Kickstarter Preview: Explore Your Bad Habits with Intervention

in·ter·ven·tion - noun \ˌint-ər-ˈven-chən\
the act or fact or a method of interfering with the outcome or course especially of a condition or process (as to prevent harm or improve functioning)

Sometimes the best way to intervene in someone's bad behavior is to bring it out in the open for discussion. Intervention is a new adult party game, now on Kickstarter, that explores all kinds of bad habits and hypothetical situations. It squarely hits the audience of games like Cards Against Humanity — but is it fun? We recently had the chance to find out.

Gameplay

The rules of Intervention are simple. One player is the card reader, who reads a black question card aloud. The questions sound similar to the "most likely" or "least likely" awards you might find in a high school yearbook — but a lot less politically correct. Everyone, including the card reader, turns their voting booklet to the number of the player they believe best fits the question, and hands the booklet face down to the card reader. Each person then plays a guessing card in front of himself based on how many votes he believes he has received (most of the votes, none of the votes, or some of the votes).

After all of the votes have been placed, they are revealed and players score points. A correct "most" or "none" vote earns the player 3 points. A correct "some" vote earns 1 point. An incorrect vote earns 0 points. Then play continues in a clockwise direction, with each player taking turns being the card reader.

The first player to reach 21 points wins.

Review

The gameplay of Intervention is quite simple but clever. Ultimately, you are not rewarded for getting the most votes (and therefore having the worst habits), but rather accurately guessing how the other players voted about you. This indirect scoring method works well and is an interesting way to quickly and objectively assess points. But there is also a "Quick and Dirty" variant that takes the scoring away if your group doesn't care about the score or if you just want to speed up the pace.

The question topics are the driving force in this game and range from TV show characters to racial and social stereotypes, hypothetical criminal acts, bad social habits, and the overtly risqué. The bottom line is that this is not a game for families or children, nor for the easily offended. Instead, the game is squarely targeted at single, college-aged adults who want to let go of their inhibitions for a few hours of laughter — basically, the same audience who eats up Cards Against Humanity. Some of the (less offensive) questions include: "Who is most likely to fake text during an awkward situation tonight?" and "You hear a nasty rumor about you going around. Who is most likely to have started it?"

While this type of game is not personally my cup of tea, I know there is a dedicated audience who would appreciate it and I believe the gameplay itself has its merits. Aside from the fast-paced gameplay and indirect scoring method, the format of the game lends itself to a personalized experience where discussions can be had about the people in your group (for better or for worse). If a family-friendly version of this game were made in the future, I could picture myself bringing it out often during holidays or other family gatherings.

Final Thoughts

If you're a fan of adult party games like Cards Against Humanity, you ought to give Intervention a try — there is a free print-and-play version available if you'd like to test it with your group before pledging your hard-earned money. However, if risqué humor and exploring everyone's bad habits seems a bit over-the-top for your crowd, I would recommend holding off until a family-friendly version becomes available.

Check out Intervention on Kickstarter from now through December 10, 2014.

Pros: Interesting gameplay and scoring method, leads to group-focused discussions

Cons: Not for families or the easily offended

Disclosure: this preview is based on our evaluation of an unpublished prototype of the game, which is subject to change prior to publication. While a modest payment was received to expedite the review process, our thoughts and opinions expressed here are honest and accurate.