I am a huge fan of the Cranium games. I have only played the games geared for kids and families but as a mom and an educator I have enjoyed playing with family members ages 4-65. This summer I was excited when I saw that Cranium Kabookii had come out for Wii. I saw it at Target for $19.99 and I checked out the package it didn’t have any age on it just rated E for everyone and the cover said “Family-Night fun for everyone!” I purchased this game for my nephew’s 7th birthday and couldn’t wait until his party so I could play. Cranium Kabookii is a team game and requires a minimum of 4 players/2 teams but needs only 1 Wii remote. Each turn the player whose turn it is uses the remote to spin the carousel which randomly chooses the activity for you. There are 15 different activities in Kabookii and they are based on the 4 characters in all of the Cranium games-Data Heads, Star Performer, Creative Cat and Word Worm. The spinner then works with his teammates to solve the problem posed in the activity. If your team gets it correct you gain coins which are necessary for winning the game. Play then passes to the next team. The 15 activities are:

• Globetrotter-which is a world map activity
• Selectaquest-which is a multiple choice trivia question
• Polygraph-a true/false question
• Memoroll-same as memoroll in the other Cranium games except you are rolling the virtual cubes and placing them on the grid
• Cameo-is a list of activities for you to perform with the Wii remote (such as hammering a nail or playing the violin
• Talkback Cameo-is Cameo with a twist-your back is to the screen and your teammates are telling you what actions to perform
• Songpong-is you playing a song with the Wii remote and your teammates naming the tune before time runs out
• Reverb-is a musical memory game (think Simon)
• Blankout-gives you a clue and you need to spin dials to spell the correct answer
• Gliffitii-is another spelling game but you use brushstrokes of parts of letters to create the necessary letters
• Zelpuz-is a puzzle spelling game-they give you a clue and all of the letters you just need to put them in the correct order
• Cloodle-is a drawing game
• Ripstrip Cloodle-is Cloodle but the image disappears as you are creating it
• Graffitii-is a spray paint drawing game
• Stickerdoodle-is a game that uses basic shapes to make pictures

The basic gameplay is just like that of other Cranium games. This is definately a good game for larger groups 4-20 people could easily play this together. It is fun to share the Wii game experience in a group setting.

The controls for this game are not very intuitive. Adults I played with had trouble with all of the different ways the Wii remote could be used-shaking seemed the most difficult for all ages. The drawing games are very difficult with the Wii remote. Pointing at the TV screen and holding down “A” while trying to draw a flamingo is a complicated task. Never mind when you are in Ripstrip Cloodle and the design you just drew is disappearing before you finish your drawing.

The most disturbing part of this game is that it is marketed as “family friendly” and is rated E. Every time we have played this game, we have had questions about alcoholic beverages. The latest was a Selectaquest question that asked “Which of these is not an ingredient in a Mojito?” and the answer was Triple Sec. When my 13 yr old son looked at me and asked, “What is a Mojito?” my question was, “Why is a family game asking my child this question?” Any other video game I have seen with alcohol reference in it has been labeled as such with the game rating. There is no such warning on Cranium Kabookii.

Another concern with this game is the fact that the multiple spelling games require at least a 4th grade spelling ability. After much searching I did find where, in small print, it states “Basic reading ability is needed to fully enjoy this game.” In my opinion this does not make it a family night game if your family includes children ages 4-10. The difficult controls also make this game not appropriate for young children.

My overall rating-2.25

Value for the price-4

Family Friendly-2

Ease of Use-2

Truth in Advertising-1

I would not recommend this game for families with children under age 10 or for families that do not want alcohol references in their home.

This is a fun party game for an adult only crowd.

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