Scene It

I'm not much of a movie buff, to be honest. I get a lot of strange looks
when folks ask me if I've seen the latest Hollywood blockbuster and I reply
that I haven't. With limited time for entertainment, I much prefer
activities that I have more participation in (like games) rather than more
passive forms like television and movies. Not that I think movies or
television are bad, mind you, it's just not my cup of tea.

Nor do I really care for trivia games. There is something about them that
reminds me too much of the part of school I didn't care for: the tests. I
found that games like Trivial Pursuit are less about skill and more about
regurgitating facts. I prefer my games to have a little more balance and
accessibility than most trivia games provide. Again, not that trivia games
are necessarily bad games, but as a general rule, I tend to shy away from
them.

So it probably doesn't come as much of a surprise that I resisted playing
Scene It for as long as I did. Take a subject I don't know much about
(movies) and combine it with a game style I don't care for (trivia) and
you've got a recipe for a game that I just won't like. Imagine my surprise
when I played my first game of Scene It this past Christmas and actually
found myself enjoying the game. The reason for enjoying it so much? Scene
It is unlike any trivia game you've ever played.

Scene It is a game of movie knowledge and observation. Questions come in
two forms: cards and DVD questions. The questions on the cards involve
standard trivial information. The latter part is what sets Scene It apart
from the hoards of other trivia games and makes it so movie buffs aren't the
only ones who will play and enjoy this game.

Questions on the DVD come in several varieties and there are multiple
questions for each clip shown. They range from basic identify the movie or
actor questions to memory questions like what color something was or the
last name of a character in the clip. With the memory questions, the answer
is always referenced in some form during the clip, so even if you have never
seen the movie, you still have a fighting chance at winning the question.
Obviously the designers had both the movie buff and the casual movie viewer
in mind when they developed their game.

Also, the DVD contains “All Play” questions that invite everyone to play.
Here the game might ask you to identify what's missing from a still from a
movie (shown with the item cut out of the movie) or what is different
between the two pictures shown. Also, they might ask you to identify a
character from a distorted picture or a movie from four progressively shown
clips. It is in these questions that the average movie fan is even with the
super movie buff and again show the game's appeal to all types of game
players.

To win the game, a player must make their way around the game board to the
final four spaces. At the first of these spaces is a spot called “All Play
to Win!” All players compete in a question and should the player in the
final spot win, they win the game. Otherwise, they advance to the “Final
Cut” spaces and play continues. When that player's next turn comes around,
they need to answer multiple questions in a row in order to win the game.
Clearly this is a fix to the problem of “runaway leader” and works well to
ensure that all players have a chance to stage a dramatic come from behind
victory.

Other nice features includes board itself folds in on itself creating a
shorter track for a shorter game and alternate rules for increasing or
decreasing movement along the board. These are nice features to allow play
with those who may not have a long attention span or for those who want one
more “quick” game before bed.

Aside from the DVD, the other components are of high quality, including
solid metal pieces, a sturdy game board, and a sizable amount of traditional
trivia question cards. One other nice feature of the board is that it folds
in on itself creating a shorter track for a shorter game. It's a nice
feature to allow play with those who may not have a long attention span or
for those who want one more “quick” game before bed.

Scene It's popularity is well noted and well deserved. As one of the
store's more popular games the past two holiday seasons , Scene It has
something to offer everyone. Like the best Hollywood Blockbuster, Scene It
has laughs, drama, tension, and a few explosions as players race around the
board and try to become the Scene It Champion. And like any good
blockbuster, it has already spawned one sequel and several sister games.
Just two things are missing from the blockbuster movie experience: sticky
floors and overpriced popcorn! I guess no game can include everything.