Example cards in Time's Up Party

Time's Up Party Game Review

Time's Up Party Game Review

Time's Up Party* is a fun quick party game involving guessing people from descriptions of miming. It is based on the long-standing game Celebrity. Unfortunately due to the lock down we haven’t been able to experience this as a party game, but we have given it a good go as a family.

I’ve been looking for a new team based party game that is portable. We introduced our friends to Codenames (my review) earlier this year, and there is a chance they’ll be bored with it by the time we go away next year. So was very pleased when Asmodee asked if we’d review Time's Up Party, could this be a contender for the next ski trip?

Time's Up Party Game Overview

Game Type - This is an acting, guessing and memory game, played in teams.

Aim - The aim is to be the team who has guessed the most cards correctly after three rounds.

Players - 4-12 players
The suggested age is 12+, however this is dependent on the names on the cards. I've successfully played this with an 11 and 8 year old, but think it will be more fun with adults.

Time to Play - The suggested time on the box is 40 minutes, but this is variable depending on how many cards you start with, and how good the acting and guessing skills are.

Components

The box is unusual as it is almost a cube, however if that doesn’t fit on your shelves it also comes with a bag so you can keep all the components in there instead.

The game also comes with over 200 name cards (each has two names), a biographies book if you don’t know a name, sand timer and score book.

When you open the box the first component you notice is the bamboo. It is stackable wood pieces painted in three different colours. The player action markers and dice are also wooden.

The panda and gardener are pre-painted plastic miniatures, and blue plastic sticks depict the irrigation channels. Everything else is cardboard of varies thicknesses.

Each player has a board that reminds them of the possible actions each turn, and to collate their loose pieces. Thes boards maybe optional in a game with adults, but I think they are essential in a game with children.

The components inside the Time's up party box - cards, bag, score page, instructions and short biographies

How to play Time's Up Party

Objectives

To be the team with the most correct guesses at the end of three rounds.

Set up

The first thing to do is to split into teams. We’ve only played it with two teams, but the scorecard suggests it will work with up to four.

Start by creating the deck of cards which will be used for all three rounds. This is done by dealing 40 cards between all players. Each person reviews his or her cards and if they don’t like / know a name they can swap it with the remaining cards. The selected cards are shuffled together and given to the first player.

When we’ve played with children we’ve all picked cards from the deck until we each have five we know as this increases the chances the children will know the names and also means the game is quicker.

Examples of the variety of cards included in Time's Up Party

Round 1

This is the describing round. The first person to go describes the name on the card until their teammates guess it, they continue with a new card until the timer runs out. The deck is passed to the person in the second team; until all the cards are gone. The number of correct guesses are added to the scorecard for each team.

Round 2

The cards are collected, shuffled and given to the first person to go in this round. This time only one word can be given as a clue, but as everyone, may, remember who is in the deck this can be easier than you expect. The rules state you can only make one guess per card in this round, but we ignored this when we played with children. The correct guesses are added to the scorecard.

Round 3

This is the miming round. The cards are again collected, shuffled and given to the first person to go who can not use words to describe the name, so has to rely on actions and humming. Again, memory from the previous two rounds is important.

Ending the game and winning

The game ends when the last name is guessed at the end of round 3. The winning team is the one with the most correct guesses over the three rounds.

Do I recommend Time's Up Party?

Based on my experience playing this with children I do recommend it as I’ve had fun, particularly in Round 3. However, I am looking forward to playing it with more adults as I think it will be quicker and even more fun.

We managed to adapt this to play with our children, but they still struggled with some names. So if you want to play with younger children, there is a Kids version which uses pictures, but it doesn't seem easy to get hold of in the UK. Fortunately, Asmodee wants to entertain families during the pandemic and has provided a number of print and play games on their website, including Time’s Up! Kids so you can easily try it out.

Things I like

  • Simple to learn

  • Quick turns

  • Everyone knows some of the cards in the deck as they chose them

  • You can use your memory to help in rounds 2 and 3

  • Portable

  • Team based

Things that may create challenges

  • You maybe limited by your knowledge of people (the biography book might help, but we've always forgotten to use it)

  • The younger the players, the fewer people they are likely to know 

Other games you may want to consider

Party Games

  • Codenames Pictures (my review)

  • Telestrations (my review)

  • Just One

  • Decrypto

  • The Resistance

Team Games

  • Codenames

  • Decrypto

  • Wavelength

  • Concept

  • Taboo

* Disclaimer – I received this game through the Asmodee Blogger Board Game Club. This was a free game in exchange for an honest review. All comments are my own. This post contains affiliate links which means if you buy something I may earn a percentage of the value. However it does not cost you any more.