If you are not good at trivia or drawing, you can still shine in one of the other areas. Teamwork is also a great focus of this game. The questions and categories have clever and funny names; the art design is bizarrely cute. You will be hard pressed to find a girl who does not love Cranium.
Cineplexity
From the makers of Apples to Apples, Cineplexity puts movie knowledge to the test, but in a way that laughs in the face of traditional movie trivia games. You do not need to know every movie or actor to be good at this game. You do not even need to be a film buff. You just need to know the movies you like.
In Cineplexity, categories of films such as settings, story elements, special effects and actors are dealt from a deck, and players have to quickly come up with movie titles that match the description. For example, if the setting was New York and the genre was love stories you might shout out "You've Got Mail" or "When Harry Met Sally." Any movie that is a love story in New York would work.
The game is great for a group of girls because it is very casual, fast paced and fun. In addition, it rewards general knowledge rather than specific knowledge, so everyone gets to feel like an expert.