Cranium Whoonu (Tin) Reviews

• Not Bad--But Not As Fun As I Thought It Would Be

  
  By A3UV7L5ND3EH8T on 2006-10-22
  I was out shopping last night, and was debating between several Cranium games. I finally decided on Whoonu, because it seemed like a game that anyone can play, including my 8 year old son.
  
  Based on the packaging, I figured it was a "guess how well you know the other person" type game. You pick two cards and ask someone "What do you like better--roller coasters or building snowmen?"
  
  Well, it's a little more complicated than that.
  
  One person--who's birthday is coming up the soonest--becomes the first Whoozit. Everyone EXCEPT the Whoozit is given four cards and, out of the four cards, you have to guess which two would be the Whoozit's favorite. Each person puts their two selected card in the Whoonu envelope and gives the envelope to the Whoozit. (This is for 3-4 players. Games with 5 or 6 players require only ONE card to be selected.)
  
  The Whoozit then takes out the cards and puts them in order of least favorite to most favorite. Depending on how many people are playing, there are stacks of chips ranging from 1 point to 6 points--the least favorite being worth 1 point with the most favorite earning the highest point. (For example, if you're playing with 3-4 players, the highest chip would be 4 points.)
  
  The other two players get chips that correspond to the placement (favorites) of the Whoozit. For example, if I chose Bugs and Black Licorice for the Whoozit's favorites and he places Bugs as most favorite, then I get a 4 point chip. If he chooses Black Licorice as his LEAST favorite, I get the 1 point chip.
  
  Here's the tricky (and not so fun) part: the NEXT Whoozit (the person on the left of the previous Whoozit) gets the DISCARDED cards from the other players PLUS 2 or 3 new cards (depending on how many people are playing). Not only can this get confusing, but it can get FRUSTRATING. If a card that NO ONE likes is in play (say, Watching Race Car Driving), then that card stays in play.
  
  My family and I played last night, but we had to help our son with some parts. He grew tired after ONE game, so my husband and I decided to play. We realized that AT LEAST 3 players are required for gameplay, so we made up our own rules.
  
  It's not a bad game, but not as fun as I thought it would be. I can't see how people think this would be a good game for strangers--or for team building and ice breaking. I mean, guessing the favorites of a total stranger is NOT fun (for me, anyway). Who CARES what the favorites are of a complete stranger?! It's much more fun to learn more about people you actually KNOW--friends, family, and romantic partners.
  
  If the premise sounds appealing to you, you'll likely enjoy this game. There are 3 packs of cards--300 in all--so there's plenty for playing according to rules without much repeats...or for playing according to your own rules.
  
  

• Another Winner

  
  By A1CHM200OEN65X on 2007-01-31
  Those in my family have become big fans of the Cranium games, and Whoonu is another winner. It's simple enough to be learned in minutes, yet engaging enough to keep the interest of our 12- and 14-year old daughters.
  
  The basic concept: after receiving a hand of cards that spell out different activities or subjects (example, "skydiving," "ice cream," "little dogs,"), you choose those that would be the favorite of the person featured for that hand. You score more points for guessing most accurately. There are always laughs, and a few half-hearted arguments--"but you told me you loved olives!" If you play with strangers, you'll find out more about them. If you play with close companions, you'll still find nuances to their interests that you never knew before. Whoonu!
  
  The main drawback to the game is its lack of 2-person rules. My wife and I created our own. We both draw four cards, then place them facedown in the order we think fits the other best. The ones that are in the right order earn point chips.
  
  The bottom line with this game is fun, interaction, and connection. These are the same elements that have drawn us to the Cranium line in the first place, and we were not disappointed.
  
  

• Whoonu it could be so much fun?!?!

  
  By A16THV0ZJTFZN9 on 2007-04-09
  I bought this game for my family after playing it at my daughter's friend's house. It was a blast. My dad is not a big game-board type player, but he loved this game. We had so much fun. It gets especially "challenging" when the cards you are holding do not really describe any favorite of the Whoozit...makes you really think about what they could like out of the cards you are holding. We even played choosing the card we think the Whoozit would like the least, and then putting them in front of the coins least favorite to best (highest points for least favorite coin to lowest coin for most favorite card). Either way we had lots of fun! My daughter is 7 1/2 and loves this game, as well as the other Cranium games we have (Cadoo, Balloon Lagoon, and Hullabaloo).[...]
  
