Out of The Box Games Review #hsreivews @OTBgames

I can't believe this is the last review for the Schoolhouse Review Crew for this year, and it is a fun one. We received Snake Oil from Out of the Box games.  Snake Oil is a game for 3-10 players that is recommended for ages 10 and up. It is from Out of the Box games and is available for $19.99. In this game you have two sets of cards. There is a set of Customer Cards and a set of Word Cards.  The Customer Cards are one word descriptions of a customer like a newlywed, a hunter, a dictator and so on. The Word Cards each have one word that can be anything like a cape, a closet, fashion, seat, etc. Each player draws six Word Cards and one player draws a Customer Card. The Customer Card is two sided, so the player who is the Customer will choose one side to use for this round and will read it to the other players. The remaining players will choose two Word Cards from their hand to describe a made up product that that particular Customer will want to buy. The Customer then chooses the product they like the best. 

We have played this game several times. I have played with my girls (ages 9, 12, & 13) and they have played on their own. This educational game really gets your imagination going. It is so funny what stories my kids come up with from just two words.

Amber was the Customer and she chose the card Hunter. We each made up our product and she chose Delaney's. Delaney used the Word Cards Oil & Flower. Her product was Flower Oil. Her sales pitch was that hunters could use this Flower Oil while they were out hunting by dropping a few drops of oil in the dirt and flowers would immediately grow tall to make a covering for the hunter.

Another time the Customer was Santa. Alaina chose the Word Cards Mistake and Cream from her hand. Her product was Mistake Cream. This cream can be used by Santa when he makes a mistake while he is shaving. He can apply the Mistake Cream and his beard will grow back in the messed up part.

The one time my husband played Alaina chose the Customer Card Pregnant Woman. Mike chose the Word Cards Hat & Pillow. His sales pitch was for a Hat Pillow. He said every pregnant woman would want a Hat Pillow because you have a pillow at all times to put behind your back when sitting in a hard chair. He told her you will have back pain when you are pregnant. 

My girls could make up some unbelievable products with a very believable sales pitch. All three of my girls like creative writing, so this game was very fun for them. After each person introduced their product they would all add to it or give their own rendition of the product. If your kids have trouble with creative writing this game would be a good starting point for them just by using the cards and not even playing the game.

After playing the game several times, my girls decided that if you are selling a product you need to actually set a price for it and sell it. So they decided to get out the fake money and charge each other for their products. 

 After playing that way for awhile Amber decided that they could auction off their products to the highest bidder. They chose a Customer Card and then one person created a product from their hand. If the other players liked the product they could place a bid on the item and the highest bidder won the card.

Why is Snake Oil called Snake Oil? Included in the directions is a little history about the original Snake Oil that was sold by Chinese laborers in 1860. In 1917 tests were done on the product and it did not contain any snake oil and as a result the salesmen were referred to as "Snake Oil Salesmen" and today it is used to refer to anyone who likes to stretch the truth.  Some Crew members received Snake Oil Party Potion recommended for ages 8 and up. You can read those reviews on the Crew Blog. Social Media Out of the Box Games Facebook  Out of the Box Twitter Out of the Box YouTube