The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Game

by All Things Equal

Product Features

• If a picture speaks a thousand words, surely you can come up with a few of your own in this hilarious game of which player wrote which caption
• Based on the new yorker magazine's popular cartoon caption contest
• A game of immeasurable creativity, unmatched wit, and uproarious humor…and you are responsible for most of it
• Don't worry about not being funny; in a game like this, even the bad captions are part of the fun
• For 3 to 6 players (best with 4 or more)

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10 x 3 x 10 inches ; 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000MPNK5K
• Item model number: 4102557
• Manufacturer recommended age: 12 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,800 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Board Game is based on The New Yorker's popular Cartoon Caption Contest. This New Yorker board game is one of immeasurable creativity, unmatched wit, and uproarious humor and you are responsible for, well, most of it. If a picture speaks a thousand words, surely you can come up with a few of your own in this hilarious caption board game. The object is to guess which player wrote which caption for a given cartoon. And don’t worry about not being funny - in a board game like this, even the 'bad' captions are part of the fun.

Product Description

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Board Game is based on The New Yorker's popular Cartoon Caption Contest. This New Yorker board game is one of immeasurable creativity, unmatched wit and uproarious humor... and you are responsible for, well, most of it! If a picture speaks a thousand words, surely you can come up with a few of your own in this hilarious caption board game. The object is to guess which player wrote which caption for a given cartoon. And don't worry about not being funny -- in a board game like this, even the 'bad' captions are part of the fun!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Challenging but very fun, January 6, 2008

By 

TheBandit (SEA-TAC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Game (Toy)

I love this kind of board game - it's basically a variation on Balderdash, except instead of providing your own definitions to words, you come up with your own punchline/quip for a cartoon. One person per round has to not only pick their personal favorite among the players' captions, but also has to match up each caption to who they believe wrote it. Don't let the New Yorker name scare you off, thinking this would be too highbrow for many people - the cartoons are broad enough (and family-friendly) for players of all ages.

It's not easy, which of course is what makes it worthwhile. It's tough coming up with something funny to say about random cartoons - especially the ones that aren't particularly funny looking on the surface. The timer runs only 45 seconds, which I humbly suggest you either A) ignore the the first few times you play the game, or B) maybe turn over twice to give everyone 90 seconds. I understand the importance of having a time limit - each player has exactly the same length of time. If you have to scribble down a one-word caption because you're out of time, so be it. But 45 seconds goes by really quick - unless you're the wittiest person at the table, you'll probably spend most of that time staring blankly at the picture on the card.

Also your mileage will vary depending on the personal gameplay style of yourself, your family, and/or your friends. This is quite honestly the type of game that could possibly result in a lot of hurt feelings if any players get too analytical about other players' work. We had some of that when my family played over the holidays - too much nitpicking of what is or is not funny to people can really wear on the nerves. Best, in my opinion, to kick back and enjoy it - don't overthink the cartoons. I just think this kind of game is more fun when people aren't taking it too seriously.

The other weird thing about the gameplay is the way board-movement is structured. There is a single six-sided die that each player is supposed to cast prior to their turn. It's hard to explain without seeing the board, but we ended up discarding the die altogether and having each player advance (or not) based entirely upon the results of their matches. (The player who has their caption chosen as favorite is allowed to advance two spaces, the player who is matching each caption moves one space for each correct match.) Rolling the die each time - in addition to moving spaces based on correct matching - will result in a VERY quick game.

It should be noted that the game simply won't be as much fun with less than at least 4 players. I'd say 5 or 6 players is ideal, more variety and harder to match up all the captions. Definitely a recommended family board game.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Try these rules for more fun!, February 10, 2009

By 

Lindsay Sisk "~*LinZgrrrl*~" (GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Game (Toy)

I bought this game over winter break & my whole family played it (11 of us) & had a blast. We didn't really like the rules though so we made up our own. I thought I would post them for other people to try.

1. Everyone but the "guesser" makes up a caption for the cartoon & gives it to the "reader"
2. The "reader" reads them silently first & then shuffles them & reads them to the "guesser"
3. The "guesser" picks his/her 3 favorite captions & ranks them accordingly
4. The "guesser" tries to guess who wrote each of the 3 favorites
5. The person whose caption was rated first place moves 3 spaces, 2nd= 2spaces, 3rd= 1 space. For each one the "guesser" guessed correctly the "guesser" moves 1 space (for a max of 3 spaces)
6. The "guesser" & "reader" rotate each turn.

We played with 11 people so that's why we did 1st 2nd and 3rd, however if you are playing with less people the "guesser" might only want to choose your 2 favorites.

We laughed a lot while playing this game & sometimes the "I give up" sort of answers were the funniest. Little jokes

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this game, January 14, 2008

By 

insider (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Game (Toy)

We played this board game for the first time last night (1/14/08) and really enjoyed it! This is a challenging game and lots of fun, although it was clear that two of us had more talent at "quip writing" than the other two. Sad to say, I wasn't one of those with the most talent, but still had a fun evening and several of my cartoon quips were selected as "funniest". We played with four people but all agreed that playing with five to six folks would be the ideal. Regardless, we had a great time and look forward to playing again. The reviewer who suggested turning the 45-second timer over twice (we did that when we played) and not rolling the die to advance is right on the money. Rolling the die doesn't do much to enhance game play and I think I will suggest not using the die next time we play...