Cinelinx is a card party game for 2-6 players. It says on the box that this game is for people who love movies. And that’s definitely true. The object of the game is to connect cards together that have something in common, and all the cards are film genres, titles, and movie stars. Whoever can connect all their cards and get rid of their hand first, wins!

You start by placing a movie genre card down face up on the playfield. Then whoever goes first must place another card to the left, right, top, or bottom of the first card, and they must be related in some way. Then the next player must connect a card next to the one the first player placed down, or next to the original card. And it just repeats like that. So for instance, if the first genre card was ‘action,’ you could place down Raiders of the Lost Ark beside it. And then the next player could put down Harrison Ford by that card, since he was in that movie. The game recommends that you keep the connections at most three degrees removed.

According to the rules, you can swap a card with another in the pile, or with another player, but that’ll count as a turn. Speaking of the rules, while there are variation gameplay ideas on cards in the box, the rules are actually online only. Which is a little disappointing because the card game isn’t that complicated and they could’ve just put in a couple more cards to explain the rules of the actual game. But you’ll probably want to have the Internet handy on your phone or computer while you play anyway so you can look up movie titles or actors and actresses you may not be familiar with. At least that’s what I had to do, anyway. So yeah, this game is best enjoyed with a larger group of people who know a lot about different kinds of movies.

Kid Factor:

While the back of the box says this game is for 13 years and up, aside from movies that kids would be too young to see or know about, it’s fairly safe for all ages. Reading skill is required, of course, and kids may not get as much enjoyment out of it if they don’t know all the movies and characters. It’s too bad there’s not a Cinelinx Jr. edition or something with movies that kids would know more about.

Tags: Unplugged