I love playing trivia / quiz games. They are great fun; sitting around the table with your friends and family and being able to test your knowledge. Delving into the depths of your brain to try and recall a mass of knowledge you have hoarded away over the years. Yes, trivia games are lots of fun, but trivia games with a twist are even better, such as Out of Order from Gibsons Games.
Out of Order is a party trivia game for 2-6 players, suitable for teenagers and adults aged 14+. It has a quick playing time of 15-30 minutes. Out of Order is a trivia game with a twist, a twist that makes it quite funny and really rather enjoyable; just knowing the answer isn’t enough – players also put their short-term memory to the test by answering questions out of order!
In the box:
- 100 doubled-sided quirky question cards (5 questions on each side of the card)
- 1 Rule Card (instructions)
- 6 Scoring Arrows (various colours)
- Scoring Board (the box doubles as the scoring board)
Out of Order is a question-and-answer trivia game. There’s nothing new in that I hear you say, but there is, it has a unique big twist – the answer that you give isn’t for the question that has just been asked, but for the question that was asked previously! It is a very simple game to understand and play, and one that requires good short-term memory skills and lots of concentration to win.
There is no complicated setup, in fact, there is no real set up; it can be played straight out of the box as the box itself is the ‘game board’. The question cards stay in the box and the only thing needed by the players is a clip-on scoring arrow.
I have said that the box is the ‘game board’, that isn’t entirely accurate. Whilst the box is used in the playing of the game it is actually the ‘score board’, keeping track of every player’s score. Around the edges of the box are numbers. These are to mark how many questions each player has answered correctly (you use your coloured scoring arrow to clip-on on to the side of the box to mark your progress).
The aim of the game is to answer questions with the first player to the finish being the winner. Simple, isn’t it. No, not so simple, as the game has a fun twist. When a player is asked a question, they must give the answer for the PREVIOUS question asked. This results in some hilarious answers (especially when one question asked was “Little Jack Horner stuck what in a pie” and the answer became sausage rather than the proper answer of thumb).
Playing the game is easy; get asked a question and respond with the answer from the previous question. But trying to remember the previous answer can be harder than you think.
Each player is given a scoring arrow, they are all different colours, so each player knows where they are when they get on the scoring board. The cards are shuffled and placed back into the box, within easy reach of all players. One player becomes the Quizmaster to start (usually the one reading the rule card). The Quizmaster begins by picking the first card out of the box and asking the player to their left the first question. As this question can’t be answered using the previous question, they have to give the answer “Out of Order” and then the second question is asked, and this is where the fun begins. Once the next question is read out, the answer has to be the correct answer from the previous question (the correct answers are shown in brackets under the question):
- For example (I’m not using real questions from the cards), if the first question asked was “What day comes after Monday?” we all know (at least, I hope everybody knows) that the correct answer is Tuesday. That can’t be the answer that is given, as this is the first question the answer given is Out of Order. When the second question is read out of “What day comes after Tuesday?”, we all know that the answer is Wednesday but as you must give the answer to the previous question the player replies with Tuesday and so on until an answer is given incorrectly or all question on the card are answered.
Correct answers are awarded 1 point and marked with the players scoring arrow by clipping it to the correct scoring position on the box. Play then continues around the table with the next player. It might sound a bit complicated, but it is easy and obviously the questions and the correct answers on the cards are better, and funnier, than my example. The first player to reach the end marker on the box is the winner.
Overall, I loved playing Out of Order, it is a fantastically fun question and answer trivia game. It is a bit different from the usual question and answer trivia games, which gives it a unique enjoyable and hilarious twist. A great game for putting memory and concentration skills to the test. Even though you are giving the correct answers to the questions, the answers are Out of Order, resulting in some strange but hilarious answers. It has a gameplay of around 15 to 30 minutes, so nobody loses interest, and several rounds can be played fairly easily and quickly.
I found that to get the best out of the game, it is better to play with as many players as you can. I played it as a 2 player and 4 player game, and with 4 players it was much more enjoyable (you can play with up to 6 players).
Whilst I love this game, I did have one slight niggle and one that could be a problem if the game is played a lot. The scoring arrows are made of thin cardboard and after the few games I have played they are already starting to show signs of wear and tear whilst starting to look and feel that they won’t last. Maybe something stronger and more durable could have been used to construct the arrows (due to the Gibsons commitment to improving their impact on the environment Out of Order is completely plastic free and made sustainably in the UK, using FSC paper – you can read more about the Gibsons Green Game Plan here so plastic arrows are not an option). I have added some coloured paper clips into the box that I can use as alternative scoring markers if need be.
I think that Out of Order is an excellent party game, a fun game of mental gymnastics. It is simple to play, plenty of fun and perfect for family and friends game nights. Will you be able to answer the question with the answer to the previous question? Put your memory and trivia skills to the test with Out of Order and have lots of fun in the process.
Rating: 4.5/5 (would have been 5/5 but for the scoring markers)
RRP: £14.99
For more information, visit gibsonsgames.co.uk. Also available to buy from Amazon here.
