Game Review: ‘The Brady Bunch Party Game’ from Big G Creative

The Brady Bunch Party Game from Big G Creative turns the tables on typical accusatory identity-deduction games. Since their first show’s release in 1969, those rowdy Brady kids have been a strong part of Americana as part of the ultimate blended family. The show’s gentle hijinks and hilarious semi-drama are perfect for the world of party games, as opposed to identity-deduction games like Mafia which can get very intense very quickly. The Brady Bunch Party Game serves as mischievous fun for everyone, caught or not.

Each player takes on a classic role. One player serves as Alice, who will be attempting to determine who the Troublemaker is. The rest of the players serve as the kids, from Greg to Cindy and even Cousin Oliver in the expanded rules for more players. Among these kids are the Tattletale, who can help Alice and win alongside her if she is able to identify the Troublemaker. The Troublemaker and rascally Sidekick win if Alice never quite figures out who the problem child is. Each kid player receives three Mischief cards, which will determine how naughty they will be.

In each round, Alice reveals Snoop Cards that allow her to question the kids about each other. After that, each kid plays face-down a Mischief card showing how bad he or she plans to be that round. Troublemakers will want to play high-value Mischief cards, fitted with pics from the show of the infamous broken lamp and broken vase. Sidekicks will want to distract with reasonably high Mischief, like setting up a flour trap over the door. Tattletales will seek to do nothing worse than leaving some toys out.

The kids identified as Snoops then look at the Mischief cards played by the kids. Alice questions them, and if she feels they’re telling the truth, she rewards them with a cookie. These cookies will influence the scores at the end of the game, so players will want to adjust their strategies to tell the truth to gain points but not too much truth in case they get caught. Alice can also play a few strategic Help Tokens featuring Mike, Carol, and Tiger to look at Mischief cards herself. Once Alice has her information, the kids draw a new Mischief card, and the next round of questioning begins.

Play continues through four rounds before Alice makes her choice. Alice places the Snoop card of the kid she believes to be the Troublemaker face-down on the table, locking in her guess. The kids then all reveal their Mischief cards adding up the points as well as any cookie bonuses. The player with the highest score is the Troublemaker, the second highest is the Sidekick, and the lowest is the Tattletale. Alice then reveals her choice: if she’s right, she and the Tattletale win. If she missed her guess, then the Troublemaker and the Sidekick are the winners.

The Brady Bunch Party Game is a role-deduction game for three to eight players aged nine and up. It is a quickly moving game once the rules are mastered, lasting perhaps half an hour for the first time played and then 15 to 20 minutes afterward. It serves as a much lighter take on identity deduction than other accusation games, having all the fun with only a little silly banter.