Poetry for Neanderthals Game Review

Guess-word-from-card-or-get-bop! No, it’s not gibberish – it’s Poetry for Neanderthals!

Whilst neanderthals’ board game collection would have paled in comparison to some of ours, that hasn’t stopped the comic legends at Exploding Kittens from creating a competitive word guessing game that turns us into them. In a game that has strands of inspiration from Charades and Monikers, Poetry for Neanderthals stands out by having players explain their cards in a way neanderthals might – but get it wrong, and you’ll receive a bop from the inflatable NO! Stick! Like all good party games, it’s extremely easy to explain, takes moments to get playing, but packs a ton of fun into its small box.

We also featured Poetry for Neanderthals as one of the best games for teens – check out the full list to see why.

What is Poetry for Neanderthals, a Competitive Word Guessing Game?

The Poetry for Neanderthals game comes from the same creators as the game Exploding Kittens. Even if you’ve not played the wildly successful card game, there’s a good chance you’ve seen or heard of the Netflix cartoon series that took its inspiration from the game. Created by Elan Lee and Matt Inman, it contains the comic art style of The Oatmeal, and Poetry for Neanderthals is no different. In this game, you’ll attempt to describe different phrases on cards but using only single syllable words. If you use a big word, like ‘vegetable,’ you face a penalty and lose points. If you mess up, your opponent holds an inflatable NO! Stick, which is used to gently(ish) remind you not to. As party games go, it promises hilarity.

How to Play Poetry for Neanderthals

Learning how to play Poetry for Neanderthals is quick and straightforward, and you’ll have the rules down in no time at all. The game requires 2+ players, where you’ll split into teams (with an odd number, one player is the judge and retains the NO! Stick). One team is Team Glad, and the other is Team Mad. Team Glad starts, choosing the easier (orange) or harder (grey) side of the cards that everyone must use.

The rules to play Poetry for Neanderthals are intuitive. Every card has two sections, a one-point word (such as Bee), and a three-point word (such as Bee Sting). The poet will try to explain the word on the card using only one syllable words to build sentences. Correctly interpreting words is crucial to score points in this game.

In this instance, we might say “stripe thing fly buzz”, as the first thing that comes to mind. To get the bee sting, we might say “stripe fly buzz make ouch”. If the players guess the one-point answer, you can choose to then push for the three point phrase or pick up a new card entirely. When you’re against the clock, that can be a tough decision!

You can also lose points in this game, and the other team (or single player) is responsible for bopping you with the NO! Stick if you break the rules. The rules include saying any part of the word on the poetry card (if we’d said, “fly buzz with tail sting” for example, as Bee Sting was on the card), using gestures or charades, saying “Sounds Like” or “Rhymes with”, using initials or abbreviations, or other languages. The rules remind you it’s all for fun – and that if it feels like cheating, it probably is!

At the end of the players turn, all points are calculated, and the other team starts. Play ends when every player has had a turn, and the team who got the most points wins.

Additional Rules

Grok’s Words of Love and Sad Cards: One Syllable Words

Usually declaring a winner or loser would mark the end of a game, but there’s a little extra bonus within the box. The winning team is told to take their three favorite words from those they collected. These are then used in Grok’s Words of Love and Sad cards, to create a poem. For example – “You make Grok [Word One]. [Word Two] make Grok cry. You smell like [Word Three]. I not know why.”

There’s no points, for this, but it’s a fun extra. In the bonus round, the poet point slate is used to track any additional points or penalties, ensuring accurate scoring throughout the game.

Play Poetry for Neanderthals with 2 or 3 players

The first part of Poetry for Neanderthals rules is to split into teams – but what about when there’s only a few players? Well, the roles just change a little instead. For a 2-player game, players switch between being the Poet, and gain points in the same way. After each player has been the Poet three times, the game ends, and the points total is compared to point boundaries in the rules – 10 points or less is “This Team Bad”, but 50 points or more is “A stunning Evolutionary Exemplar”. 

For 3 players, there’s a similar role swap, but this time it’s rotated between the Poet, Player-with-Stick, and Guesser. The Poet and Guesser gain points at the same time, and players’ roles swap with every timer expiry. Again, it ends after each player has been a poet three times, and the player with the most points wins.

Poetry for Neanderthals Review – Why Play It?

Now you know how to play, you’re perhaps wondering if you should?

Poetry for Neanderthals is a family friendly party game that encourages interaction and fun among players, making it suitable for all ages.

A Game for Groups

Poetry for Neanderthals is often called a party game, which is a fair moniker. It’s one that can be learnt in moments, can be played with a wide number of people, and will almost certainly make you smile when you play it. Perfect then, for a big gathering of friends – especially with a NO! Stick to add a little extra hilarity. You might think that the challenge is easy, and descriptions in single syllables are just silly, but actually playing will really make you think about what you’re saying. Losing longer words is quite tricky, and doing so against the clock with a giant inflatable club looming is a recipe for a fun evening. If any player uses words that contain more than one syllable, they face a playful penalty, adding an element of fun and challenge to the gameplay.

An Educational Game

Games often have secondary benefits, and this one is that it works well with younger children too, and within that, it’s ability to make you think about language more… an educational game hidden within a silly game about neanderthals. The game has a unique rule where players can give clues using ‘only words’ with single syllables, enhancing the challenge and fun. Admittedly, you may have to watch for any over excited NO! Stick usage from younger ages, but as the stick is inflatable, it does little to no harm, and adds another fun element to the game. It also goes a long way in helping children – and adults too! – understand syllables and use their wider vocabulary. This can be a little tricky and require some thought – hence the presence of the NO! Stick at all, if it were easy, it wouldn’t be fun! With that, the stick stops anyone from getting too upset if they’re not doing well, as a few laughs make up for losing points.

A Fun, Family Friendly Party Game

Ultimately, you should play a game because it’s fun, and Poetry for Neanderthals is that. One quirky rule is to ‘speak good,’ where players must communicate using only single-syllable words or face a humorous penalty. It’s a rare game where no matter which role you take, you still have a lot of fun. If you’re trying to do linguistic backflips to condense a concept into short words, you’re having fun trying something different. If you’re using the NO! Stick, or have been bopped by it, you’re bound to be laughing in surprise and resignation. And if you’re guessing, you’re trying to figure out something immensely satisfying against the clock. All of which has a competitive element, just for fun!

Poetry for Neanderthals has Expansions

There are 200 cards in the box, which offer 400 single words, which will likely keep you busy for some time. If you enjoy this game, and need more cards, you can easily expand the game yourself, by creating your own cards and adding these in, or by creating your own deck entirely. These offer the fun opportunity of adding in personal jokes – people in the group, events that are important, or the like. If you’d rather just buy extra expansions though, there are three main ones. The Poet Point Slate is used in these expansions to track points effectively.

Poetry for Neanderthals More Cards Box: Card Game

As it says in the name, this is a box of just more cards – 500 more in fact. The words are like those in the base box, so just as family friendly, and it also contains some blank cards so you can add in your own. 

Poetry for Neanderthals NSFW 

This game is actually a standalone (meaning you don’t need the original game to play), but you could merge the two depending on the people you’re playing with. The title stands for the internet shorthand “Not Suitable For Work”, and so contains terms best used with players over the age of 17.

Poetry for Neanderthals Pop Culture Edition

The newest of the Poetry range, this is another standalone, but which focuses only on pop culture. How might you describe Friends in single syllable sentences for example? Or Stranger Things? You’ll find out in this version of the game!

Where to Buy Poetry for Neanderthals

You can find Poetry for Neanderthals in most game shops, including the likes of Target. You can also easily pick up a copy on Amazon.

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