This week's review is going to be something short and simple. We are in the middle of Novemember and halfway between Halloween and Christmas. In honor of these two great holiday's I'm going to be reviewing The Nightmare Before Christmas Collector's Editions of Operation and Trivial Pursuit.
I recently had a lucky streak where I had the previllage of winning both of these games from a raffle on the I Love Halloween Facebook page. My wife is a big fan of the movie and we were both excited to win these prizes.
And because it would be far to easy to simply review one of these games, this review will be a two part review featuring both games.
I recently had a lucky streak where I had the previllage of winning both of these games from a raffle on the I Love Halloween Facebook page. My wife is a big fan of the movie and we were both excited to win these prizes.
And because it would be far to easy to simply review one of these games, this review will be a two part review featuring both games.
Operation
Once you become an adult, games like Operation are just not quite as difficult as they used to be. But that doesn't stop you from being creative and having fun with the game anyway.
Operation The Nightmare Before Christmas Special edition is simply the classic children's game reskined with the Nightmare theme. Instead of the gentlemen with the blinking red nose you have evil old Oogie Boogie laying down for operation. And it is up to you to dig into his creepy stuffing and stiches to dig things out.
The components in the game are fairly nice considering the game came from Hasbro. However, don't expect top of the line cardboard or plastic in this game.
The operation table itself is made out of sturdy plastic and should stand up to a little wear and tear. The picture of Oogie Boogie is a piece of sturdy cardstock that is glued onto the table.
The plastic pieces that represent the body parts are sturdy enough but nothing to write home about. They come on a plastic holder which you have to twist each piece off of. They come easily off the holder and don't seem to have any sharp edges after they are detached as you may see in other similar games.
The cards a thin bits of cardboard but are fun to look at. Potentially the funnest component is the money that has Oogie Boogie's face on it.
Gameplay is intended for small children and may not appeal to adults. My wife and I played and were done about ten minutes later. It is very easy to get the pieces out. So, to mix things up we set a time limit of 10 or 15 seconds depending on how "hard" we wanted the game to be. This puts a little more tension on getting the pieces out in time.
I felt like the sensitivity of the buzzer wasn't as strong as it should have been. It seems like you have to really bonk the metal for Oogie Boogie to light up and basically call you a loser.
Overall it is a cool design and a decent collector's piece. But keep in mind that if you're an adult that you most likely won't be playing this very much.
Language: 0
Gore Factor: 1
Sex Factor: 0
Scare Factor: 1
Fun Factor: 2
Overall Rating: 2
Operation The Nightmare Before Christmas Special edition is simply the classic children's game reskined with the Nightmare theme. Instead of the gentlemen with the blinking red nose you have evil old Oogie Boogie laying down for operation. And it is up to you to dig into his creepy stuffing and stiches to dig things out.
The components in the game are fairly nice considering the game came from Hasbro. However, don't expect top of the line cardboard or plastic in this game.
The operation table itself is made out of sturdy plastic and should stand up to a little wear and tear. The picture of Oogie Boogie is a piece of sturdy cardstock that is glued onto the table.
The plastic pieces that represent the body parts are sturdy enough but nothing to write home about. They come on a plastic holder which you have to twist each piece off of. They come easily off the holder and don't seem to have any sharp edges after they are detached as you may see in other similar games.
The cards a thin bits of cardboard but are fun to look at. Potentially the funnest component is the money that has Oogie Boogie's face on it.
Gameplay is intended for small children and may not appeal to adults. My wife and I played and were done about ten minutes later. It is very easy to get the pieces out. So, to mix things up we set a time limit of 10 or 15 seconds depending on how "hard" we wanted the game to be. This puts a little more tension on getting the pieces out in time.
I felt like the sensitivity of the buzzer wasn't as strong as it should have been. It seems like you have to really bonk the metal for Oogie Boogie to light up and basically call you a loser.
Overall it is a cool design and a decent collector's piece. But keep in mind that if you're an adult that you most likely won't be playing this very much.
Language: 0
Gore Factor: 1
Sex Factor: 0
Scare Factor: 1
Fun Factor: 2
Overall Rating: 2
Trivial Pursuit
Now, Trivial Pursuit is a game that is more suitable for adults. I was very happy that I Love Halloween sent both games. So there is one for the nieces and nephews to play and one for the adults to play.
My wife and her family have a tradition each year on Thanksgiving to play Trivial Pursuit. We can't always be with family on Thanksgiving because of work and college classes. So I was excited to get this game and look forward to playing it on Thanksgiving.
The Nightmare Before Christmas edition has a much simpler game mechanic than the original game. The components are also sized down considerably.
Inside the coffin chapped box you get one deck of 70 question cards and one oversized category dice. These items are much nicer components than the cards and plastic in the Operation game. But they still aren't 100% durable like some games from other high end game companies. Also, the amount of components seems pretty minimal for $20 dollar retail price. But I was lucky enough to win the game so I don't mind the price.
The gameplay itself is simple. One the each turn the active player rolls the dice to determine the category. The player to the left reads a question off the next card that pertains to that category. If the player gets it right the immediately roll the dice and get another question. If they get that question right they keep the card as a point. The player to reach 12 points first wins.
The gameplay in this game is significantly more fun than in Operation. If players know and like The Nightmare Before Christmas they will enjoy trying to answer the questions correctly. Playing on teams in a large group makes the game even more fun.
Overall, I really enjoy trivial pursuit and also enjoy this game--even if I usually lose to my wife. The game is fast and easy to play and is great for fans of the movie.
Language: 1
Gore Factor: 1
Sex Factor: 0
Scare Factor: 0
Fun Factor: 3
Overall Rating: 3
My wife and her family have a tradition each year on Thanksgiving to play Trivial Pursuit. We can't always be with family on Thanksgiving because of work and college classes. So I was excited to get this game and look forward to playing it on Thanksgiving.
The Nightmare Before Christmas edition has a much simpler game mechanic than the original game. The components are also sized down considerably.
Inside the coffin chapped box you get one deck of 70 question cards and one oversized category dice. These items are much nicer components than the cards and plastic in the Operation game. But they still aren't 100% durable like some games from other high end game companies. Also, the amount of components seems pretty minimal for $20 dollar retail price. But I was lucky enough to win the game so I don't mind the price.
The gameplay itself is simple. One the each turn the active player rolls the dice to determine the category. The player to the left reads a question off the next card that pertains to that category. If the player gets it right the immediately roll the dice and get another question. If they get that question right they keep the card as a point. The player to reach 12 points first wins.
The gameplay in this game is significantly more fun than in Operation. If players know and like The Nightmare Before Christmas they will enjoy trying to answer the questions correctly. Playing on teams in a large group makes the game even more fun.
Overall, I really enjoy trivial pursuit and also enjoy this game--even if I usually lose to my wife. The game is fast and easy to play and is great for fans of the movie.
Language: 1
Gore Factor: 1
Sex Factor: 0
Scare Factor: 0
Fun Factor: 3
Overall Rating: 3