Cluzzle

by North Star Games

Product Features

• Ages 8 and up; 3-6 players; 45-60 minutes
• 110 Cluzzle Cards, 6 Colors of Clay, 6 Sculpting Boards
• 1 Centerboard, 12 Question Tokens, 200 Guess Sheets
• 6 Pencils, 96 Bills, 1 Sand Timer

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 12 x 3 x 12 inches ; 2.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00065AQ1C
• Item model number: 1009
• Our recommended age: 13 years and up
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #135,370 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

Product Description

Cluzzle is the comical game of Clay Puzzles where players outwit their friends through bad sculpting, tricky questions and insightful guessing. The challenge is to create a clay sculpture that others will guess - eventually. The longer it takes for the other players to guess a sculpture correctly, the more points the sculptor receives. Many party games reward players for conveying a concept as quickly as possible, so those with an artistic ability have an advantage, but Cluzzle allows kids to do just as well as their parents, and lets art class drop-outs compete with the local Michelangelo. This fast-paced and entertaining game is fun for everyone.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A "Cluzzle-ing" Review, April 26, 2005

By 

K.N. - See all my reviews

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Cluzzle (Toy)

OVERVIEW: Cluzzle covers the somewhat odd "world" of clay puzzle making.

Basically, each player must create a puzzle (or should I say, "Cluzzle") of an object, action or idea, but must create it in such as way as to avoid it being too easy. The trade-off is that one must also be careful as to not make the puzzle too hard, or risk receiving no points at all for their masterpiece.

My group played this using the latest edition rules which do away with the question markers and allow for unlimited questions each round, with the only requirement being that one question must be answered before a new one is asked (to avoid yelling over each other). We also saw fit to play with a house rule that required the person asking the question to pause for a second after their question was answered, to allow time for someone else to start a question. This really helped keep things civil, and stopped one player from "grilling" another under a hot lamp (We tried the old "good cop/bad cop" routine, with mixed results).

In each round, the value of each cluzzle rises by one point until the last round in which cluzzles are worth 3 points. This point scheme applies to both the guesser, and the cluzzle-maker, with both being awarded for a correct guess. In some cases, multiple guessers are awarded.

THE HIGHS: First, the clay itself is quite nice. You can tell that there was an eye to quality here, and while the amount of clay is slightly limiting, it is nice to know that the next time you come back to play, the clay will still be moist enough to work with.

Additionally, we found that the choice of puzzles to create was very random, and didn't follow any one theme. This makes the game much more challenging, as one doesn't know if the puzzle will be a vegetable, or an olympic event. Also, there are enough catagories that it would be nearly impossible to recognize one from a previous playing.

The laugh factor is huge. We played with a 20-something crowd, and found that the jokes were pretty much endless. A good laugh was had by all, as we pointed out various alternate possibilities for puzzles, or scratched our heads trying to figure out just what that extra glob of clay was meant to represent.

THE LOWS: Only a few things come to mind here. First, the play money is a little tough to work with. It's thin, and sticks together, making it difficult to hand out. All of those playing felt that it would have been better to create a scoring track on the center board, and have each player place a dab of clay denoting their score.

Another item that may have been useful would have been a cardboard "blind" so that others couldn't see your puzzle in it's creation stage. Many times a player will cloud their puzzle in mystery by removing certain give-away attributes, and it would have been nice to have a screen that blocked others from seeing.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I was a bit stunned by the response "Cluzzle" received. From the most serious players, all the way up to the strictly party-gamers, this one was a success. I had the impression that most felt this was a game not meant to be played at every opportunity, but rather one that would be called on to provide a little comic relief, especially after a longer, more serious game.

I would be inclined to recommend this game to families with young children, as this could be the "Pictionary" of their generation. I would also recommend this to people who like party games, or have friends that would provide extra humour to their creations.

Overall, this is a suprisingly good game worthy of the consideration of almost all gamer types.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, July 8, 2009

By 

IrishFire - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Cluzzle (Toy)

I saw this game while browsing other games, and e-mailed the seller to ask if I could add it to my order. She said yes! After playing the game, we are so very, very glad she did!

I played with a group of 20-somethings, but after a game or five, I'm convinced any age group that wouldn't eat the clay would enjoy it.

We had a blast. Playing with clay is fun, guessing is fun, and the nature of abstract sculptures and 20-questions led to laughter all around. Everyone gets their moment in the sun with this one: each artist is lauded, laughed, and put comfortably on the spot to answer for their creation.

As others have said, the play is thus:

1. Grab a card with lots of STUFF written on it. Pick one thing, and make something of clay that will hopefully lead others to guess said thing in three rounds or less

2. Two-minute Q & A period filled with much head-scratching and laughter. "yes or no" questions are asked of sculptors in any order. In my version, each person could ask up to four questions if you can only get them in quickly enough.

3. 30-second guessing round: write down your guesses for each sculpture that isn't yours!

4. Reveal, score, and laugh at guesses

5. Repeat 2-4 twice more.

The catch, of course, is that your sculpture is worth more points if it's guessed later in the game, but none at all if no one can guess it!

I love that everyone can play, and the play is fast and fun. We're cutthroat in strategy games, but used the timers as guidelines and stretched the allowed answers to the yes-and-no questions. I couldn't have made a better $[...] investment in fun.

I'll note that our clay was in fact dried out, but this wasn't a surprise or a disappointment to me. I read lots of reviews before I purchase a game. We used our Cranium WOW clay, and I bought play-doh on the way home. I've seen six colors of play-doh for $1, but the store I dropped by only had four colors (which I'll mix) for $2. Oh well! I could see being sorely disappointed if I had no idea and had taken this game out to the retreat where there were no other clay options (it was unplayable, really!), but we were able to make a painless substitution, and it simply didn't detract from the fun.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ready for a Night of 'Claughter' (with a word of 'claution'), January 7, 2009

By 

cpasixstring87 (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

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

This review is from: Cluzzle (Toy)

As a preface to the review I would just like to emphasize the importance of being well-informed of what edition of the game you buy. There's a long story involving North Star Games losing ownership over the first production that I would like to retell (if I could remember). But to make a long story short, there are many batches of the game still out there with inferior clay that completely dries out and is left unusable. As mentioned in "chodgkin's" review, be wary of the "Eagle Games" label on the bottom/left corner of the box. Evidently, to appease parents with messy children, they opted for a water-based clay that would not be as greasy and sticky as the 1st edition clay. Of course, as is the case with most water, it tends to dry out.

The North Star website put a page up that offers suggestions, such as adding a single drop of water at a time and kneading the moisture into the clay or placing it in a damp paper towel overnight. Needless to say, most people won't want to spend an evening mositening clay. Hitting an all time low of desperation, I even attempted to microwave the stuff! (FYI - doesn't work...).

But there is hope! After researching "Play Doh" prices online, I decided to contact North Star myself - despite "chodgkin's" negative experience. To my surprise, I was greeted by the nicest customer service guy I ever met! He apologized profusely and sent out replacement clay within a few days! I was extremely impressed with North Star's fast service and recommend contacting them with any problems with their games.

With that out of the way, the game itself is loads of fun! With uninhibited creativty, the possibilties are endless; you can make the game as simple or complex as you'd like. All ages are able to enjoy. I am in my 20s and probably enjoy playing this game with as much zeal as any 8 year old out there. And don't worry grandpa, it's fun for you too! Sad to say, this truly is an underappreciated game... I encourage anyone out there that has played this game to spread the word!

I give the game itself 5/5 stars... assuming there are no issues with the clay.

Oh.. And sorry for the super corny title...