Cranium (board game) Information & Cranium (board game) Links at HealthHaven.com

*Cranium*
Players	4 +
Age range	12 years and up
Setup time	approx. 2 minutes
Playing time	> 65 minutes
Random chance	Medium
Skills required	Creativity, General knowledge, Dice rolling

Cranium is a party board game based on Ludo. Whit Alexander and Richard Tait created Cranium in 1998 after Richard spent a weekend playing games with another family and recognized the need for a game involving a variety of skills. He left his job at Microsoft, convincing friend and co-worker Whit Alexander to join him in the creation of Cranium. Cranium is manufactured by Hasbro subsidiary Cranium, Inc. Cranium is billed as "The Game for Your Whole Brain." Unlike many other party games, Cranium includes a wide variety of activities.

Dave Edelstein of Foundation Design created the packaging and brand identity for the game, and Gary Baseman, creator of the animated series Teacher's Pet, did the art.

[edit] Rules

Players are divided into two, three, or four teams; each team picks a mover and puts it on the "Planet Cranium" Start space.

The rules of Cranium state that the team with the player whose birthday is coming up next starts the game. Play then continues clockwise to the next team.

[edit] On a Team's Turn

On each turn, a team has a chance to complete an activity on one card and advance along the board. If the team successfully completes a color card they have chosen, the die is then rolled to determine what space is moved to. Whether the activity is completed successfully or not, turn always ends after one card. Wow!

If the team completes an activity successfully before time runs out, they roll the color-faced die and move to the next space of the color they roll, or to the next Planet Cranium space, whichever is closer. If they roll purple, they go to the next Planet Cranium space.

[edit] Scenic Path and Fast Track

A team's first activity on a Planet Cranium space, including the start space, determines whether they will take the "scenic path" or the "fast track" to the next Planet Cranium space. If they complete their first activity on a Planet Cranium space successfully before time runs out, they will take the inside fast track to the next Planet Cranium space. If they do not complete their first activity successfully, or if time runs out, they will not be able to take the fast track, and, when they do complete an activity successfully to get off the Planet Cranium space, they will have to take the longer scenic path to the next Planet Cranium space.

[edit] Club Cranium

On some of the Creative Cat and Star Performer cards, there is a "Club Cranium" symbol. When one of these cards is drawn, every team competes and has one of its members do the activity for them. Acting is to be performed in front of all the teams. Each team may guess the answer by looking at anyone performing. Same goes for sensosketches and cloodles. Whichever team gets it first gets to roll the die and move, and play continues with the team who the Club Cranium card was originally for. If no one guesses the answer before time runs out, no one moves and play continues with the team whose turn it was. If your team gets a Club Cranium card correct while on a Planet Cranium, you may move on the fast track if it was your first activity while on the Planet Cranium; if your first activity on a Planet Cranium is a Club Cranium and you do not win it, you still try for the fast track on your next turn. The only penalty for not getting a Club Cranium right is not being able to take an extra move.

[edit] Cranium Central

Around the "Cranium Central" space in the center of the board are four black spaces, each with the name of one of the decks on it. Before a team can go into Cranium Central, they must collect one card from each deck by moving around these spaces.

When a team reaches the end of the path, they must place their mover on the black space that with the deck name that corresponds to the color of their roll. If they roll purple, they may decide which black space to start on. They continue play in the normal fashion, except that when they complete an activity successfully, they keep the card, and instead of rolling the die, they move clockwise to the next black space.

Once the team has a card from each deck, they may move into Cranium Central. Once they are in Cranium Central, on their turn, they will receive an activity from the deck that the other teams decide on. If they do not complete the activity successfully, they must wait until their next turn, when the other teams will pick another activity for them, either from the same deck or another deck. Once the team successfully completes an activity while in Cranium Central, they have won the game.

[edit] Expansions and spinoffs

Booster Boxes: Boxes of cards (and clay) sold separately from the game that contain a new deck of each type of card. As of 2007^[update], Booster Boxes 1 and 2 are available, along with a special New York edition pack.
Cadoo: A kids' version of the game that has some elements of tic-tac-toe.
Cranium Turbo Edition: A version of Cranium designed for a faster game.
Cranium The Family Fun Game': A game similar to the original Cranium with some minor changes.
Cranium Wow: A similar game to the original with new cards and activities from Cranium Turbo.
Cranium Kabookii: A video game version available on the Wii platform. Activities comprise a mixture of some from the original game and new games better suited for a video game environment.

[edit] External links

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