Cinegeek.com
Suzie Lackey
November 2004
USA

Before Playstation and Xbox, people got together and played cards or board games. Since I’m not much on Mario Brothers or whatever version of Final Fantasy is out now,I have always been a big board game geek. I, along with a fellow gang of board game lovers gave Apples to Apples: The Apple Crate Edition a try.

The premise is that one player is made the judge. The other players are dealt 7 red apple cards. The player that is named the judge takes one card from the green apple deck. This card will have one word, an adjective, such as “delicious” for example.

Every player, other than the judge, must select a card out of their hand that best matches the card that the judge has played. All players place this card face down on the table. The red apple cards are usually nouns. Players want to make a selection from their hand quickly and place it on the table because the last red apple card to hit the table is ineligible. The judge flips over the red apple cards and makes his or her selection of the best answer. The player of the winning card gets to keep the green apple card.

Another player is selected to be judge, all players draw back up to 7 red apple cards, and everything starts again. The player that reaches a set number of green apple cards first is the winner.

I found what made this game so much fun was the opportunity for some very surreal answers. The night we played, the word was “luscious” and one member of our group played the card “funeral”. This game is not only fun but is an interesting way to look into the sometimes strange minds of your friends. Also, the game accommodates 4-10 players easily without losing any game play speed, so it’s a great game to have available when you are entertaining just a few friends or a large group.

Another factor of the game play that I found fun was that everyone has equal chance at winning the green apple card because the judge’s decision is subjective and final. The red apple cards are mixed up before the judge looks at them so there can’t be any preferential treatment given by the judge.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Apples to Apples-The Apple Crate Edition. The game has a lot of replay value due to the potential for so many different combinations. It would seem to me to take a long time for answers to repeat themselves. Our group not only enjoyed the fast nature of the game but laughed throughout the night at the endless stream of surreal answers that seemed to spring forth from people who, for the most part, are fairly normal members of society.

I highly recommend this game. I had a blast and so did the rest of the group.

There are two versions of the game available; however I am reviewing the Apple Crate edition. The Apple Crate edition includes over 1,000 cards, the entire collection of cards from the original core game plus expansion sets 1 and 2. It is packaged in a very nice wooden “apple crate” box. Also provided is a set of plastic trays for the cards to be drawn from. The apple crate box is sturdy and it gives the game a very unique look although the basic plastic card dispensers are a little bland, albeit sturdy, in comparison to the beautifully designed box they are in.

A great party game that is fun for either large or small groups. Game play is fast paced and can often spur lots of laughs from the bizarre answers that are sure to be given during a game. The great thing about this game is its simplicity. The rules aren’t overly difficult so it’s easy to jump in and play. Even with the simplicity it never gets boring. The comparisons are all a matter of opinion so games can vary wildly depending on the personalities of those playing. It's a great game for nearly every personality type.

There is another version of the game that comes in a standard box and just features the original cards. But once you play the game you’ll want the expansion cards so we recommend spending a few extra bucks and getting all the cards with the cool wooden box.

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