I find Apples to Apples frustrating because at any given time, out of the seven cards in my hand, I tend to have only 2-3 such that I actually know what they are. It's a like an exciting, rare event when I actually get to play a card from my hand that at least kind of matches the description, I feel like the majority of rounds are me just throwing celebrities I haven't heard of into the pile and hoping they happen to match the description.
Interesting, I don't know celebrity names, either. I remember winning a game with the word belt-buckle. The question was something along the lines of "a few of my favorite things". I was the only person in the crowd who knew they had a belt buckle fetish and of course the only one with that card in my hand. Surely you know what a belt-buckle is.
Yeah, my post was a bit of an exaggeration. The problem is that I don't like playing cards that I don't know what they are, so over time my hand fills up with people I haven't heard of (I'm also a little scared of playing a card that I don't know that happens to offend someone), and then I'm stuck playing from only a few cards left that I know. I don't think Apples to Apples is an awful game, and I've certainly had some fun times with it, it's just that sometimes it drags on for several rounds without me feeling like I can contribute anything.
Is there maybe a rule I haven't heard of about discarding and drawing seven new cards? If that doesn't exist it definitely should. I may suggest that next time I play.
I also do not know celebrities or certain people from history. I have no problems chucking cards in at random. The problem I have is judging who the most Suave is out of 6 people I have never heard of.
Agreed with all of the above. Too much hangs on having appropriate cards in hand, and hands invariably fill up with outdated references to people and events. Maybe newer versions of the game are more caught up.
When I play A2A or CAH with friends, we introduce a Random player. I think it was a suggested variant with the CAH rules. Basically, you have an extra player who submits cards that are just drawn blind from the deck. If nobody claims to be the winner (honour system!) then Rando got it. If Rando somehow wins, then shame on everyone.
