Thanks to TGROnline, I get quite a few emails from people seeking help finding out-of-print games. For a while, I was getting lots of inquiries about Mattel’s Scrutineyes. If you enjoyed that game, or if you’ve been looking in vain for a copy, you should be interested in eg Spiele’s Kaleidos.
The game comes with four identical sets of twelve paintings, each depicting a scene packed (to greater and lesser extents) with stuff. Each of up to four players or teams uses their own set, so there’s no craning around to see the picture at the far end of the table. In fact, spiffy cardboard easels prop up the scenes nicely so they’re easier to view.
Everyone loads identical scenes onto their easels and a spinner provides two possible letters for the round. One player makes the choice for all, and everyone gets sixty seconds to write down as many things beginning with that letter as they can find in the scene. Although each word can be used only once- a football and baseball wouldn’t count as two BALLS- an object can be used multiple times for different words (BASEBALL, BALL). Of course, you can adopt whatever house rules you prefer here.
Once time has expired, players read through the lists. Any object on multiple lists scores one point for those who wrote it. Any item unique to a single list scores five points. When all lists have been scored everyone advances to the next scene and a new letter is chosen. The high score after all 12 scenes wins.
The quality of the artwork doesn’t compare to the prints from Mike Wilks’ The Ultimate Alphabet used in Scrutineyes, but they have the advantage of greater versatility- they can be used with any letter of the alphabet. Some of the images are rife with possibilities, while others can leave you searching for a single object. Even with the most sparsely populated image, sixty seconds flies by! Resist the temptation to increase the time, though- brief exposures help keep the scenes fresh.
Kaleidos borrows a bit from the Boggle paradigm, and like that game feels is at least partially like a multi-player solitaire as each player performs her own search for words. Each round is very brief, however, quickly bringing players together again for the great revelatory moments as lists are read. This type of collective bonding makes for a satisfying group experience.
If you don’t like games of visual perception, this is one to miss. What if you already own Scrutineyes? I like the Kaleidos system better. It moves faster, plays cleaner, and provides more immediate gratification. And unless you have four sets of Scrutineyes, you’ll need Kaleidos to use that system.