Everyone knows that if you lie, your nose gets longer, right? Pinocchio knows this full well; he lies often and his nose gets longer every time he does so! The only way he can return to normal is to tell the truth. In this game of storytelling and bluffing, you must convince your opponents that you are being truthful; not as easy as it sounds! You’ll need a mighty poker face and some convincing tales, only if you lie, of course…This 30 minute game of True or False can be played by 4 to 10 players at age 8 and up. Can Pinocchio ever become a real boy and live happily ever after?
In the box, you’ll get some great accessories that will help you to play the game. You’ll get a Pinocchio Doll, a cardboard Pinocchio head and 25 wooden blocks (with which you can build Pinocchio’s nose!) 80 Subject cards, 10 Truth and 10 Dare cards and 12 Angel tokens.
“Pinocchio: True or False is an enlightening and bonding storytelling game.”
– Board Game Geek
To set up the game, the Pinocchio doll is placed in the middle as this is what players need to pick up when they want to ask a question to a storyteller. The cardboard Pinocchio head is also placed in the middle along with all the wooden blocks which are used to build that nose of lies! Each player is given a Truth card and a Lie card.
One of the things I’ve always liked in games is how to determine who the first player is in a game. How on earth do you fairly decide which player goes first and which player goes last? The creators of Pinocchio definitely got it right for this game; the player with the longest nose is the starting player!
The first player initially draws a subject card and selects a word or short phrase from a choice of four. This player then decides whether the story they’re going to tell is the Truth or a Lie! The player goes on to tell this tale, and when finished, players can take it in turns or grab the Pinocchio doll in order to ask the storyteller a question about their story; to try and catch them out, perhaps!
The other players then guess whether the story is true or false by using the appropriate cards. If a player is wrong, they must stack a wooden block onto the cardboard face of Pinocchio. If half (or more!) of the players guess correctly, then the storyteller has to stack a wooden block instead! If any blocks fall when they are being stacked, the player who causes this will get an Angel token. The game ends after 3 Angel tokens are collected.
Pinocchio is a fantastic game of storytelling and encourages players to be verbal and communicate with each other clearly. It’s great for the imagination, especially when creating a story from scratch to bluff your way through the game! It also helps to improve dexterity when stacking blocks; be careful, you don’t want them to fall! Pinocchio also helps to improve listening skills…can you tell whether another player is telling a lie?
