Game Review: ‘The Clueless Party Game’ from Wilder

The Clueless Party Game from Wilder takes a step into the amazing walk-in closet world of Cher, who navigates nineties Beverly Hills high school society with grace, panache, and some more SAT words. The 1995 Amy Heckerling film starring Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, and Brittany Murphy became an instant classic. To this day, Clueless shows the complexity of an era of eye-grabbing fashion, fashionable charity, and general ditsiness while providing truths that pervade the human condition. The plot borrows much from Jane Austen’s Emma, another icon of an age of privilege, but the experience is wholly its own for a bygone era.

OSTENTATIOUS VIBES

The Clueless Party Game captures the ostentatious vibes of Clueless with passion. The box and contents are plastered with imagery from the film, and nothing is more iconic than Cher’s pink feathered pen, which comes included. In addition to the flair, the activities within the game match much of the concerns of Cher and her friends in their needlessly complicated lives. The iconic language from “as if” to “way harsh” and “buggin’” shines through the cards and rules, leading players to recall many of the greatest lines from the film, like, “Suddenly a dark cloud settled over first period… I got a C in debate?”

BURSTING WITH NOSTALGIA

Although The Clueless Party Game is practically bursting with nostalgia, players who have not seen Clueless will have just as much fun as those who can quote it from memory. Each game begins with every player receiving a “Report Card” sheet that gives starting grades in four categories: fashion, friends, school, love/social life. Just as Cher does in the movie, it is up to the players to improve their given grades with a little finesse. The first player to achieve A+’s in all of the four categories wins.

MINI-GAMES

For each of the classes in The Clueless Party Game, a player must be victorious in one of the mini-games stemming from the card decks. In fashion, the player deals out Mis-Match cards each featuring six items that might be found in Cher’s closet and then spot a match between two cards before anyone else. For friends, another player draws a Life or Death card, which offers two “would I rather” options with questions like having 350 or 12 people at their wedding and host a party or go to someone else’s party. The active player must guess what the drawer would do, showing how well they know their friends. Party Questions is straightforward, earning the grade by simply answering honestly to questions like “what event were you the most wild at?” and “what’s something superficial that you care about when it comes to your crushes?” The Debate Class cards, another film throwback, pit the active player and an opponent on important topics like “dating a coworker/boss” and “rom-coms were way better in the 90s” with the other players voting for who wins.

A TIMELESS NIGHT

The Clueless Party Game is a party game for three to six players aged seventeen and up. Games will last longer with more players, making it a game that is difficult to time and thus perfect for a timeless night. The built-in spinner mechanic for topics can slow down people in the lead, prompting them to lose a turn if they have already achieved the grade for a space the spinner lands on. This gives everyone a shot until the winner gets the game in the bag.