Time for a review of Times Up: Title Recall

Time's Up: Title Recall review — Another great box of party fun!

We’ve reviewed some fun party games over the last few years that are always a hit when we get a big group of people together – whether that be family or friends. Another party game that’s been a big hit is Time’s Up: Title Recall.

Time’s Up: Title Recall is great for parties because it seems to bring out the fun in everyone.

Same but different
Like many party games, Time’s Up has one person giving clues and the rest of their team trying to guess what’s on the card with the goal being to get the most cards/correct guesses. But the big difference with Time’s Up is that you’ll be playing 3 rounds with the same cards. Sure, seeing the same cards/titles in 3 rounds may sound easy, but that’s where more fun begins. Let me explain a bit more.

Time’s Up: Title Recall comes with a ton of cards (432 to be precise) with two titles on each card – one with a yellow background and one with a blue background. And in Time’s Up: Title Recall all of the cards have titles of books, movies, songs, shows, and more.

While there are a ton of cards in the box, you’ll only select 40 cards plus 2 additional cards per player. Those cards are passed out and each player can select 2 cards to remove from the game. The rest of the cards are then all collected again and shuffled. That way every game is played with 40 cards and each player knows some of the cards that will be played.

Then the stack of cards are handed face-down to the first player and the timer (and fun) begins.
In round 1, almost any kind of clue is allowed – talking, singing, pantomiming, sounds, etc. However, you can’t choose to pass on a card. The clue giver then keeps the cards that their teammates correctly guessed and play passes to the next person/team. Once all 40 cards have been guessed, you tally the score for each time.

So far that sounds like a lot of guessing party games. But here’s where the game takes a turn.

Before starting round 2, one person will read all the titles on the 40 cards so that players remember the titles on the cards you’re playing with. Normally that would sound like you’re giving away too much information. However, things change in round 2. In this round, the clue givers can only say a single word. They can say that word repeatedly (and often do), but it can only be one word. In addition to that word though, they can make sounds and gestures.

Even though players are familiar with the 40 titles being played, in round 2 you’ll see a lot of confused faces staring back at their clue giving teammate while the other teams roll with laughter.

And just once you think you’ve got it all down, you move on to round 3. In round 3, words are eliminated from the game. The clue giver can only use sounds and pantomime. Once again, you’ll have a big mix of confused looks and laughter.

The one saving grace is that in round 2 and 3 players can pass if they’re stuck.

Can the whole family enjoy Time’s Up: Title Recall?
While this is a great party game for both friends and family, it isn’t suited for everyone in the family simply because a lot of the titles won’t be familiar to younger kids. And in fact, I don’t have a clue about a bunch of the titles in the game. For younger kids, that adds to the confusion, but for the older folks that can add to the fun as clue givers will have to search deeper for their teammates.

Even though the age recommendation is for 12+, we have had younger kids join in. Once they hear the laughter and see the crazy stuff going on, they naturally want to join in. They also tend to have good memories with sounds and pantomimes and like the memory challenge of the 2nd and 3rd round. So having them on the guess side works out great and they don’t need to be forced to being a clue giver.

How does Time’s Up: Title Recall score on the “Let’s Play Again” Game Meter?
Time’s Up scores big on the “Let’s play again” game meter. Typically it won’t be back to back games being requested, but it is a game that we’re pulling out by popular demand at big gatherings. We took it on a recent extended family vacation and once again had a great time. And it doesn’t seem to matter which team wins because in the end everyone is smiling and going to bed with happy memories.

And those memories last a very long time. Some of the pantomimes we’ve used while playing Time’s Up: Title Recall are seared into our shared memories. We can be at a family gathering, make a certain gesture and everyone knows what we mean. And a smile will creep across our face as we recall the good times we had together playing Time’s Up.

Thanks R&R Games for a great party game!