Designer: Joe Herbert, Dave Herbert
Publisher: AMO Toys, Haywire Group, HCM Kinzel, Korea Boardgames Co., Ltd., Trefl, University Games
Failure...self doubt...existential despair: This best sums up your feelings in the immediate aftermath of playing "Are You Dumber Than a Box of Rocks". Why? Read on, professor...
You have three chances to beat the Box of Rocks at trivia. Three hundred multiple choice questions are peppered across one hundred cards. The answer to all of the questions is either 0, 1, or 2. Also included are a wooden human pawn and three synthetic yet astoundingly astute rocks. (It's rumored that they teach night classes at the University.)
Anyway, have someone read any one of the questions aloud to you (preferably in front of a group of friends and loved ones who relish public humiliation). Speak your answer. Now shake the box containing two of the numbered rocks. Hold your breath and open the box. Is the answer you gave correct, or have the rocks guessed the right number? Advance either the human pawn or the rock one space on the scorecard. It's a best-of-three challenge, and the chance at beating these clever little pebbles isn't as easy as you've hoped. Pass the challenge to the next victim and take some time to yourself. One round of gameplay takes all of five minutes; the shame lasts decidedly longer.