The Newlywed Game

by Amanda Nettgen

(USA)

Game:
The Newlywed Game
Board game manufacturer:
Endless Games
Number of players:
1-4 couples
Ages:
Adult

Quick verdict
The Newlywed Game DVD edition is a fun, quirky quiz game appropriate to play with your married friends, or for a romantic night in with just you and your shmoopy. It’s based on the game show of the same name that ran on TV from the sixties all the way up until the new millennium.

The game and gameplay

The Newlywed Game – to put it simply – is a test of how well you know your honey. You pop the DVD into your player, hand out the whiteboards and markers if you so please, and hunt down your (perhaps reluctant) spouse to play with you.

If you and your sweetie are playing alone, you’ll go up against actual couples from the recorded TV show, all of whom appear to be circa 1970. You’ll get a kick out of seeing them roll their eyes at each other and some of their just plain dumb answers.

Check out this great printable Newlywed game questions for Valentine’s Day!

The husbands are up first when it comes to question time. The charming Bob Eubanks will ask the man a question about his wife, with the query being displayed on the screen as well (in case the husband’s a bad listener). The wife also listens in and records her answer on her whiteboard.

Cue you and your sweetheart getting to hear the TV couple’s responses (you may want to wait on this if either party is at risk of being influenced by Mr. and Mrs. Afro’s take). Then the husband states his guess to his wife, who shares what’s she’s scribbled on her whiteboard.If the responses match, whoever’s in control of the remote (the guy, I’m assuming) hits “correct” on the prompt (the DVD keeps score for you).

The guy goes through two more rounds of this before it’s his lady’s turn to answer questions about him. For some reason, point values are doubled for female correctness (maybe because the show’s creators played on the stereotype that women would naturally be able to get more questions right regarding their squeezes).

You play a total of six rounds – two sets of three “his and her” queries. If your twosome managed to score more than the TV couple, the home team wins. In the event of a tie regarding a group game, it’s the couple who scored closest to their advanced written hypothesis of how they’d do who comes out on top.

Pros and cons

The Newlywed Game DVD Edition can be played by young and old couples alike, and they don’t necessarily have to be married (although being together awhile and/or living together are essential). It makes for a fun activity at a social event with your paired pals and is a great choice to spend some together time as a couple.

The loading of the DVD can be slow, though, and there’s no way to go back if you accidentally mark correct (which is very easy to do) when you really got a question wrong. When playing as a group, the suggested “prizes” for winning are pretty lame (but that doesn’t really matter). Most husbands will be less into this game than their wives, as it’s a kind of venture that has more of a girly appeal.

It has lots of replay value with an archive of 30 different TV couples to play against.

The verdict
The Newlywed Game DVD edition is a fun choice for some spouses. I want to be biased and rate it a 4 out of 5 because I really like this game, but I know it won’t be an ideal fit for all couples. If you and your love dumpling both like trivia and mushy time (both being the key word here), then it could work for you.