Customer Reviews

Guess Who Extra

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought the original Guess Who for my boys (ages 9 & 6, purchased mostly at my younger one's persistent request) a couple months ago, and within a few weeks, they were both asking for Guess Who Extra. So it was a Christmas gift.

The Good:
1) Durability: the original Guess Who had two cheap little plastic frames to house the "card-holders" for the cards (one red and one blue), and for whatever reason, the red frame absolutely will NOT keep the card-holders in place. They fall out constantly, especially when flipping the frame to get all the card holders to stand up again. Or they get stuck and don't want to move at all. It takes minutes of adjustment to get it all back in working order, and it got so bad it actually affected our enjoyment of the game because set-up became such a pain. Glad to say this is NOT a problem with the new form factor that Guess Who Extra uses. There is just one main, closeable piece that opens easily to an inverted V (one player sits on one side and one on the other), and all the moveable parts move just like they should, simply and painlessly.

2) With six different sheets of categories to choose from, the options are much greater now than with just the "Usual Suspects" faces that the original had. This will likely prolong enjoyment of the game significantly.

3) Now there are four game options also. We haven't even tried them all yet, but again, this will likely just prolong enjoyment of the game. And if we don't like a particular option, we just won't play it. Nothing wrong with the original game dynamics anyway.

The Bad:
1) Okay, there's only one, and it's really not bad so much as it is a significant consideration. But... some of the categories make for some quite "difficult to phrase" questions. Asking questions can be a little tricky. For instance, the Household category has things like a television, a telephone, and a spoon. One of the sample questions the instructions provide for this category is "Does this item live in the [insert room here]?" But some of the items might or might not live in multiple rooms depending on the viewpoint of the person asking/answering. The answers can be extremely subjective, unlike the mostly objective answers the original game requires. There are quite a few examples of this, and the first game my kids played against each other resulted in my playing referee to decide how questions should be answered (or whether it was even appropriate to ask them). My family's workaround for this has been, for the first few games we played, to say "Ok, when this particular question is asked from now on, these are the cards we're going to say are affected by it" and then reiterate that every time that question is asked until we get used to it.

On the plus side of this consderation, though, it gets you to think and to talk with the kids about why questions are answered how they are, and it gives the younger ones an opportunity to learn (for instance, the Animals card has given my six-year-old the chance to more concretely learn what constitutes the difference between a reptile and an amphibian, a mammal and a bird, etc). You just have to be careful with the questions, and make sure everyone is on the same page as to how they're answered.

The Indifferent:
Guess Who Extra uses batteries. Kids love things with the batteries and the resultant lights and sounds, but they're really not necessary here. The batteries do three things: provide a Yes button (to push when the answer's Yes), provide a No button, and provide a timer. Ok, the timer might be cool for some of the game variants (but I almost certainly won't enforce any of the timer rules with my kids), but the Yes and No buttons, really? Was there something wrong with SAYING yes and no? The batteries/electronic side of this game are a cheap way to jack up the price in my opinion. I know, I'm nitpicking, but I mostly didn't see the point.

Overall, though, this is a pretty cool game with lots of potential and FAR sturdier/easier to use than the original. And it all comes in a nice, neat, fully encloseable package.

This is an upgrade of the original Guess Who? and it is a great upgrade. With 6 different character options, the fun is constantly changing. Also there is now the ability to choose two characters for your opponent to guess, as an added challenge for those who found the original game easy. The electronic sounds and lights are an added bonus to keep you moving and the action fast and furious. Definitely a great game for any sleuth in the family and great for groups of friends to play together!

We have loved the traditional Guess Who game for a while, and were very excited to find this newer version that appeals to the computer generation. The fun is still in giving sneaky clues while the partner tries to use logic & reasoning to figure out WHO their opponent has chosen. Very good for language development, comparisons, math building skills, and just plain fun!

The original Guess Who was a favorite of all my nieces and nephews. Unlike many of the toys they had , they played this one for years. When I saw this version I bought it for my great nephews. I thought that the animal and household cards could be played by children who could not read yet. Unfortunately the pictures are so abstract as to be unreconizable. Even I couldn't identify sone of the pictures without reading what they were. Too bad because this could have been a good game for those children just on the brink of reading. I wouldn't even recommend this version for older children just because I find the art work unpleasant in many of the non people catagories.

My daughter had the original Guess Who already so she was familiar with the game. This adds some more faces as well as animals, monsters etc. The board is connected so you have to sit close to your opponent. The electronic part wasn't that essential.

I purchased this for my kids for Christmas. We have had the original guess who for years. What I like about this one:
1) Many more options to use for guessing, not just the same old men and (4 women).
2)Constructed much better. Uses flip top for cards - which are all in one. Imrpoved accidental "flipping".
3)Folds up for easy storage and transport

Overall a vast improvement on an already great game. Only cheesy thing is the electronic part - not really necessary to play the game. Just takes the place of you actually saying yes or no, but my kids enjoy it.

the game is fun overall. It is well constructed and easy to learn, especially if you had the earlier version. I would say that the electronic nature of the game is not such a big deal..that it can buzz or ding doesn't add to the game. In fact, players usually forget to push the buzzers. The timer is not needed. An 8 year old got bored after playing 3 times in a row....

I loved playing Guess Who growing up, so naturally, I wanted my son to experience it. After purchasing a new Guess Who, I was very disappointed at the very low quality of the game board. Well, Hasbro has redeemed themselves with this version of Guess Who. The quality of the board is great, it contains the same characters as regular Guess Who, plus more! Get this game! It's great!

This is better then the original, i dont use the electric part.
it comes with lots more faces to choose from. My four yr old loves it. I bought for my 9yr old.

I guess you should expect to get what you pay for. This is a highly popular game with my students and they are enjoying playing with it, but it is very cheaply made and I don't see it lasting very long with the many students who will use it (in a class for emotionally challenged kids). They do love the lights that flash and the different sounds that it makes when the answer is "no". Also, it is a big upgrade from the older version that we used to have. I didn't pay much for it, and for that, it is a good value.