A Rapid Review of But Wait, There's More!

Who doesn’t love infomercials? I personally can’t get enough of those late night salesmen pitching the latest gimmick and promising not 1, not 2, but 3 great gifts if I call right now. Or…maybe not. But if you have the inkling to pitch your own gimmicky products, you can always try But Wait, There’s More!

In this party game, players are dealt 3 cards containing a random feature, such as “Conceals those unsightly wrinkles” or “cooks perfect eggs, every time.” Then a product card is revealed, and players take turns giving a 30-second pitch about their own product they created with a feature of their choice. But wait, there’s more! Halfway through the pitch, each player draws a new feature card and must incorporate that feature into his pitch. An opponent can also play the “Tell Us More!” card to force the player to add yet another feature on the fly. After all the pitches have been made, players secretly vote on their favorite pitches, and the player with highest score after several rounds wins.

The idea of pitching products is at the core of another popular party game, Snake Oil. What makes this game different is the inclusion of improvisation, which adds humor and keeps players on their toes. It’s not always easy to incorporate a completely random feature into a product pitch, but this is what drives the game — and the results can be surprising. With quite a bit of innuendo and gameplay that is driven by public performance, this game is not for everyone. But the right group will enjoy it.