So not too long ago, my roommate, his girlfriend, and I were hanging out an we were kind of bored. So we decided to bust out a board game he had gotten from his Aunt for Christmas, and yet to have the self-loathing to open.
Fact or Crap - Beat Da Bomb, the Explosive Interactive DVD Game featuring Howie Mandel
I can barely put into words how dumb this game is, but I’ll try.
So literally all that is in this normal board game size box is a DVD in a cardboard slip case, a humorously small and uncomfortable heating pad (minus the heat) type thing that says “Hot Seat” on it, and about 40 “tokens” which look identical to poker chips. The instructions for the game are printed on the inside of the box, and spoken to you by Howie Mandel via the included DVD.
So here’s the game (according to the rules they provide). You can play individually or in teams, and each turn Howie Mandel sarcastically makes some sort of quip about your score and questions whether or not you’re ready for the sheer intensity of the coming round. You then see a statement of some sort (A banana is a type of fruit) and you have to quickly answer whether or not that is fact or crap. If you get it right, you are then asked another one. If you get 4 right in a row, you successfully “Beat da bomb” (the word “da” in place of “the” is used with reckless abandon). You then get tokens for however many questions you answered correctly (what the bonus is for “beating da bomb” remains to be seen). You are then made fun of by Howie, just to simulate what it would be like to play the game with your alcoholic dad.
But here’s the catch. The other team (or individual) is supposed to read the statements to you, while you sit in a chair topped with the cheap pad labeled “hot seat” which faces away from the television. And the other thing is, the person reading the statement to you has about 6 seconds to read the question to you and enter in your answer correctly, or “da bomb” explodes. What is to prevent the other person from reading slowly or entering in the wrong answer? Nothing. Needless to say, this was the first rule we abandoned, logically having the person who’s turn it was hold the DVD remote.
Every once in a while there’s a special round in which you answer four right away before entering. I don’t remember how it works but we decided to have those rounds be the “you just won 4 tokens” rounds.
The ultimate goal? To get 15 tokens. That is literally it. There is nothing else to the game but having Howie Mandel relentlessly make fun of your score or your poor fact or crap performance between each turn. It’s almost as if he’s mocking you for having purchased the game in the first place.
And the price for this? 33.95, when on sale. I have to imagine that each game costs maybe $2.00 to manufacture, and they probably gave Howie Mandel a couple thousand bucks to put on a jump suit and say stupid lines for half a day, so with that kind of a mark up, they need to sell about 100 to break even (though maybe they gave Howie a lot more, who knows).
So if you’re a mid fifties person who needs to get a birthday present for a nephew or niece, and you think that Howie Mandel is a real hoot, and you’re blown away that you can play an actual game on the DVD, then this is the game for you. Otherwise, it will make you hate America.
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