Smart Ass

Gameplay

Smart Ass is a board game that I would describe as a cross between Pictionary and Trivial Pursuit. Make your way around the board and prove you’re the ultimate smart ass by answering questions as a series of clues are read aloud. The first one to the finish wins!

The game comes with the board, two dice, and four different decks of cards with a different category for each deck: Blue = What Am I? Orange = Who Am I? Green = Where Am I? and Red = Hard Ass – I’ll explain later.

To begin, choose a token and place it on the start space. Have the oldest player roll the colorful dice—officially called the Jumbo Category Die, to determine the category of the question. The player chooses a card from the category. Each card lists 8 clues and has the answer at the bottom of the card. One by one, the player reads the clues aloud, and all other players try to guess what the place, person, or object is. Each clue becomes more and more revealing of the answer. However, each player only gets one guess, so while you may want to be the first to guess in order to win the round, if you get it wrong, you lose your chance.

The player who guesses correctly then rolls the numbered die, otherwise known as the Jumbo Movement Die. After moving your token the correct number of spaces, play continues to the left. If no player answers the question correctly, the reader of the clues wins and gets to roll the numbered die.

There are few spaces on the game board that aren’t blank: the Dumb Ass Space, the Hard Ass Space, and the Kick Ass Space.

• The Dumb Ass Space
  • If you land on this space, you must sit out the next round, meaning you can’t guess the answer to the question or read the clues. If it was supposed to be your turn to read the clues, the player to the left gets to read and your turn is skipped.
    • If you’re playing with just two players, the player that did not land on the Dumb Ass Space gets a free roll of the Jumbo Movement Die
  • The Hard Ass Space
    • If you land here, you get a bonus question—told you I’d explain this deck later! Have someone take a card from the Hard Ass deck and read aloud one of the two questions. Only the player who landed on the space has the chance to answer. If you answer correctly, roll the Jumbo Movement Die again.
  • The Kick Ass Space
    • If you land here, you’re unfortunately booted back three spaces.

The first person to reach the end of the board wins!

History

Smart Ass was invented by Rob Elliot and published by University Games in 2006. Rob is from Australia and is actually better known from his time hosting Wheel of Fortune from January 1997 to December 2003. He’s from Australia, and his first job was for the children’s TV program OK for Kids in Brisbane.

After leaving Wheel of Fortune, he invented Smart Ass, saying on his inspiration for the game: “I used to play Trivial Pursuit and never won—I hated it. I created a game I could win.”