Trophies Review

I love finding new party games that literally everyone can enjoy! It’s always a thrill! And when they come with their very own pint size, super amazing trophy? Well, that’s something to really get excited about! 

What is Trophies? 

Trophies is a party game for 2 to 30+ people. 

If you’d like to see how to play, you can watch our IGTV video and play along with Adam and me! See if you can beat our response times! 

Quick break down for you:

Trophies consists of 70 cards. On the front is a single letter of the alphabet. On the back are 5 different topics. 

A player, acting as the judge, will hold all of the cards together so that the group can see the letter on the front of the deck while the judge can read the topics in the back of the deck. The judge will read one of the topics to the group. Be the first to say a word starting with the letter on the front of the deck that matches the topic read to win the trophy card. 

The judge then will take the card from the back of the deck that they just read and move it to the front, revealing a new letter, then read from the new topics visible. Repeating until the deck is depleted.

The player with the most trophies wins the game and receives the highly coveted, super prestigious, very tiny metal trophy included with the game! 

What do we think?

In my opinion, everyone needs a game like Trophies

This is great for getting people involved quickly and accommodates groups both big and small, young and old. It’s what I like to call an “activity game.” You just play until you want to stop. The best part about Trophies is how addicting it can be! Our group always ends up playing far longer than I ever imagined we would. 

Trophies is a fantastic upgrade for fans of Scattergories. It takes everything fun about the game and leaves the rest behind. No more quietly wracking your brain to fill something in on every line or waiting for everyone else to finish. Got an answer? Shout it out! Can’t think of anything? You’ll get the next one!  

I love how simple trophies is to teach. It seriously only takes seconds to explain before you get playing. There is hardly any barrier to entry here. Everyone can play! Our daughter (7) loves it too!

This is a fantastic game to choose when you want to get everyone laughing and ready for a fun night. It can get so loud too! Be ready for lots of shouting and playful banter as answers to topics are debated. 

It’s rare to find a party game that can actually be played by two people! While the general atmosphere of the game is a little quieter, we have had a blast playing this just us two! At first I thought we would just learn it quickly so that we could teach our friends, but then 30 minutes passed and we were halfway through the deck for a second time! (We love us some word games!)

I love the variety in the topics on the back. First and foremost they are all clean and family friendly. There is something for everyone: the pop culture consumer, the history buff, the sports fan, etc etc. But it’s not as difficult as say a trivia game. I know nothing about sports for example, but the topics here are so general that while an avid football viewer could have a leg up, I might be able to think of a sports team that begins with the letter G fast enough to win. It’s also hilarious how some seemingly easy topics can stump a group. (Did you watch our IGTV video? You’d think we’d never drank soda in our lives!)

Another plus to Trophies is because the topics on a card are not read with the letter also on that card, you really don’t have to worry about having stock answers queued up and ready. The likelihood of reading a topic for the same letter is low.

The only detractor I have for the game is that it comes in a metal tin. I’m not a fan of tin boxes generally as the lids pop off and they are much too easily damaged. I nearly always prefer games to come in a compact cardboard box. To play the game you just need the deck of cards though, so if you’re like me and prefer to ditch the tin, just rubber band the cards and toss them in your bag and you’re good to go. 

Ways to Use Trophies

I love finding different ways to use games, so here are a few ways to use Trophies outside of game night to get even more value! 

Ice Breaker:

If you are ever in need of an ice breaker, Trophies is a great option! Whether you work with youth or adults, everyone can understand this game. You don’t have to be a board game strategy nut to be able to explain it either. Low stress, high reward. 

Vocabulary Builder:

For our kids, we love to use word games to help build their vocabulary and Trophies is perfect for this! Not only do they have to really think about not just answering the topic, but they also are making sure the word begins with the letter they see!

I like to read topics that I know they’ll be comfortable with and then ask them to think of all the words they can that meet that topic that begin with the letter rather than just thinking of one. 

Turn Order Selector/Tie Breaker

Let’s say its game night and you need to determine a start player, if you have trophies nearby grab it and determine your order that way! It’s more fun than rock paper scissors! 

Adam used Trophies with his students at work during their holiday party! They were playing our Cup of Cheer game (that we talk about here!) and rather than having everyone draw a number to determine their placement, he used trophies and the first to answer got to go next till everyone in the group had had a turn. It’s a fun way to keep everyone focused and involved without having those who drew the last number in line check out. 

What ways do you like to use games outside of their written rules? We’d love to hear them! Share below!

A special thank you to the folks at Facade Games for sending us a copy of Trophies to review.
As always our thoughts and opinions are our own.

If you enjoyed this post you may also like: 

Break the Ice and Party with Gamely Games
6 Games to Try After CodeNames

Game Info:
Title: Trophies
2-30 Players Ages 8+
Designer: Travis Hancock, Holly Hancock
Artist: Holly Hancock, Sarah Keele
Publisher: Facade Games