I was recently contacted to write a review for a relatively new game called Cinelinx. The basic gist is described right in the tagline: The Card Game For People Who Love Movies. I was first introduced to the game when word of their Kickstarter campaign spread around the film community and then later reminded of the fun when fellow FTSer Nick pulled the gang together to play. I love games, cards and movies so I feel like I fall right into this game’s target audience. Did the game deliver the goods? Keep reading to find out if you should add Cinelinx to your must-have list for the gift giving season.
Let’s get to the basics. Cinelinx is a card game that operates a little like a combo of Scrabble and Uno. Players are dealt a hand of cards and one by one they take turns laying down cards against others on the table by way of movie connections. Turns continue until one player is able to shed all of his/her cards. Sounds simple, yeah? FTS was ready to find out.
The first thing we needed to decide on as a group was how many “connections” we were going to play. After a bit of debate we landed on playing by using the maximum of up to three connections or three degrees. Here is an example of what I mean:
Rian Johnson directed Looper
Looper starred Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis was in Pulp FictionRian Johnson to Looper = 1st degree
Rian Johnson to Bruce Willis = 2nd degree
Rian Johnson to Pulp Fiction = 3rd degree
Depending on your level of movie expertise, three connections might sound super easy. That was my thought process as well but a few rounds into the game I realized that even with the added connections the game was not as easy as it looked. Here’s the rub: You have a card in your hand, let’s say The Color of Money and you’re all like “Paul Newman and Tom Cruise? This is a piece of cake! Tom Cruise is in like every movie ever!” Then you look at the board for a connection and suddenly find that you can only think of two movies Tom Cruise is even remotely involved in. At one point during our first game, I was genuinely concerned that Gwyneth Paltrow had never starred in a single film and that my entire knowledge of her as a well-known actress was all an elaborate lie. This all sounds somewhat frightening but in reality it made the game a lot more fun. It all depends on where your mind goes and what you think of when it’s your turn to lay down a card. I recommend playing with the higher number of connections at first and then working your way down later. The more you play, the sharper you will get.
So the base form of the game is really fun and challenging but most importantly gets more exciting the more your play. You can play with a big group or a few people and there will be a different set of challenges depending on how you play. There is a large group of us at FTS but the game can easily be scaled down if you just want to play with one or two buddies. I also want to note that I played the game with a few other friends that aren’t into movies like I am and they easily held their own. I was worried that skill level would be troublesome but it really wasn’t an issue. And remember, you can always adjust the number of connections you play with so movie buffs can play with a smaller number of connections than the Average Joe Movie-goer. Cinelinx also gives several other options for types of game play like tournament style or “Cinelinx Showdown” that I haven’t even attempted yet but I’m really looking forward to.
All in all, Cinelinx is a no-brainer buy if you’re into games and movies. It’s clear that the people behind the game are just as into flicks. The cards span a huge range of movie genres and years including a lot of recent entries. They have already started introducing expansion packs for the game as well – we played with the “Red Band Expansion Pack” which included actors and movies but also funny scenes and quotes. Hopefully, other movie fans dig the game just as much as I did so more expansions can be released in the future!
If you want to pick up your own copy of Cinelinx, you can buy it on Amazon.
(And don’t forget the Red Band expansion pack!)
If you want even more movie blogging fun, visit the Cinelinx website.
Full disclosure: the products I reviewed were given to me by Cinelinx but all of my opinions and statements are 100% my own!
