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Noggin is a multiplayer card game for theoretically up to 20 people (though I will admit I think that could be a stretch). Quick-thinking is the name of the game so you can give answers before any of your opponents. Noggin is very easy to access and could be a good party game to warm people up.
Big Brain Moves
There isn’t too much to Noggin, there’s a single deck of cards, the majority of those cards have a single letter on them. You take turns placing a letter on the three face up piles. The other cards are actions that let you know what to say relating to the two remaining letters that remain on display (after the third has been covered with an action), these include:
● Bookend: The word must include the letters at the beginning and end
● Neither Letter: The word cannot contain either letter
● Middle Letters: The word must have the two letters within
● Initials: Call out a name with the initials revealed
● Word Association: Call out two words, one starting with each letter that is clearly associated with one another
● Word Disassociation: Call out two words, one starting with each letter that is clearly not associated with one another
That’s essentially the whole game, it’s very simple and easy to just start playing.
You start by placing three letter cards in the centre and equally dealing the rest of the cards to everyone. On your turn, you place a new card on top of one of the three existing letters. This continues until an action card appears, at this point players compete to be the first person to answer the prompt. If you answer correctly you take the card and whoever has the most cards at the end of the game wins.
Some bonus rules include no repeated answers, moving on if there isn’t a viable answer and if the three letters ever spell out a word in a clockwise direction and you’re the first to call it out, you can steal a card from someone else.
Gotta Think Fast
People who love word games will love Noggin, and naturally you’re going to get some absurd answers which makes it a silly game to play with friends. It’s unlikely you’re going to be able to play round after round after round of the game, but it’s not really the point of it. It’s good to get people in a gaming headspace before moving onto something else.
Admittedly, the prompts will not feel as fresh as time goes on and the deck isn’t very big, so there will probably be a longevity issue. But it’s definitely fun while it lasts and is an easy game to get people involved, especially those who don’t generally want to get involved.
The cards are nice, nothing to write home about but very much serve their function and it’s a very portable game which I can imagine being a good one to bring on holiday. If you like simple word games and something easy-going for groups, Noggin is a good one.
