Think Like a Shrink: A Therapeutic Review of the Hilarious Board Game
Updated: Feb 8
Think Like a Shrink is a new take on the party game. This game blends the knowledge of two doctors and the fun of the party game. This game sure to reveal things about your friends and family. Players will take turns analyzing what a player would choose and why. Then score points based on how if they were correct first to 10 points wins.
SETUP
The setup for Think like a shrink is quite quick and easy. There is one board that looks like a clock with 12 spaces and 6 meeples (one for each player) to use on it. There are two decks of cards in the game Prompts and Snapshots. These are ruffled and placed near the board. Then five of the Snapshot cards are placed face up around the board so all players can see them. The Snapshot cards are all photos some more abstract than other but usually run of the mill objects, activities or animals. Each player will get 6 Emotion cards that represent 6 different emotions like fear, anger and happiness. There is also a small whiteboard and marker that the first player will start with. Each player places a meeple at 12 on the board and the game is ready to begin.
Game Play
Think Like a Shrink plays like most party games where there is one person deciding and the rest trying to guess the answer the deciding player will choose. In Think Like a Shrink the first player (patient) will reveal the first prompt card and then choose one of the 5 snapshot cards that are face up around the board to associate with the prompt card. For example if a player gets "A bird just pooped on you" that player might choose snapshot picture of a can of beans. The player will write one a short answer as to why they choose that to associate with the prompt ("I hate eating beans and I hate birds"). The player will then choose one of the 6 emotions to associate with it. In this case the player might choose "anger".
Each other player (shrinks) will place their emotion card with a snapshot card and explain why they choose that for the player. After all the shrink players have gone the patient player will reveal what they choose and read their explanation off the white board. This plays a lot like other party games but there are more variables and hilarious combinations that can make for a fun and memorable game night.
...there are more variables and hilarious combinations that can make for a fun and memorable game night.
Players will score points as the shrinks. When they guess the emotion, snapshot and reason why they were chosen they can win up 3 points depending on how many of the three they guessed correctly. First person to 10 wins the game.
Thoughts
Even though this game falls squarely into the party game category I think it sets its self apart from others in this category because it takes an approach that has 3 variables in the game play rather than the just one most games like Cards Against Humanity or Apples to Apples have. The prompt cards range from hilarious situations to insightful. I think people will learn a lot about the group as they play through this game making it a great ice breaker for new friend or the game group that has been playing for years.
I took Think Like a Shrink to the game night I host at Sound Growler Brewery and I never left the table. As soon as one group brought it back the next was picking it up. I found the game fun and insightful at times and a real gem in the party game space. Think Like a Shrink is available on Amazon right now.
Players: 2-6
Year Published: 2023
Recommended Ages: 17+
Time to Play: 30 minutes
A review copy of Think Like a Shrink was provided to Bert's Tabletop Games for this review by 2 Docs in a Box.
