When it comes to game nights, taking a look at our board game shelves and cupboards shows that they are packed with a variety of games. But among the varied offerings there is one type that has a very special niche carved out – quick thinking naming games! Unlike other games that tend to lean heavily on strategy or pure luck, naming games rely on exercising your brain by requiring a good deal of mental agility, memory recall and the ability to think very quickly under time pressure. This type of game challenges its players to dredge up lots of long-buried knowledge from the deepest, darkest depths of their memory, which more often than not results in hilarious results when the panic sets in and the simple, obvious answers slip away. Classic games like 5 Second Rule or Think Words have long demonstrated the appeal of this format: the rules are easy to grasp, the gameplay is fast-paced and the fun lies in watching friends and family scramble to shout out answers before the timer buzzes. Ideal’s Don’t Panic fits neatly into this tradition, offering a race against the clock with rapid-fire questions that emphasises accessibility and family play.
Don’t Panic, from Ideal, is a lively, family-friendly quick-thinking naming game that thrives on pressure, laughter and the thrill of racing against the clock. It’s a great example of how a simple concept – naming items in a category before time runs out, can deliver endless replayability and fun. It is a game for 2 or more players, age 7+, and is perfect for family game nights.
In the box:
- Game Board
- Electronic Timer
- 6x Playing Pieces
- 100x Cards
- Instruction Manual
Don’t Panic is a simple game to learn and play with very straightforward rules. Players take a card and name 3 to 8 items associated with a subject on the card before the timer expires (Christmas films, Winter Sports, things you bury etc…) – the quicker you name them, the more spaces you can move around the board. The winner is the first player to reach the finish line. Simple. Well, not as simple as you think – you might be able to name 4 yellow things or 7 Premiership football clubs, but can you do it with a chunky yellow timer with big red button, a countdown number and relentless ticking down? It’s tense, competitive and filled with laughter as players struggle to recall even the most obvious answers under pressure.
To set up the game is simple. Unfold the long, narrow zig-zag game board and place it in the centre of the table. Install 2x AAA batteries (not supplied) into the bottom of the electronic timer (you will need a small Phillips screwdriver). Shuffle the deck of cards and place them in the slot at back of the timer, and place the timer in front of the oldest player with the mirrored clock face facing the centre of the playing area. Each player takes a coloured playing piece and places it on the start line on the game board. You are all set and ready to forget every bit of knowledge you ever had.
To play, the oldest player takes a card from the back of the timer and reads the top question (green) to the player on their left – for example, name 4 things you have to assemble. Once the question has been asked, press the big red button on the top of the timer to start the countdown (despite the clock counting down from 9 to 0, this is actually approx. about 35 seconds). The player then needs to name the required number of things associated with the question asked as quickly as possible. Once the required number of answers has been supplied they press the big red button again which stops the countdown and displays a number – this is the number of spaces they get to move around the board. The colour space they land on is the colour of their next question on their next turn (green is easiest, yellow is medium difficulty and red is hardest). Reset the timer by holding down the button for 5 seconds and the next player takes their turn. The first player to reach the finish wins.
While playing, if the required number of answers is not given that player moves no spaces on the board and play moves to the next player. If playing with younger children, you have the option to ask them just the green questions (easiest ones) regardless of what colour space they land on the board.
Overall, Don’t Panic is an excellent inclusive family game for up to 6 players. It has three levels of difficulty levels on each card, but can be customised so that the youngest players stick to the easiest questions – but without making it ridiculously easy (and saves the need for different decks of cards for kids and adults). It is lots of fun watching people flounder for answers, lots of them very simple – it’s strange how minds can lose the ability of thought when a ticking and visual countdown timer is thrown into the mix.
With 100 double-sided cards, with 3 questions on each side (600 questions), the replayability value is excellent, especially as players are always going to come up with different answers.
The board is small and narrow and looks like a race track, is colourful and visually appealing as well as having plenty of spaces before you can reach the finish line so a good few rounds can be played.
The electronic timer is fun. It’s quite large, colourful in bright yellow and a massive red button to smack, plus the mirrored front that displays the countdown timer is fun. It injects a tension and urgency into every question and round played.
And as for the questions, they cover a broad range so can stump even the most knowledgeable of players, giving everybody a chance to win (especially as time is a factor and you get very little of it to think and consider your answers). When you need to name different types of fruit and can’t think of a single one, it adds light-hearted but frantic fun element to the game. It’s not about encyclopaedic knowledge you possess but more about how quickly you can think and answer the question under a time pressure and with panic setting in – hence the name, Don’t Panic!
Don’t Panic is fast-paced fun, packed with laughter and the thrill of thinking on your feet. It is perfect for family game nights as well as those birthday get-togethers or family fun after Christmas dinner. It will spark joy and panic in equal measure. We have loved playing Don’t Panic. While we have played plenty of naming games, the countdown timer that determines how many spaces you move in your race around the board just gives it that something a bit different and helps to increase the fun.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £17.99
For more information, visit www.johnadams.co.uk. Available to buy from Amazon here.