Out of the Box Games: Snake Oil Party Potion {Schoolhouse Crew Review}
Our newest review is the best kind- an easy to love game from Out of the Box Games called Snake Oil – Party Potion. After all the hard work the kids have done this school year, it’s fitting that our last review for the 2014 Schoolhouse Review Crew is just pure fun! If you’re looking for a game to add to your collection this Christmas, this is a good choice.
This game comes with two decks of cards, a stack of “customer” cards, and a stack of word cards.
One person is the customer, and they pull a card from the customer deck. The cards say things like “The President,” “Mad Scientist,” “Olympic Athlete” and “Clown.” The player then assumes the role of the customer, and sits back to hear “pitches” from the other players.
Everyone else pulls 6 cards from the word deck to keep in front of them. Once they know who their customer is, they choose two of the words from the deck to create a “product” they need to sell to the customer.
Word cards include things like: “Dairy, Sandwich, Dumpster, Spray, Mop, Tummy” and “Smile” (just to name a couple examples)
This is where the game gets fun! Each “salesman” tries to persuade the customer to buy their product. The customer can stop any pitch that goes longer than 30 seconds, so the players need to get their pitches out fast!
Once everyone has pitched their product, the customer chooses which one they want to “buy” and the winning salesman keeps the customer card. All the word cards played go into the discard pile, and everyone chooses more cards to keep their hand at 6 cards total.
At the end of game play, the person who has the most customer cards, wins.
Our Experience:
Okay, so I know I told you that this game is just pure fun…. and it is, but don’t tell my kids, it’s a pretty good educational game as well. I’ve added it in to our Language Arts rotation for Friday Fun Day because this bad boy serves multiple purposes. In the couple weeks we’ve had it, Bug and Mr. Man have become better and better at thinking on their feet. When you pick your cards, you have to quickly come up with your product and a way to “pitch” it to your customer. The kids have become more and more creative the more they play, and they have become very persuasive salesmen!
We’ve had some really good conversations stemming from this game about the importance of remembering who you are speaking to, and directing your writing (and, your “pitches”) to the proper audience. When you play, you have to make sure you find a way to make your product the most appealing and useful to the customer in front of you- and the same goes for when you want to persuade someone with your writing (or, talk Mom and Dad into giving you ice cream at bedtime!). I think forming a good argument, and focusing on your audience are hugely important lessons to learn!
If you are teaching persuasive writing, this game would be a fantastic supplement to your curriculum!
Purchasing Information: Snake Oil Party Potion retails for $14.99.
Read more reviews! Snake Oil Party Potion is recommended for kids ages 8 and older (although like I said, if your child can read, 6 and up will probably enjoy it too!) if you have older kids, there is a more advanced version of the game, simply called Snake Oil. The Crew reviewed both, so read more about it by clicking the banner below.
