Priorities Review

Priorities is a fast-paced party game for 3-6 players (though you can realistically play with any number), in which each player takes it in turns to secretly rank 5 very random things in order of how much they love (or loathe!) them.

Other players then have to guess the order correctly to score points. There is a win-condition, team variants and individual point-scoring option, but the game is best-positioned as a conversation-starter rather than a serious competition.

Hawaiian Pizza – Love It Or Loathe It?

There are 200 game cards, each with different items, concepts or celebrity names printed on them – the words are printed twice in opposite directions so that it’s easy to read the cards from wherever you’re sitting – which is ideal for a party game. Some highlights include; cheap gas, reclining your seat on a plane and the ever-controversial Hawaiian pizza!

The box also includes a whiteboard and pen for the player whose turn it is to write on, and each of the game cards are numbered so you can easily and secretly order them on the board without worrying about other players noticing how long it’s taking you to write ‘Smashed Avocado’.

On the back of each game card is a letter from the word ‘Priorities’. The classic game rules have you flip over the cards at the end of each round, and for every one in the right position, you keep, and for every wrong one, they go in the ‘Game’ pile. The idea is that the players have to try to spell out ‘Priorities’ with their cards before the Game does.

How Well Does It Play?

Priorities does its job as a party game very well – the pace of the game is quick and each set of cards will invariably spark a lively debate and plenty of laughs. Some of the game cards are a bit too love-able or hate-able which can make some rounds very easy if you get a batch of extremes (I don’t know who’s rating ‘Love’ below ‘Doing the Dishes’). Otherwise, most combinations are subjective enough that even between people who know each other very well it creates some interesting revelations.

I’ve played this game with people I know well, and people I’ve just met, and the game played well in both situations. With a group of close friends, it’s interesting to test your knowledge of the way they think and see the world – and to be surprised when you realise just how wrong some of your assumptions are! With those you don’t know, it’s a fun way to get to know people, whilst testing how intuitive you are!

Alternative Scoring

For the more competitive party-gamers out there, there are alternative scoring options available. You can get into teams and try to spell out ‘Priorities’ first within your team by knowing your teammates better than your opponents know theirs; or you can play individually, where you get 1 point for every correctly-ranked guess (this doesn’t scale as well in larger groups, however). We also play where you get a bonus point for identifying which card(s) were in the wrong positions before the correct order is revealed.

Final Verdict

The criteria for scoring party-games is a lot more lenient than for serious strategy. All you really need to know is – is this game easy to teach to a group of people; and will it get the conversation going? The answer to both of these is easily – Yes!

Priorities is simple, massively replayable (given that you’ll likely never draw the same 5 cards together), and instantly sparks teamwork and conversation among the players. I don’t think the scoring aspect is very important – it’s one of those games you can just keep playing until the momentum dies out, as the fun is very much in the playing rather than the winning.

Overall, a great little party game, ideal for a casual setting.