Cranium Whoonu

by Cranium

Product Features

• Great way to celebrate friendships: You'll have a great time getting to know your friends and family better
• Full of fun surprises: In each game of Whoonu, you'll uncover fun surprises about the people you think you know best
• Also great for team building or icebreaker workshops
• Cranium Whoonu includes 300 cards, 36 scoring tokens, and a secret envelope
• Recommended for ages 8 to adult

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7 x 2.5 inches ; 1.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000B6MLJG
• Item model number: 102040000.100E
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,070 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Cranium Whoonu is the exciting game where everyone has unforgettable fun guessing each other's favorite things. Your best friend likes poodles more than parrots? Your older brother likes bubble gum more than burgers? Whoonu?! Everyone in the family will have a blast uncovering fun surprises about one another while playing Whoonu. Whoonu is easy to learn and quick to play, so it's the perfect game for any occasion. And best of all, it's just as fun to play with people you've known for five minutes as with people you've known forever!

Product Description

The what's your favorite thing game. You're sure to have unforgettable fun as you reveal your favorite things, share hilarious stories, and bond over surprising connections. You'll be amazed at what you'll learn about your friends and family -- especially those you think you know best! Whoonu is easy to learn and quick to play, so it's the perfect game for any occasion. And best of all, it's just as fun to play with people you've known for 5 minutes as it is with people you've known forever! Game includes 300 game cards, 36 scoring tokens and a secret envelope. Game takes approximately 15 minutes to play. For 3 to 6 players.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to Learn and a Barrel of Laughs, January 20, 2007

By 

Fred Telegdy (Stuarts Draft, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cranium Whoonu (Toy)

My fiancee and I almost didn't buy it because the description on the container doesn't read like a fun game, but thankfully we did buy it and we've yet to play it without uproarious laughter breaking out.

The game play is simple. Anywhere from 3-6 people can play (we've even done teams when too many people were playing) and the instruction sheet CLEARLY shows you how to set up the game based on the number of players.

One person is the "Whoozit" and the other players each have 4 cards that contain a word, phrase, or concept. For instance, some of the cards are "Fizzy Water," "New Year's Eve," "The Color Black," "Hiking," and "The Olympics."

Depending on how many people are playing, the players with cards put 1 or 2 cards into the included sleeve and then the sleeve is handed to the Whoozit. The Whoozit looks at the cards, sorts them in order of most favorite to least favorite, then puts them in front of the numbered chips with the least favorite card going in front of the "1" chip , the next in front of the "2," etc.

And this is when the real fun really begins. Starting with the least favorite card, the Whoozit flips over the card and reveals the text. The person who "owned" the card takes the associated chip and then the Whoozit flips over the next card and the next and so on until the most favorite card is revealed.

Game play shifts to the next person and the whole process is repeated until each player gets a chance at being the Whoozit. After everyone has been the Whoozit, you add up the chips and a winner is declared.

The great thing about this game is not only how easy and quick it is to set up, but how the game changes each time you play it. There's a certain "luck of the draw" associated with it because you may not have any cards that apply to the Whoozit for your current turn. In that case, you have a tough decision to make, regardless of how much you know the Whoozit.

Further, the game is different every time you play it. One time, I gave "Popsicles" to my fiancee and she ranked it second-to-last. Another time we were playing, someone else gave her "Popsicles" and it was ranked second-from-first. When I gave it to her, she had many other cards she liked better. When the other person gave it to her, she only had one other card she liked more. Imagine my surprise to see "Popsicles" ranked so high that time!

During the holidays, we played this with her family, my family, and twice with a group of friends. We played it again last night with a group of friends that didn't know each other at all. Every single time, the laughter went crazy and we played for hours on end. A couple of times, we changed to a different game just to do something different and each time we ended up going back to Whoonu because it was so much more fun.

This isn't a "how much do you know the other person" game as much as it is just a good old fashioned great time. Knowing the people CAN help, but with the "luck of the draw" aspect, it sometimes doesn't matter.

Bottom Line: FUN!

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad--But Not As Fun As I Thought It Would Be, October 22, 2006

By 

Janet Boyer "Author, Blogger, Radio Host" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cranium Whoonu (Toy)

I was out shopping last night, and was debating between several Cranium games. I finally decided on Whoonu, because it seemed like a game that anyone can play, including my 8 year old son.

Based on the packaging, I figured it was a "guess how well you know the other person" type game. You pick two cards and ask someone "What do you like better--roller coasters or building snowmen?"

Well, it's a little more complicated than that.

One person--who's birthday is coming up the soonest--becomes the first Whoozit. Everyone EXCEPT the Whoozit is given four cards and, out of the four cards, you have to guess which two would be the Whoozit's favorite. Each person puts their two selected card in the Whoonu envelope and gives the envelope to the Whoozit. (This is for 3-4 players. Games with 5 or 6 players require only ONE card to be selected.)

The Whoozit then takes out the cards and puts them in order of least favorite to most favorite. Depending on how many people are playing, there are stacks of chips ranging from 1 point to 6 points--the least favorite being worth 1 point with the most favorite earning the highest point. (For example, if you're playing with 3-4 players, the highest chip would be 4 points.)

The other two players get chips that correspond to the placement (favorites) of the Whoozit. For example, if I chose Bugs and Black Licorice for the Whoozit's favorites and he places Bugs as most favorite, then I get a 4 point chip. If he chooses Black Licorice as his LEAST favorite, I get the 1 point chip.

Here's the tricky (and not so fun) part: the NEXT Whoozit (the person on the left of the previous Whoozit) gets the DISCARDED cards from the other players PLUS 2 or 3 new cards (depending on how many people are playing). Not only can this get confusing, but it can get FRUSTRATING. If a card that NO ONE likes is in play (say, Watching Race Car Driving), then that card stays in play.

My family and I played last night, but we had to help our son with some parts. He grew tired after ONE game, so my husband and I decided to play. We realized that AT LEAST 3 players are required for gameplay, so we made up our own rules.

It's not a bad game, but not as fun as I thought it would be. I can't see how people think this would be a good game for strangers--or for team building and ice breaking. I mean, guessing the favorites of a total stranger is NOT fun (for me, anyway). Who CARES what the favorites are of a complete stranger?! It's much more fun to learn more about people you actually KNOW--friends, family, and romantic partners.

If the premise sounds appealing to you, you'll likely enjoy this game. There are 3 packs of cards--300 in all--so there's plenty for playing according to rules without much repeats...or for playing according to your own rules.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of fun -- great game to play with mixed ages, February 20, 2007

By 

Learning All The Time "It's Never Too Late to... (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cranium Whoonu (Toy)

My family really likes Cranium Whoonu, as do their friends who come to our home. We bring the game out 2-3 times a week and play a few quick rounds.

As others have noted, you are given cards, one person is the "whoozit", and then you select cards from your hand that you think will be the whoozit's favorite thing.

The whoozit then places the cards in order of preference next to point tokens - his favorite thing will be next to the highest point token, his next favorite thing next to the next highest point token, and so on. This ranking is actually a very nice feature of the game, EVERYONE ends up with a token so you don't have one child who ends up empty handed every time (as has happened to us with Apples to Apples, for instance).

We are always amused and surprised by how the whoozit actually ranks his cards - who knew my oldest son hated zoos because of all the hills he has to walk? Who knew my daughter preferred remote controls to fairs?

This game requires reading, but otherwise, there is no reason to wait for a child to be eight before playing.