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Here’s what one professional
game reviewer has to say about
™
I could recommend the game because it has a unique box structure,
“
or because it comes with more cards than any other game that I’ve ever
seen. I could recommend it because it can be used with English classes
or folks wanting to increase their language skills. I could recommend it
because it can handle up to ten players fairly easily. But I won’t —
I’ll simply recommend it because it’s fun.
”
Tom Vasel, host of “Real men play board games”
http://www.thedicetower.com/reviews/youvebeensentenced.htm
When I first received You’ve Been Sentenced
(McNeill Designs, 2005 – no designer credited),
I immediately had three thoughts.
cards from the box and places them face down in front
of them, ready to begin the first round. One player
takes a score sheet, and the game is ready to begin!
First, I thought that the game’s name was a cheesy
pun; secondly, I was impressed that the game came in
a pentagon box (the first and only that I own); and
thirdly, I couldn’t believe the amount of cards that
came in the game. There are 540 pentagon-shaped
cards, each with five words on them, making for a
total of 2,700 words used in the game. If nothing else,
the game certainly has a lot of diversity!
In a round, players turn over their ten cards and
attempt to form a grammatically correct sentence with
the words on them. They rotate the cards, placing
words next to each other to form a sentence. Cards
may have several versions of the same word (“juiciest”,
“juice”, “juices”, “juicier”, “juice”) or a group of words
of the same type (“or the”, “over the”, “next”, “off of”,
“on the”), (“was”, “is”, “am”, “are”, “will be”), (“South
America”, “Europe”, “North America”, “Australia”,
“Asia”). Once a player has finished a sentence, using
as many of their cards as they like, they knock on the
table, signaling that they are finished.
And actually, You’ve Been Sentenced is fun, and
the sentences and such can be pretty funny. I certainly
came in with a skeptical attitude, because I was afraid
that the game would force one into using words; but
the options are rather large, and the word selection on
the cards is truly well done. The game will certainly
please those who are fans of party/word games, but
isn’t too terribly taxing, and makes for a fun, enjoyable
experience. There are several games available to play
with the cards, but I want to talk about the basic
game, the “Civil Court” version.
All the cards are thrown into the box and shuffled
into one big pile, face down. Each player takes ten
Starting with the first player that knocked, each
player then reads their sentence to the other players,
who then decide whether the sentence makes sense.
For example, I just pulled ten cards out of the box and
made the sentence, “We will be outside crushing
Australia spaces”. I then must argue that my sentence
makes sense and is grammatically correct. All the
players then vote whether the sentence is correct or
not. Each player whose sentence was considered good
scores points for the cards – five points for each
card used, with some harder words scoring ten or
twenty points. The first player to knock in a
round scores a bonus of ten points, and anyone
who uses all ten cards also gets a ten point bonus.
game the best, without the timer. The only time I
would bring out the timer is if I were playing the
game with someone who was simply too deliberate
and slow. The timer might help them to move a
little more quickly.
Some cards are “Wild Cards”, which can be
used for any single word, but score no points.
After all sentences are scored, all cards are discarded, and the next round begins. Scores are
recorded, and the game continues until one player
reaches 200 points, at which point the player with
the most points is the winner! Another variant
uses a sand timer, which is flipped over after the
first player makes their sentence. Any player who
doesn’t finish their sentence in time scores no
points.
4.) Versions: More versions of the game are
planned, with foreign languages, children’s versions, and more on the way. I think some of the
ideas sound great – and can’t wait until I see
them. Right now, the basic game works well with
teenagers and adults, although the concept is
sometimes more difficult for elementary children.
As a learning concept, it works well, but the pressure of it being a game may be too much for them.
Some comments on the game…
1.) Components: The pentagonal box is probably
not the sturdiest box in the world, but it really is
quite unique and holds the cards well. At first I
attempted to store the 540 cards neatly in the five
corners of the box, using a foam piece to hold
them in place, but I eventually realized that I
could simply throw them in the box. Each card
has some nice graphic designs, and the five words
on the cards are well done and easy to read. The
cards can be laid on top of each other for ease of
reading the sentences and seem to have taken
some good beatings in stride (I took some extreme
methods when first shuffling the cards). All the
cards and timer fit quite easily in the box.
2.) Words: I was really impressed with the selection of words. There are a decent amount of wild
cards amongst the mix, but even without them,
it’s almost always possible to make some kind of
sentence. You would be surprised at the versatility
that fifty words offers you; and if anything, it will
increase players’ vocabularies.
3.) Rules: The rulebook is a four page booklet that
very clearly explains the rules. They can also be
found, along with several other games, at the
games webpage, www.ybsgame.com. While the
other games are interesting, I prefer the basic
5.) Fun Factor: Most of the fun in the game comes
from laughing at the silly and nonsensical sentences that others make up. The voting can be
nasty in some groups, I suppose, but it’s usually
obvious as to whether a sentence makes sense or
not. Sometimes, however, a person is so hilarious
in their defense of their sentence that the others
simply give it to them. Often, an explanation is
needed to make the sentence be logical, and the
back stories often are interesting and humorous.
6.) Word Games: I think the game might appeal
to those who like word games but don’t want to
do any writing or hard thinking. In You’ve Been
Sentenced, players simply rotate words so that
they fit together and make sentences. Yes, that
takes a bit of brain power, but it’s not as difficult
as it sounds, making this game a fun, leisurely
activity (unless, of course, you include the timer).
I could recommend the game because it has a
unique box structure, or because it comes with
more cards than any other game that I’ve ever
seen. I could recommend it because it can be
used with English classes or folks wanting to
increase their language skills. I could recommend it because it can handle up to ten players
fairly easily. But I won’t – I’ll simply recommend it because it’s fun