Do You Think You Know Movies? Prove It In Movie Buff

Do you know the characters in Shrek? How about a few quotes from Aladdin? Movie Buff will have you testing your movie memory in a party game that’s all about movies, actors, quotes, and roles.

Gameplay

Each player is dealt ten cards. There are four types of trivia cards: movie, actor, role, and quote cards. To start the game, the first player chooses one of their trivia cards and lays it down on the table. If it is a movie trivia card, the player must name a movie. If it is an actor, they must list an actor, and so on. This is called a Take.

The next player must then add another trivia card to the Take. If the first person played a movie card, the second player must play an actor card and name an actor in that movie, or perhaps play a quote card and say a quote from the film. The game continues, going around the table, with players adding trivia cards, keeping them related to that particular film.

Each Take can have as many trivia cards in it as players want, but once it has one of each four types of trivia cards, the Take immediately ends. The next player starts a new one, but it must be somehow related to the previous one. For instance if the first Take revolved around the movie Air Force One, the next Take could use Harrison Ford to start a new Take about Star Wars. The one catch is that you cannot reuse a movie, actor, role, or quote that was used in a previous Take, making each one steadily more difficult.

The deck also includes four different types of strategy cards. There is the Reverse Angle, which rotates the direction of play; there is the Take 5 card, which allows you to skip your turn; the Edits Card, which allows you to immediately start a new Take even if the previous one is not yet complete; finally, there are the Cut cards. The Cut cards end the current Take and allow you to start a new one that is completely unrelated to the previous one. It also means that previously used movies, quotes, actors, and roles can now be used again.

You win the game by using up all your cards. If you ever cannot play a card, you must draw a new one.

Review

Movie Buff is perfect for movie lovers. It’s a clever little card game where you sometimes have to stretch your memory, take the occasional guess (if a player can prove you named a component of a Take incorrectly, you have to draw two cards), and keep connecting movies.

The game looks quite nice with some extra work put in on the icons of the Trivia cards, particularly the Actor cards which have the outline of various famous movie characters on them. The game also comes in a really nice, compact box that makes it quite easy to transport.

It’s a party game that feels a little different and like it offers something new, but it is also true that it’s a party game where you have to be sure of your crowd before you bring it out. The game does suggest playing without the Role or Quote cards if playing with a group where some people have trouble remembering those, but if someone just isn’t a movie fan, this isn’t the game for them.

The game recommends quite a nice handful of alternative rules, including adding TV shows to the mix.

If you love movies, you should have a lot of fun with Movie Buff. It’s a party game with something a little different to offer and is a great way to combine game night and movie night!

Pros: Great for movie fans, good components

Cons: Only works for a group with shared interests

Disclosure: we received a complimentary review copy of this game.