Dinosaur Tea Party by Restoration Games is a fun game that is a reimplement of the 1979 board game, “Whosit?”. If you’re not familiar with “Whosit?” it may remind you of “Guess Who”.
Dinosaur Tea Party plays 3-5 players. You take the role of a dinosaur who has been invited to High Tea, but you can’t remember anyone’s names. You need to ask questions to deduce who everyone else is. If your name is guessed, you draw a new dinosaur character. The first player to guess 3 names wins.
The age listed on the box is 7+ but we have been playing with our 5 year old and she does really well, when she remembers not to ask us questions about her dinosaur. It also says 3-5 players but we have been able to play with 2 if you take out a few of the dinosaurs. Just make sure you still have an even number of dinosaurs with green, purple, and orange rooms.
When I came across this game at GenCon the people at the booth explained it to me, and said it was much more fun to play with an English accent, and they were right. It is more fun.
There are also a few special rules that make the game a little extra tricky. If you’re playing with a younger player, it might help to remove these as well. There are three tiles that get placed randomly on the dinosaurs on the table. These tiles say, “Always Lies”, “Always Says No”, and “Switches Answers”. Those can make things more complicated because you’re trying to decide if the dinosaur you’re questioning is saying “No” to everything because it has that rule, or because you’re really bad at asking questions.
It’s a great game to play with the family. It helps younger ones hone their critical thinking skills, while still keeping adults interested. Though to be honest, I think I’ve played it with more adults than I have children.
Game: Dinosaur Tea Party
Publishers: Restoration Games
Cost: $18-$25
Pros: Lots of replay-ability.
Cons: Only up to 5 players.
Recommended?: Absolutely. Great for adults or kids. Fun for the whole family.