As winter draws in and people are forced to stay indoors and remain in proximity to their friends and family, the need for distraction increases. Out of Order provides just such a distraction by offering a consistently brain-melting challenge, especially if you happen to enjoy a few alcoholic drinks whilst you play.
In short, Out of Order is a fairly regular trivia game on the face of it — the box includes a single rules card and then a mighty stack of double-sided question cards that each feature exactly five questions and answers. The box itself doubles as a score-tracker by cleverly allowing players to clip a coloured arrow around the edge to denote their score — side note, I like this a lot!
The twist comes in how the questions on each card are delivered, and how they must then be answered. One player will take out a card and read the questions one by one, addressing the player to their left. The player listening to the questions must answer the first one by loudly exclaiming “Out of order” at which point a sort of variable (based on your group preference) timer will begin.
The next question is read, but at this point, the player answering will provide the answer for the previous question, and then when the third question is read, the second question will be answered and so on. When the fifth and final question is read out, the question master will address everyone and declare that the question is a bonus — and now anyone can score, assuming they answer the question with the correct answer from the previous question.
Did you get all that? Good. Well, usually good — but not always. Whilst the questions in Out of Order are generally not that difficult, the fact they are answered out of order is most definitely the most taxing bit — especially when you apply a bit of time pressure and possibly some drunken heckling. We did find though, that some people just really struggle with the misalignment between question and answer — and if that is how your brain works, there’s not much you can do about it.
The best players in Out of Order are those who stay calm, cool and collected, listening carefully to the first question and compartmentalising the answer, and then doing the same for each subsequent question. There are relatively few questions that the average adult can’t answer, although general knowledge certainly does play a part in this. When players have been able to enter this “meditative state” we found they did well, but that’s a lot easier said than done!
Of course, if you like your trivia games alongside a few beers (which I do) then Out of Order takes on a very different dynamic. Lots of shouting, lots of mistakes and a lot of fun can be had this way – although of course I advocate only drinking in moderation, and if you’re of a legal age to do so in your country! There is probably an argument to say that there is nothing to stop you from using the questions in Out of Order to host a more traditional trivia game either, although I think it might be considered a tad easy for many groups.
Overall then, Out of Order offers good value. It’s a cheapish trivia game with its unique twist and lots of content in the box. You can get it out and expect just about anyone to pick up the rules and be able to play in minutes, with the only downside being that the slightly weird twist (which admittedly makes Out of Order what it is) is a challenge for some people that can frustrate just as much as it amuses others.
Out of Order is available from your friendly local game store.
