Our hidden camera reveals teens having fun. Image: Kathy Ceceri
Furt is an imaginative board game for ages 13 and up. It sounded interesting, so I asked Wiggity Bang for a review copy of the game to try out with the weekly Indoor Games Day I organize for local homeschooled teens. It’s the kind of game that asks players to improvise and act silly. In other words, about the last thing kids that age want to do in front of other kids they don’t know. Since it was the beginning of the homeschool year, there were new faces at each of the three sessions where my son pulled the game out. The kids tell me that it was “nervous laughter” that I was hearing from across the room. But I suspect it was also the kind of laughter you produce when you’re having a lot of fun.
The aim of Furt is to be first into the mouth of the cardboard volcano. Six categories ask players to reveal things about themselves. The tasks include having to stay straight-faced while the other players verbally assault them with funny words: drawing, acting or describing a word or phrase drawn from the volcano of options for the others to guess; and making up a statement about themselves using the phrase on the card, such as “I have a big problem with …” or “When I can’t sleep, I …” which the other players must decide is truth or fiction.
Furt is a new board game for teens from Wiggity Bang
In the “You Are” category, the players have to pretend to be someone or something else for 30 seconds – from a waitress in a busy diner to an architect building a skyscraper out of hot dog buns. “The Volcano Has Spoken” requires them to obey the volcano’s whims, such as “exude confidence [and] spicy mustard.” At times, they’re also required to get up and perform some challenge, which the company describes as “anything from outrageous to annoying to downright weird.”
As I said, the teens in our group, ranging in age from 12 to 16, played the game several times. (I only asked the first time, the rest were of their own volition.) And while I tried not to hover, other than to snap a few photos, it sounded like a good time was had by all. They did have some comments about improving the game. One was that the cardboard volcano was hard to put together, and the little paper slips that go inside were hard to put in and take out. One player also suggested that along with the somewhat strange cardboard game pieces that come with the set — which include a gnome, a candy corn, and a double rainbow — the company should think about including some blank pieces that players could decorate themselves. I thought that was a great idea!
Furt from Wiggity Bang Games is available from Amazon.
