Reviewer's Note: This review first appeared in the Christmas 2006 edition of Knucklebones magazine. It is being used with their permission.

GIFT TRAP

Design by: Nick Kellet
Publisher: Gift Trap Enterprises
3 – 8 Players, 45 minutes – 1 hour
Review by: Greg J. Schloesser

It is your birthday. Would you rather receive a 3- month Cordon Bleu cookery course, or a temperature controlled wine cellar? How about one year in a remote lakeside cabin, or an electric car? On a more modest scale, would you prefer a radio-controlled plane, or some Cuban cigars? Do your friends know which of these gifts you would prefer? Further, do you know which of these gifts they prefer? These are the types of questions that must be answered in Gift Trap, a clever new party game that tests just how well you know your friends, and how well they know you!

Gift Trap comes attractively packaged in a cube-shaped box, and includes over 300 double-sided, full color cards depicting a staggering array of gifts. These gift cards are divided into four decks, each progressively more luxurious. The board depicts two paths – one for giving and one for “getting” – as well as a grid upon which up to nine gifts will be placed each turn. Each player receives a decorative bag containing their individual “give” and “get” tokens and markers, which are appropriately shaped like open and closed packages. The entire package is quite appealing and very professional.

Each turn, the active player chooses cards (one more then than the number of players) from one of the decks and places them face-up on the board. Each player then simultaneously gives each player one of their “give” tokens, which indicates a specific gift on the grid that they feel the player most desires. Does Kim prefer that hot stone massage, or would she prefer knee-high leather boots? Would Craig want to bungee-jump, or does he covet an outdoor pizza oven? This is where knowing your fellow players come in handy! Since a player must give a different gift to each player, choosing the right gift for each person can be difficult.

After players distribute their “give” tokens to their fellow players, they then place their “get” tokens face-down upon four of the gifts. The tokens indicate a player’s desire for a particular gift: “Great”, “Good”, “OK” or “No Way”. After all tokens are placed, players take turns revealing their “get” tokens, then compare these with the “give” tokens they received from their fellow players. Both players – the giver and the getter – receive 1 – 3 points for each favorable match (from OK to Great, respectively) while giving a gift upon which the player did not place a token results in a one point penalty for both players. However, if a player receives a gift that matches the one upon which he placed his “No Way” token, both players lose a whopping four points! Optional rules add cards wherein players can double their score, be it positive or negative, or cancel one gift.

Players record their scores by moving their tokens along the two paths. After each player has revealed his tokens and tallied points, new cards are dealt to the board and another round is conducted. The goal is to be the first player to get both of your gifts to the final “Gifted” space at the end of a round.

There isn’t much strategy here, but that is not the point. Trying to guess which gifts your fellow players desire is the entire point of the game. Gift Trap is simply fun, and evokes continuous outbursts of surprise, frustration and laughter as gifts are revealed. The game is best when played with friends and family, otherwise it is truly little more than guess work. Within the confines of a family gathering or get-together with friends, however, the game truly shines. Gift Trap is truly a gift worth giving or getting!