  

• My 6 year old looooves this game

  
  By A1M7SQYGJHK08N on 2006-11-18
  My 6 year old really loves this game. It's not my favorite, however. While I love the concept, even though you're provided with tons of cards, it doesn't take more than a dozen or so games before every game seems the same since you've seen all the cards. It's not a BAD game, just one that gets old fast. On the other hand, you learn a bit about the people you're playing with and OCCASSIONALLY their answers/choices will surprise you. We usually play the game 4 or 5 times when we play, because it takes less than 5 min. to finish a game. That's part of what makes it get old so fast, I think.
  
  

• Disappointed

  
  By A2T1RQBKYQAFEZ on 2006-10-18
  I love games but this one fell way short of being fun. The idea of the game sounded great but when we actually played the game, we were bored before we started. It was too short. And we were like, "That's it?!" The game took like maybe ten minutes to play. We played again and modified it so it would be longer but it was just boring. And the winner only wins by sheer luck of the draw - so there is no skill or ability or even thought that would go into winning the game. You could win this game while sleeping. Quite unsatisfactory. [...]
  
  
• FUN for EVERYONE!
  By A2GJCYHBIFEKD2 on 2006-11-08
  We have played this game many times with our entire family and we all love it! Who knew my neice likes BROCCOLI better than GOLF or that my cousin likes TOAST better than SUNSETS.
  
  TOO FUNNY!
  
  
• Great!
  By A31IPFRDKPT6M3 on 2006-10-19
  This is a great game to play if you are really wanting to spend time with the people you are playing with and get to know them more...and it is fun too! I'm not a huge fan of board games, but could play this for hours! It's good for people of all ages too!
  
  
• Whoonu - Get to know the family
  By A2OAMSOOOJX8QV on 2007-05-16
  Want to find out how your kids feel about certain things? Here is a chance. Each round has 1 person being the whoozit. All other players choose 2 cards from their hand of 4, that they think the Whoozit will like most. The whoozit then privately goes through and ranks the cards in order of most liked to least liked. You might be surprised by the answers! It's a lot of fun, easy and quick. My kids love this game. And as a bonus, my daughter wanted so badly to play, that she started reading, just to keep up with her older brother. I call that a BIG bonus. You can't go wrong with Cranuim games. Their support is second to none.
  
  
• Who knew?
  By A1IEJ0IA7N7ME0 on 2007-02-18
  This is a great game to play with people you want to get to know better. It is best played with 4 or more people. My 10 year old daughter typically does not like board games but she continually asks to play WHOONU!
  
  
• Fun family game
  By A3TGDD8KDX0X97 on 2007-01-16
  We got this game for Christmas and it was lots of fun to play with friends and family that came for the holidays. Learned new things about each other and enjoyed spending time together.
  
  
• It is absolutly great
  By A1RQAWHTFODTRT on 2007-01-03
  Although I am from Germany and english is not my mother language I love this game. I got to know it while I was an aupair in America. Back home in Germany I was thinking about this game, but couldn't get it here. So I asked a friend of mine, who was still in the states, if I can order it, and ship it to her. Finally she shipped it to me. It cost a lot of money but it was worth it. First I didn't get my family to play it, because it is english and so on, but after I once got the to do me the favour they started to love it. Even my father who generally hates games, loves this game. And all my friends I got to play it love it too. It is simply great. The words are so easy that even non native speaker can play it easily.
  
  
• Non-competitive non-threatening sharing game
  By A4LGLULZAK8G0 on 2007-02-19
  We're always looking for fun games that help us learn about others at the table. This game encourages sharing
  at a comfortable level and can be played quickly (one round might take 15 minutes). The game asks you to rank items from most to least favorite, so you're bound to need to share some stories to defend your rankings. As long as you get over the difficulty of ranking things that have nothing in common ('macaroni and cheese' and 'the color red'), you'll enjoy this game.
  
  
• One Fun Game!!!
  By A8VPQ5LA5S3OX on 2007-05-12
  My kids love this game! It is so much fun and in the process of playing it they can learn so much about each other and the friends and family who they make play it with them. It's great for people of all ages - young and old.
  
  
• Fun toy that promotes conversation
  By A1CICZII7HMWZ7 on 2007-05-17
  It's a kind of what's your favorite thing game. It's fun and can promote conversation between family members about why they enjoy or don't enjoy certain things.
  Not educational but fun. Too hard for little kids like 7 of younger, they don't seem to get the concept.
  
