5 Second Rule | Review

The most recent addition to games night has been 5 Second Rule by University games. Below you can find out everything you need to know about the game plus our review.

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How to play 5 Second Rule

The idea is that you have 5 seconds to list 3 “things”. If you manage this correctly you win a point and the person with the most point wins. As with most of the Univeristy Games games that we have played to date the concept is easy to understand, simple to play and lots of fun.

Unlike lots of other games this one does not require you to be in teams so you can play with just two players or even as an odd number, which is actually pretty helpful at times as it can often just be me and the two boys at home when Billy is at work.

What I also think is a little different, but that I really like, is that there is no set finish line, such as a board piece, instead you create your own. I think this is a great idea as you can either set up for the night and declare the first person to get 100/50/25 points the winner or you can have a quick game and decide the person with the most points after just two rounds wins. It also makes this a great game to play when travelling or when needing to fill some time.

5 second rule

What are the 5 Second Rule questions like?

The “things” mentioned early range from 3 things you can cook on a BBQ to 3 famous business people and depending on who is playing depends on how easy people will find it. Although let me make it very clear, even the simplest of lists are hard to construct in 5 seconds with your whole family staring at you, trust me, I once struggled to name 3 things in the kitchen and we were sat in the kitchen!

The age rating on this game is 8+ but our boys are 7 and 5 and they were able to enjoy it and understood the rules perfectly well. There was the odd occasion when we had to re word or simplify a 3 things list for the boys but most of the time they understood what was expected from them, whether they could name 3 in 5 seconds was a different matter.

The pressure of 5 seconds makes you say the first thing that comes into your head as you literally have no time to filter, which just results in absolute hilarity when an adult is unable to name 3 condiments or a child can’t name 3 cartoon characters, despite living and breathing them most days. It also gives a great insight into the mind, when the tiddler was asked to name 3 animals that can fly he said

“owl, bird , reindeer”

As you can imagine this had us in stitches until we realised he was being deadly serious because of course all of Santa’s reindeers can fly, and so the point was awarded and the joke very much on us.

I would highly recommend 5 second rule for a family game and would love to hear some of the answers given if you do play it.

There is now a new addition of this game and you can check out how to play and a review of 5 second rule spintensity here.

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