GAMING POINT OF LOU QUICK HIT – SPANK THE YETI

Introductions are the hardest part of these articles, I always want to sound witty, intelligent, and informed, but the truth is I’m usually neither, I just play some games and hurl my thoughts about them on a screen and hope that whomever is reading the articles agrees with my opinion, and hopefully is motivated to try out some fun games created by people with a true passion for their projects.

And on the subject of passion projects, I was recently invited over to Ganache’s house to film some footage of the Pint crew playing “Spank The Yeti”. Created by Brooklyn, NY based developer Galactic Sneeze, http://www.galacticsneeze.com “Spank The Yeti” has aimed to carve it’s own niche in the party game scene by offering a fresh take on an old concept. And it wasn’t hard to notice after a few hours of filming / playing that Galactic Sneeze was on to something special.

A sample picture I “borrowed” from Galactic Sneeze’s website. Action Cards are on the Left, Object cards are on the Right. Each round players guess which Object the “Yeti” would match to each Action.

“Spank The Yeti” takes the age old party game “F / Marry / Kill” and to quote Emeril “Kicks It Up A Notch”. Each round, the “Yeti” randomly chooses 3 action cards and 3 object cards from their respective draw piles and places them face up on the table, and the remaining players have to guess which object will correspond to which action, it really is that simple. The real strategy comes from how well you know the person currently inhabiting the role of the Yeti. If you want to watch the game in action you are most certainly in luck as not only does Galactic Sneeze offer up a “how to” video on their website, but yours truly has linked our playtest video to this as well.

If you couldn’t tell, we had an absolute blast with it, the rounds play fast, and it really doesn’t matter if you keep score (although scoring rules are included in the manual) because the real heart of this game is gathering around the table with good friends, and having a laugh at everyone’s expense. As an aside although the game says 17+ on the box I took some time and looked through all the action and object cards and as a parent I would feel completely confident in building a PG rated game by omitting some of the more risque cards. I know that may not seem like a lot to the “20 somethings” in the room, but as an elder statesman, knowing that this game is flexible enough to be played with all the members of my family is an added bonus, because it means I won’t have to park it on the shelf for extended periods of time collecting dust until “adult only game night”.

I absolutely love the packaging for the game, cards are separated in the box with easy to read dividers. It is attention to detail such as this that shows how much the developers care about their product.

I instituted the “Quick Hits” reviews to allow me the flexibility to highlight fun, simple games that don’t require a long form review, And if any game fits that bill it’s most certainly “Spank The Yeti”. For a raucous party game it checks all the necessary boxes, and easily stands toe to toe with the giants of the industry. We really did have a fantastic time playing this game, and believe me when I tell you, if it wasn’t for YouTube’s somewhat restrictive Terms of Service, the video would have been far less edited than it was.

Before I sign off I would also like to take a moment to echo the sentiments of Sir Jon, Ganache, Manster, and King, and thank Galactic Sneeze for providing us with a test copy. Next up we will be tackling their other offering “Schmoovie”

Until Next Time Everyone,

Be Good To Your Fellow Nerds,

Lou