  
• Whoo nu a simple game could be so fun?
  By A2Z60PVKWFO3SW on 2007-09-19
  My family really likes Cranium Whoonu, as do their friends who come to our home. We bring the game out 2-3 times a week and play a few quick rounds.
  
  As others have noted, you are given cards, one person is the "whoozit", and then you select cards from your hand that you think will be the whoozit's favorite thing.
  
  The whoozit then places the cards in order of preference next to point tokens - his favorite thing will be next to the highest point token, his next favorite thing next to the next highest point token, and so on. This ranking is actually a very nice feature of the game, EVERYONE ends up with a token so you don't have one child who ends up empty handed every time (as has happened to us with Apples to Apples, for instance).
  
  We are always amused and surprised by how the whoozit actually ranks his cards - who knew my oldest son hated zoos because of all the hills he has to walk? Who knew my daughter preferred remote controls to fairs?
  
  This game requires reading, but otherwise, there is no reason to wait for a child to be eight before playing
  
  
• Alternative rules
  By A17UNMURMLX0ZE on 2007-12-11
  "Here's the tricky (and not so fun) part: the NEXT Whoozit (the person on the left of the previous Whoozit) gets the DISCARDED cards from the other players PLUS 2 or 3 new cards (depending on how many people are playing). Not only can this get confusing, but it can get FRUSTRATING. If a card that NO ONE likes is in play (say, Watching Race Car Driving), then that card stays in play. "
  
  Easy solution, give a bonus for putting in the lowest card too...
  
  
• Family Fun
  By AOCJDMMUVE2X6 on 2007-12-24
  Our family purchased this to play during the holiday season. Games are a great way to spend time together. Our 9 year old daughter wants to play this game all of the time. It really is fun and entertaining. I just wish that it could be played with two players but it can not. You can't beat the price. Well worth it and the packaging is very sturdy.
  
  
• Fun. A different kind of game.
  By AB2AGST87G7IM on 2007-07-03
  It turns out that this toy is inappropriate for my autistic son, (I hoped it might have "conversational value"). However, for "typical" kids, at the "guessing" age, this must really fun. I am keeping it for later!
  Note: 4 stars for durability only, because cards / tokens can get lost, but otherwise nothing "fragile" there at all.
  
  
• all ages
  By AMUYZXS55WDEB on 2007-12-29
  so i am nineteen and played this game in high school i bought it for my family at christmas and we played christmas night with age ranges from seventeen (the youngest) to seventy-seven the oldest..... it was a total blast we havd for fun than ever with a game like uno which is what we usually play!!!!!!
  
  
• Another excellent Cranium game!!
  By A17LKZ2X54NF99 on 2007-12-31
  Got this for our 8 year old daughter for Christmas and we all LOVE it! It is a VERY fun game. Spent several hours playing this with 5-6 people on Christmas and everyone had a blast. Very well make. Heavy durable tin box, and well make game pieces and cards. Unlike alot of the cheap poorly make games they are coming out with these days. Would highly recommend this game!
  
  
• Family fun
  By A2FSPEEQSF1D3L on 2008-01-07
  My kids loved this game and want to play it all the time. The only problem is the reading. The kids that enjoys it most need help reading some or most of the cards. Still, it's nice to have a game they can play that isn't as simple as Candy Land or Memory.
  
  
• Whoonu is a hoot for all ages!
  By A3E3ZSLUCZR8XH on 2008-01-07
  I have played Whoonu with all adults, with children as young as 7 years old, with family and strangers. You learn alot about each other, while having fun at the same time! Whoonu I didn't like pickles! Well, they do now.
  
  
• Family Fun
  By A2S2U6FLVQHTKA on 2008-01-20
  My family loves this game. The down side is you have to have at least 3 players. It is simple, easy and quik. My 9 year old daughter has even learned some new words from the cards. I would buy this again.
  
  
• Perhaps the most fun game I've ever played...
  By AID8OJP77VK6Y on 2008-04-14
  A friend brought Whoonu to my house one night, and we wound up playing many rounds in rapid succession. It was such a riot that I had to buy the game to play with my family--people get really emotional about their choices! I would seriously love to ask anyone I ever could to play Whoonu, because it's a game absolutely anyone can play, and it's the best way I can think of to learn about someone while letting them know things about yourself too.
  
