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Every week, James O'Brien enlists the help of LBC listeners to solve the questions you've always wondered the answer to. I purchased a copy at my local games outlet and began wondering just how well the concept would translate to the table. Three points are scored if a player answers the question posed correctly without hearing the correct and false answers first as prompts. There's one thing that's sure - you will know more by the time you've finished a game of the Mystery Hour board game than you do now! Learning is never done but it remains to be seen just how long the Mystery Hour Board Game can capture our particular gaming group’s attention.
The world stood more fractured than ever at the height of the pandemic; staying at home became the norm, as we isolated from loved ones, friends and colleagues in a collective effort to protect the most vulnerable in society. Mystery Hour is no longer only available one hour a week – play with your friends and family whenever you want. This makes committing to answers for 3 points not as high stakes as it seems - a big payoff, but little to lose by sticking your head above the parapet.
If nothing else, this would serve as the closest thing to James O’Brien himself giving you a robust dressing down live on air for ringing in with an uninformed answer which cannot be substantiated and which you refuse accept as incorrect. While this may sound a bit petty, space is a serious consideration for avid board game enthusiasts and families who need to justify a game’s place on their shelf. There may even be some joy to be had for Mystery Hour anoraks in coming up with their own questions and answers, perhaps even using podcasts of past Mystery Hour episodes to prolong the experience. There is a correct answer and a false answer on each card, but the player asking the question (the host) is allowed to invent a false answer of their own to replace the one on the card before the game begins.
Every week, James O’Brien enlists the help of LBC listeners to solve the questions you’ve always wondered the answer to. For me, the discussion generated following the reveal of a correct answer is where the true value of the Mystery Hour Board Game lies.The Mystery Hour Board Game won’t change the world but for fans of trivia or those simply looking for a casual family game that will teach you interesting things and ignite discussion, this game certainly deserves a round of applause. As our group played, it became clear that some of the cards are very subjective in their wording (“Does mixing drinks get you drunk faster? After all, they might know the answer and you, a brazen bluffer, are left red faced and eating dust. The host can also score two points from each player who chooses their invented answer as the correct answer. For a start, all of the question cards could be quite easily distributed before dinner to allow players to invent clever false answers in good time.
Replayability is always a consideration before deciding to invest time and money in any board game and I can hear the inevitable cries re how much worth the game will have once all the cards have been revealed. Our gaming group approached this with varying degrees of application - some were burning to get going, whereas I was keen to take my time to come up with alternative but plausible false answers, but felt under pressure from the others to start playing whilst doing so. On the plus side, the game is very educational, albeit dealing in quite obscure but interesting tit bits of knowledge. Our group of three were keen not to let these early setbacks dampen our expectations of the game, and we were subsequently pleased with the quick set up and speedy explanation of the rules. Each player is encouraged to look through the cards they have been dealt, familiarise themselves with the text on each card and think up their own false answers (if they wish) before the game begins.The objective of the game is to convince other players with a plausible false answer whilst answering other players questions correctly. Contents include 250 questions with correct and false answers (players can devise their own answers for extra points). Any game that gets people talking in the most natural way possible, outside the realms of in game objectives and rules, is a triumph in my opinion. And all of this on the backdrop of widespread condemnation of the government’s response to the covid crisis. If you’re a pedant, surely a yes or no should be enough to get points here, as it doesn’t ask you to justify anything).
The objective of the Mystery Hour board game is to convince other players with a plausible false answer whilst answering other players questions correctly. I can’t help but feel that such a penalty or at least a roster of QI-esque general ignorance no no answers would be welcome.Psyching an opponent out by claiming you know an answer for 3 points before hearing the options (even though you don’t) can work in your favour at critical points in the game.
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