Anytime I can get a group of people together, I'm always the one trying to get everybody to play a board game of some kind.  I absolutely LOVE board games and have enjoyed them since I was a very small child.  I know that video games are what's new and happening for kid's these days, but I really want to keep the board game tradition alive and well for my own daughter.

My husband and I frequently play board games together, and so when Out of the Box Publishing contacted me about reviewing one of their wonderful games, I asked for a recommendation.  I wanted something that would be fun for 2 people to play, as well as something that would be equally fun for a large group of people too.

Their answer:  Word on the Street.  It sounded pretty interesting and I really like word games such as Scrabble and Boggle, so I was excited to give this one a try too.

The Hilarious Tug of Words!

On each turn, one team flips over a category card. Team members frantically brainstorm words that fit the category while the opposition tries to sidetrack them. The team must agree on a word and pull each letter of that word one lane closer to their side of the street, all before the time runs out. Word on the Street™ will have you in the fast lane to fun!

My husband and I wanted to play this game one Sunday afternoon.  We read the directions, which were very detailed, yet pretty simple, and easily set up the board.  There were two packs of category cards and a card holder, several letter tiles which lined up in the middle of the board, and a 30-second timer included.  I liked that the set up was this easy!  You didn't have to write anything down or keep score, which is rare for a vocabulary-based game.

Next, we actually began playing the game.  We decided who was going to go first by playing paper, rock, scissors, and my husband won.  We decided to play the easier version of the game by using the green sides of the category cards.  If you want a more challenging game, then flip the cards over and use the blue side.  He pulled out a category card and read it aloud while I flipped the 30-second timer.  Then, he had 30-seconds to come up with one word which belonged in the category listed and used as many of the letters "on the street" as possible.

The first category drawn was "Parts of the Body".  Michael said "Kidney" and was then able to move the K, D, N, and Y one space over to his "side of the street".  Then it was my turn.  You are basically playing a tug-of-war, of sorts, with these letter tiles.  The person that can pull the letter tile off the board onto their "side of the street", wins that letter tile and it is no longer in play.  You can still come up with words that use those letters, but you can no longer tug them across the board any longer.  The object of the game is to be the first player with 8 tiles pulled off the board onto your "side of the street".

This game was a lot of fun (even though I lost) and I never realized how fast 30-seconds can go!  You definitely have to be thinking quick on your feet with this one.  We played the green sides of the category cards and still almost got stumped a time or two trying to think of the best word.  I'm sure the blue sides of the cards are REALLY hard!  There was an interesting "side game" that could be played too.

It stated in the rules that the other player or team was allowed to try and distract the playing person or team by yelling out words while they were trying to think of a word they wanted to use.  You could yell out anything, including nonsense words, funny words, distracting words, etc.  Once we really understood how to play the game, we started doing the distraction technique and that was fun too!

I could really see how this would be a great party game!  I can just imagine my group of friends all thinking together and only having 30 seconds to come up with ONE word!  I can also imagine the other team of friends trying to distract us!  I can't wait to insist everyone play this game the next time that we are all together.  Maybe the best part of this game is that you can personalize the categories too!  If you go to the Word on the Street web page, you can find a link to actually create your own category cards!

This way, you could make a personalized category about your job, boss, friends, hobbies, etc. or even make the game a little more adult and a lot more hilarious!  I've saved this link to my computer and will definitely be slipping a few custom category cards into the game for the next time we play.

I highly recommend this game for both family and friends.  If you have older children (12 years and up), this could be a fun way to help them develop their vocabulary and learn to think quick on their feet.  It's a lot of fun for just two adults and I think it would be a total blast for a party or group of people!  There are few pieces, no scoring to keep up with and the rules are very simple.  If you happen to love word games and are a big fan of board games too, then I would definitely recommend adding this one to your collection!

Disclosure:  I received the Word on the Street board game from Out of the Box Publishing in order to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received. This product review is based on my own personal experiences with this item and is completely honest and objective.