Oh, and did I mention you only have 60 seconds to name your synonyms? That’s right, 60 seconds! Try coming up with six synonyms for the word “Basis” in 60 seconds. 🙂
What if the game is too challenging for your family?
No problem. Synonyms has options where you can change the way the game is played, to increase or decrease the difficulty level. My husband and I played this game on the normal difficulty level, and it was a little challenging for us; this might have something to do with me continuously landing on Red.
I plan on playing this game again, on the easiest setting, to see the difference in game play. On the normal difficulty level, it took my husband and I nearly 45 minutes to get two letters each. This however might not be true for all players, depending on your vocabulary and your luck with the dice you could probably win the game in an hour.
Will this really help you learn new words?
The great thing I realized about this game, is that it really does teach you, while making it fun. As my husband and I neared the end of the game, the cards from the RED pile started to become easier. The more you play Synonyms, the more words you’ll learn. There is also a word cloud in the middle of the board that has random words, where you can look for help in case you find yourself stuck.
This is a great game to use when helping children broaden their vocabulary. I love the flexibility. this game offers to it’s players. The best thing about this game is that it promotes healthy competition between it’s players and helps build confidence. When beginning this game the first thing my husband said was
“I only have 60 seconds to name the synonyms? Oh, this is going to be hard, I’m not that smart.”
At the end of the game I asked my husband if he liked the game, and his response was “Surprisingly, I loved it! I feel smarter too. Can we play again tomorrow?”
If this game can make an adult more confident in their intelligence and vocabulary, then it can definitely have the same effect on a child. Synonyms has made it to the top of my board game pile, and you can bet we will be playing it often.
Synonyms was created by parents Linda Hymes and Derek Gaffney, as a way to educate their own children. As successful publishers they realized that the key to success was a solid foundation in communication, so they created Synonyms to help educate children broaden their vocabulary.
This game looks like a lot of fun…educational but still fun. Thanks for the review.
I love that Gabrielle’s husband wanted to play the game again and he felt smarter by playing it. Speaks volumes about the game. Will be checking out it.
I have never heard of this game. Looks like a great game that would fit nicely for family game night. Thanks for posting.
Thank you all for your comments. This game was really fun and we added so many words to our vocabulary; which is always nice. 🙂
@Cheryl: Yes, my husband is pretty stubborn and has a lot of pride. So for him to say that he feels smarter, does say a lot about this game.
This looks like a great game! I go on a lot of family vacations (with 3-5 other families) so we’re always looking for some activities!