If you think of party games from the early 2000’s, Cranium should pop instantly into your, well…cranium.  Combining elements of various games, Cranium is the brain child of Whit Alexander and Richard Tait, both Microsoft employees, who began working on the concept in the late 1990’s.  The goal was to create a game involving a multitude of skills.

They accomplished this by adding in elements from Pictionary, Charades, Trivial Pursuit, Claymania and Huggermugger.  They billed it as the “whole-brain” game.  Players must complete activities in each of four sections to win the game.  These sections are: Creative Cat, Data Head, Word Worm and Star Performer.

The title is owned by Hasbro and has many expansions and spinoffs, including a SpongeBob SquarePants Edition and Cadoo, a children’s version of the game.  It’s received many awards over the years and is one of the top 20 selling games of all time.

As always, play more games!