Been There (Scene It)

Movies, Tv, sports and more, how many points can you score
when your choices for theme are Friends, Twilight, or Disney?
When random trivia is what you get,
The question remains: Have you Scene It?



BACKGROUND:  Scene It is a digital trivia game designed by Screenlife for 2 to 4 players or teams.  Initially created in 2002 for popular movies, it gained popularity and has various "editions" and themes, such as Star Trek, Harry Potter, and Disney to even FIFA.

GAMEPLAY:  Scene It has a short and long mode, depending on the size of the board upon set up, and a DVD for certain game modes.  During their turn, the player rolls both the 6 and 8 sided dice, and moves along the space according to the numbered die.

CATEGORIES:  The 8 sided die determines what trivia or event occurs.  If the player guesses correctly, they can roll again:

• My Play:  The player will usually watch a clip of a movie or show and need to answer a question at the end, before it shows on the screen.
• All Play:  Everyone watches the screen and has a chance to answer the question.  If another player besides the turn player guesses, they may give a Buzz card to any player or move forward 1 space.
• Trivia Card:  There are generally 3 types of trivia cards, which another player will read to the turn player with the timer on in the back.
• Buzz:  Special cards which have an event and flavor text.  Drawing or giving out one of these ends the turn immediately.

WINNING:  Once any player gets to the end, choose All Play to Win.  Same rules apply as in All Play, but the stakes are higher.  If the player guesses it first, they win.  If another player does, their turn ends, and they move to Final Cut 3.  These are basically My Play, but the player needs to guess them all correctly to win.  If they fail, they move to Final Cut 2.  Failing that moves to Final Cut 1, where they stay and attempt on their turn each time until either they or another player wins.

CONCLUSION:  Scene it is, at its core, a simple trivia game.  And like most trivia games, the strength lies not in the gameplay, but in the categories and questions.  The nice thing about Scene It is the fact that there are different themes, with different strengths.  I have a friend who dominates in Disney edition, but I'm still king in Star Trek and Simpsons.  My biggest problem is, like most popular culture trivia, we HAVE to include Behind the Scenes trivia.  But I'm sure others would revel in that.  Take it for what it is, a good trivia game with a gimmick that works out for itself.

AFTERTHOUGHTS:  The Scene It franchise is no longer available to purchase in stores, but there is a version for iPhone and Android.