The past few days have blessed us with some really excellent weather (sun, heat and hay fever) and the kids have been outside making the most of the rather fine conditions. After spending some time yesterday at a local carnival, on arriving home the temperature had noticeably dropped and down came the rain. Luckily for us that meant the kids were in, so we selected a board game (or rather, a tabletop game as they was no board), pulled out the kitchen table and sat down in our regular game playing places (oddly enough they are different from where we sit when eating our meals around the same table) ready to play. The game we selected is a new one for us, we chose to play Top It from Cheatwell Games.
Top It is a family tabletop party game that is STACKS of fun, where you score points by naming things with certain letters and stacking cones to beat your fellow players, as fast as you can. A game where are the answers are just there, right on the tip of your tongue – the problem is getting your brain and mouth to work together to get them out and TOP another player’s answer! The object of the game is to be the first player to score 50+ points by placing your cones on the letter discs or, better still, on top of other players cones to steal all the points.
Box contents:
- 76 Top It Topic Cards
- 60 Top It Cones (6 different colours)
- 18 Letter Discs
- 60 Second Sand Timer
- Scoring Pad
- Pencil
- Rules
Setting up Top It is simple and quick. Each player is given 10 cones each of the same colour. There are 60 cones in the box so up to six people can play (or up to six teams). Write the names or initial of each player/team on the provided score pad at the top of the column that matches the colour of their playing cones. Randomly select 9 letter discs and place them in a 3×3 grid on the table in reach of everybody (you can use either side, red or blue). Give the topic cards a good shuffle and place them on the table so that all players can reach them. That’s it. This took a couple of minutes for us to set up, it took the kids longer to pick their snacks for game night (I’m thinking of renaming it snack night or snack ‘n’ game).
Playing the game is simple. You already have 9 circular cards on the table in a 3×3 pattern. Each card has a different letter on it. One player picks up one of the topic cards and reads out aloud what is on the reverse to all the other players (topics could be fruits and vegetables, Disney characters, towns and cities in the UK, things with handles etc.). Another player then flips over the 60 seconds timer and ALL PLAYERS (no turn taking required) need to start naming things that match the topic card but can only begin with the letters on the 9 letter discs. If something is named correctly and matches one of the letters on the letter discs then that player places a cone on that disc, duplicate answers aren’t accepted. At this point you haven’t actually scored any points. If you said London to match the letter disc with L on and the question was towns and cities in the UK you would place your cone on the L disc but if another player then says Leicester they can stack their cone on top of yours and then they are in pole position to win the points. When the timer expires, points are added up. Letter discs with a single cone on them are worth 1 point and players with a cone on that disc get 1 point each, if you have letter discs where the cones have been stacked only the player whose cone is at the top of the stack can get the points – but they get all of the points, if 5 cones are stacked then they get 5 points. You can also receive 5 bonus points if you get 3 of your coloured cones in a row (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) making it a game of strategy as well getting correct answers as getting three singles in a row could be worth than a single stack of cones. Make sure to write scores on the scoring pad. Turn over the letter discs and continue with the next round (swapping the discs out every two rounds), first player to reach 50 points wins.
Overall, we found Top It to be extremely easy to set up and understand the rules. The idea is simple and the gameplay is fast, frantic and fun. It surprising how quickly you can’t think of ANYTHING that begins with one of the nine letter options available.
We loved the idea of being able to strategically play as well by looking to get 3 in a row or timing your answer just right to top another player’s cone but be careful of the timer as you could find yourself losing out.
Top It really is a fun family game where language skills and fast-thinking are a must. Our youngest player has not long turned 10 and didn’t have any issues joining in as the questions are wide and varied and will suit all age groups. You would be surprised how many things can be named in 60 seconds or how long 60 seconds feels when your mind goes blank and you can’t even name something in your kitchen beginning with the letter T (whilst having a cup of tea in your hand or staring at the toaster).
A great way to spend quality family time together, showing your competitive streak but most of all having lots of fun and laughter.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £30
For more information, visit cheatwell.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
