ANOMIA (2010)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
3-6	30 mins	Andrew Innes	Anomia Press

In this shouty party game, players flip cards in front of themselves while keeping an eye out for matching symbols in front of other players.

When a match is spotted, these players must come up with something based on the word showing on the other players’ card.

This can be famous authors, animals, 3-letter words, sports, and much more. Which leads to brain farts and blurting out random stuff.

ANOMIA is a fantastic party game. It’s easy to teach and basic in its set up. Just plonk the draw deck in the middle of the table and begin.

Cards are flipped in quick succession, so everyone is eyes down, focused, keeping their brains at the ready. It could come at any moment. The very next card flipped perhaps? Or ten cards later when everyone relaxes too soon?

But there are two extra twists that pack a little more chaos into the game.

The first is Wild Cards. Scattered throughout the deck are cards that just show two different symbols. Once a Wild is revealed it is placed next to the draw deck, and from then on, these two different symbols also count as a match. Every new Wild card drawn is placed on top of the last, so this extra rule is always changing.

Second is that when you ‘win’ a card from an opponent, you keep the card as a trophy in a pile to one side. And as your opponent picks up their card to give to you, it reveals the one underneath on their own personal used pile. This card could suddenly trigger another match.

And so on, into a spiral of chaos. It isn’t a regular occurrence, but when it happens, it’s spectacular.

If you like your games less ‘Party’ and more ‘quiet and thinky’, this might not be for you. ANOMIA is a fun and frantic card game that sits nicely as a palette cleanser between larger games. It’s a lot of nonsense in a single deck of cards and that will make others laugh while your brain lets you down.