Testing Ground: Hedbanz
Nov. 26—One of the most fun, universal mobile games I've found that everyone enjoys is "Heads Up."
In it, the user takes their phone, a name or title pops up and their team has to try and get them to guess who or what it is with a series of clues.
The thing is it's fast-paced and usually needs a few mobile phones to run smoothly. A little more tactile and slow, Hedbanz is a fun, low-tech version of it.
Giving each player a headband, which kind of feels similar to the inside lining of one of those cheap batting helmets, each player puts one on, gets a card and the rest of the players have to have him guess what's on it before time runs out (For "The Office" fans, think the game they play on "Diversity Day.")
Playing with some friends, it was a nice, fun time that allowed us to get off of our phones and put our wits to the test.
The questions usually started with something like "Am I an animal?" or "Am I a celebrity?" and moved to others like "Am I usually eaten on Thanksgiving?" to "Am I a billionaire?" Cards like "New Jersey" and "ice cream truck" were surprisingly tough to get the players to guess. Others, like "Donald Trump" and "Starbucks" were not.
For younger players, it's a fun way to get them to learn new words and what they mean. For our youngest player, it turned into us encouraging him to guess and learn how to say the word and repeat its meaning.
For the holidays, I can see this being a fun game to pick up if you're having a group over and don't want everyone getting on social media for half of the night. It's easy to play and a blast when you get one right. I recommend it.
Andrew Gaug can be reached at andrew.gaug@newspressnow.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @NPNOWGaug
