The Dice Tower.com
Tom Vasel
April 2007
USA

I first heard of Cineplexity (Out of the Box Publishing, 2007 – Jon Michael Rasmus and John Sams and Sean Weitner) on John Kovalic’s blog, in which he literally raved about how fantastic the game was. Others compared it to the immensely popular Apples to Apples from the same company, so I certainly was intrigued! Apples to Apples worked because it was very simple yet had immediate appeal to almost every person that I’ve introduced it to. Could Cineplexity have the same charm?

Well, it may not launch the same forest fire of excitement that Apples did, but Cineplexity has the same spark and may even be a greater hit amongst those who adore movies. Game play is simple; it can be played in large groups, and even those who don’t have a plethora of movie trivia stored in their heads will have an enjoyable time with the game. Our games have led to further discussion, arguments, and laughter, leading me to believe that Out of the Box has a real winner on their hands here!

The game simply consists of 504 Cineplexity cards, which are mixed into two groups, placed face down on the table. One player is chosen to be the first “director”, and the game begins. The director draws one card from one pile, reading it aloud to the other players, and then does the same with the second stack. Cards fall into several categories:

• Scenes: such as “A Natural Disaster” or “In the Rain”
• Setting: such as “New York City” or “Up North”
• Production: such as “Big Budget” or “Contains Foreshadowing”
• Actors: such as “Former cast member of Saturday Night Live” or Kevin Bacon, Kevin Costner, or Kevin Kline”
• Critiques: such as “Notably Controversial” or “Had the Audience in Tears”
• Props: such as “Noteworthy Shoes or Boots” or “Bells or Whistles”
• Characters: such as “Bloody or Cold-Blooded” or “Writer or Reporter”
• Theme: such as “A Fish out of Water” or “Parent-Child Relationship”
• Genre: such as “Historical Drama” or “Horror or Suspense”

Players now quickly hurry to shout out a movie title that has an element from both cards. They continue to do this until the director hears a movie that meets the requirements. This decision is basically up to the director who has the final decision as to whether a movie “fits” or not. Players may challenge the director, argue, cajole, etc.; but it’s all up to the director for that final decision.

Several times nobody will be able to think up the name of a movie, in which case a third card is turned over. Players then must think of a movie that matches any two of the three face-up cards. Regardless, the player who is picked by the director receives one of the cards used. The other card is left on the table for the next round, and the player to the left of the director becomes the new director. Play continues until one player has a certain amount of points (depending on the number of players). That person is declared the winner!

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: The box is rather heavy – packed full with the quite large cards. Each category is a different color, and the font is extremely easy to read for all seated at the table. Trays are included to pull the nice quality cards from, and everything fits snuggly in the nicely designed box.

2.) Rules: Well, it’s Out of the Box Publishing. This means that the single sheet of rules is simple, easy to navigate, and a breeze to explain. Once again, OOTB comes out with a game that can be literally explained in twenty seconds. There is a section devoted to what exactly an “allowable title” is, but that’s pretty much determined by the group.

3.) Movies: One of my big problems with any game that involves outside trivia is that the player who knows the most will dominate other players. There is certainly a chance of that happening here, if the biggest couch potato has an immense amount of movie knowledge. Now I haven’t run into this personally, although from our games it’s obvious that some people have certainly seen more movies than others – although you may be surprised at exactly who does the best each time! On the flip side, I can certainly see that this may be a problem in some groups, although the simple fix would be to have the person who wins the round be the “director” for the following round. This would keep a person with incredible knowledge to a slightly lower score – and even the playing field. My groups didn’t want to play this way, however, and it didn’t affect our enjoyment at all.

4.) Categories: I can’t emphasize how diverse and fulfilling the categories of cards are. Movies that fit the categories range from old black and white classics to cheesy TV movies that are shouted out, and often the game devolves into discussion about a certain movie, or “I can’t believe you’ve never seen that movie!” arguments. I suppose there may be expansions for the game in the future, but I don’t see the need – there is a great variety and diversity amongst the cards in the game now, with almost limitless combinations (at least a quarter million!).

5.) Fun Factor: Cineplexity is a party game, but not one that dwells on the stupid trivia part of the game that tends to turn people away. It’s one that allows players to think of titles that match a random pairing of cards. The laughter, discussion, and friendly arguments about movies make this an enjoyable game for parties. The box caps the limit with ten players, but I can see up to fifteen easily enjoying themselves with the game.

Unlike Apples to Apples, I can see a slightly limited appeal to this game. Some people don’t like movies, or rarely watch them, while others might be frustrated at the capriciousness the judges have in Cineplexity. But for those who are even casual fans of movies (and that’s most people) this game allows you to show your tastes in cinema, have a good time with a party game that rewards ingenuity in thought, and doesn’t emphasize a large memory of trivial minutia. Cineplexity is a game that will be happily greeted in many households, and I see it becoming a big hit at parties for years to come.

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