SORRY! Board Game Review

SORRY!... No, I'm not apologizing for anything. I'm talking about the wonderful board game which has been around since 1934! It's a popular, and entertaining, way to bond children, mothers and fathers, and the rest of the family. From the age of 6, to the age of 60, sitting down to a round of SORRY! may be just what you're looking for.

If you ever get bored of the original board game then you can switch it up to keep the entertainment going. The game comes in many different themes ranging from The Simpson's (where you can play the Simpson's family or other memorable pawns), to Spider-Man 3 (where you pick from Spider-Man, Venom, and other pawns modeled after the movie). Of course there are minor changes such as The Simpson's Edition board being that of Springfield. It even reached such status that they've transported SORRY! into several different types, such as SORRY! the card game, SORRY! On The Go (for travel purposes), SORRY! for the Gameboy Advance and SORRY! Express, for a quick and easy game involving dice.

The original can usually be picked up at any local retailer, such as Wal-Mart, for around $20 bucks. The retro version is going to cost a little more, but you can use it for the nostalgic feeling if you're a long time gamer, or simply because you enjoy the classic diamond shapes that represent the board. Speaking of classic, the earliest variant of SORRY! to be discovered was traced back to England before it's arrival to US waters.

The objective of SORRY! is to get all four of your colored pawns home before the other players. Landing on the same spot as an opponent will bump them back to their starting place, as will sliding into them. The board features colored 'slide' squares that you can land on throughout the board, as long as they are not your color.

The board also comes with a deck of cards that are used in turn to help you get home, ranging with various traps that you can pull on other players providing strategy. A 7 can be split between two pawns on the board, and an 11 can be used to move or switch places with an opponent. One of the things that makes the game more challenging is the fact that you can only get out of your starting position with a 1, 2, or SORRY! card. As you can suspect, competition becomes a big part of the game when four players are out to get one another.

Getting to your home is where it becomes tricky in the game. The last initial 7 or so squares are a 'safety zone' to any pawn of yours that enters it. None of your pawns can jump over another in the safety zone, but you are still protected from being bumped back to start by rival players. Backwards moves that are represented on the 4 and 10 cards can, however, send a pawn outside of it's safety zone making it vulnerable to other pawns.

SORRY! is a game that is sure to be loved by the old, and cherished by the young for years to come. Why not sit down tonight with the family and crack open the multicolored box for a quick game?

References taken from:

WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorry!_(game)

BOARD GAME CENTRAL

http://www.boardgamecentral.com/games/sorry.html