  Whoonu is an awesome "get-to-know-you" game--I don't know what's better, using it to become better acquainted with people you barely know personally or using it to learn more about people you think you already know like a book. The beauty of it is, it works for any group of people! Whether you're extremely close yet or not, the game is super fun and invites silliness. I only wish there could be infinitely many cards! I've never seen a game like Whoonu before. It's all about getting to know each other's favorite things--and you'll probably be shocked at how the things get ranked sometimes!
  
  I also love a somewhat similar game, Imaginiff, which I say is similar because it also focuses on the particular players, and/or people they know. It asks you to basically make a judgment on the other person's personality or likes by selecting what they would be "if they were a ____" on each card. Only, in that one, the person in question has less power--their own choices for themselves matter less than the choice that was picked by the majority of other players. It's the opposite in Whoonu, and I like that you get to determine the winners by sharing your actual favorite things. Still, if you enjoy Whoonu and this type of game, I'd offer Imaginiff as an additional recommendation. I would say that Whoonu is better if you've got a lot of younger people in your crowd and for those with limited attention spans, however, as it's been my experience that just about anyone will grasp the Whoonu concept very quickly and eagerly play several rounds in a row, because they go fast. Imaginiff tends to go on much, much longer, an entire game probably equaling many rounds of Whoonu, and while this doesn't bother me, I have a harder time keeping everyone put til the end on occasion.
  
  The fun never ends with Whoonu--my groups love to mix it up and play one round choosing the "Whoozit"'s favorites, and the next round, picking their least favorites! In that case, you select what you believe the person hates, and the thing they like LEAST gets the most points. Often, you'll have an awful hand for the person you're doing at the moment, because you think they hate (or if you're playing backwards, love) everything you've got. Or maybe you expect them not to care about any of your choices one way or another, or--well, anything can happen. And believe it or not, times like those make it even MORE fun! Playing Whoonu can really tell you a lot about somebody, and always makes a wildly hilarious game for parties or small get-togethers or whatever, so long as you have 3-6 players at a time. With very little set-up, it's incredibly simple and therein lies its genius. Every player gets to be Whoozit, so every player guesses for every other player before the game ends. Plus, the numbered tokens are cool, resembling wavy vegetable chips. Again, I would gladly play this game with just about anyone, and I'm glad I found out about it--I strongly recommend it to anyone, too!
  
  
• Quick game!
  By A26AY1TFK8BQXQ on 2008-05-08
  This game is great for kids who have a short attention span or for adults who only have a few minutes to dedicate to the game. You can literally play in under ten minutes and the kids love that you are getting involved with them. It is extremely simple to play.
  
  
• Great family game
  By A1EJN5ZCHQVAD on 2008-01-15
  My 5 year old received this for Christmas and it has been a big hit in our house. We found it simple to set up and play- we can do a game with 4 people in 15 minutes. I plan on buying this game for my neice too!
  
  
• Fun, EASY game . . . . for the whole family.
  By A1SBQE1SK3DCXF on 2008-05-04
  I love this game. We play it at 'girls' nights. It especially great because its easy to leave and come back too, when you have to change a diaper or settle a toy dispute.
  
  
• Surprise from the clearance rack
  By A3Q91E3OIJ35RL on 2008-05-11
  I bought Whoonu off the clearance rack at Walmart. I was spending six weeks in the middle of the desert with no internet access and we were looking for something to do. Since the game requires at least three people we never actually got around to playing it so I gave it to my 8 year old nephew for Christmas. This game was a HUGE hit! Grandpa, grandma, mom, dad, auntie, and even his little sister had so much fun playing this game that we played it well past bedtime more than once. I would definitely recommend this one for a family who wants to spend time with the kids (who are old enough to read) instead of spending money on more video games for the kids!
  
  
• whoonu
  By A2AN7HAK2ORG0M on 2008-06-13
  I love playing this with our grandkids. finally a game that I can play with a four year old that is not boring for adults. We all love it!!!!
  
  
• toy
  By A2DUGNYGLXBYVM on 2008-06-14
  Bought as a gift. Have not given it but feel it was worth the money.
  
  

• Doodle Pro Glow
• Cranium Family Edition
• Cranium Squawkbox Bug Hunt
• Cranium Squawkbox Cards - Lunch Munch
• Sesame Street Wooden Alpha Blocks