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Paul Thomason spends a creative, fun and competitive afternoon playing Taskmaster which brings all the silliness of the TV show to your front room. Advert: we were gifted this game by Ginger Fox Games, this has not affected our opinion in any way. It must have been the ultimate task for board game producers, Ginger Fox but somehow they’ve managed to transfer the daftness, randomness and enjoyable elements of the TV show, Taskmaster into a format that allows you to undertake various tasks using items found in and around the home.
Taskmaster’s second series has two of the most memorable moments of all time: Richard Osman outsmarting the Taskmaster with the ‘ Place these three exercise balls on the yoga mat at the top of thathill’ task (especially juxtaposed with Jon Richardson and Doc Brown’s hilariously exhausting attempts) and the legendary Taskmaster moment that is the Joe Wilkinson potatogate tragedy. The challenge cards are divided by room with appropriate tasks in each. These cards are laid out in piles on the board which resembles a plan of the Taskmaster house in the show. On the board are piles of tasks. Four piles each correspond to a different location – the kitchen, living room, lab, and garden. Alongside these, there are secret tasks and final tasks, meaning in all, there are 200 different task cards! Before each game, decide on how many tasks you want to complete, and then, each round, it is up to the Taskmaster to decide from which of the four location piles to choose the task. Each player will have a secret task to carry out during the whole game, and if the game ends without that task being detected, the player will get 3 bonus points. It is based upon the long-running BAFTA award winning TV comedy quiz show starring Greg Davies (stand-up comedian and actor best known as the headmaster from “The Inbetweeners”) and its creator Alex Horne (band-leader of The Horne Section) currently enjoying its 10th series on Channel 4 following the successful move from Dave.A brand-new Taskmaster game with all-new tasks. The Secret Series Game invites you and your family and friends to take part in your own series of Taskmaster games at home. Carry the scores from each individual game forward into the next until you complete 10 'episodes' to crown an overall Series Winner! Who will be the ultimate champion? The first thing players will need to do is draw themselves an avatar for the leader board. You have a minute to do this before it is placed in the frame provided. Players take turns performing the Davies role of Taskmaster although there is the option of one person being the sole arbiter of awarding points if they are unwilling to partake in the challenges, are feeling unsure about joining in too fully, or if they are just power hungry. Taskmaster Trophy Task: Taskmaster The Board Game If you’ve ever seen any sort of TV show where contestants run around doing things, you’ve probably thought “I could do better than that.” Well, now’s your chance! The Taskmaster TV show came fully formed from Alex Horne’s brain, providing us all with a chance to enjoy with the subjective whims of Greg Davies. And now there’s a board game, so that you can enjoy the subjective whims of your friends and family! So strap in, let’s talk about the Taskmaster Board Game! All The Information Is On The Task You also have a secret task that you try to do throughout the game. (Mine was pet an inanimate object like it was a pet.) If you manage to get through the game unobserved, you get a bonus three points. If anyone catches you when it’s time to guess and describes your task, they get three points. Finally, you all take part in the “Final Task,” either reading the task or scanning the QR code so Alex Horne reads it for you. Whoever has the most points at the end is the winner!
Anyway, Horne and Davies tormenting five different comics per season is a proven formula. It is possible, of course, to be too formulaic: Taskmaster’s lineup only broke away from its strict “one BAME man, one woman, all the rest white men” setup in season four, when it allowed a second woman in. As first runs go, Taskmaster Series 1 is a perfect introduction to why the show has become such a roaring success, and that’s really down to the cast. Roisin Conaty was lovably naff, whereas Tim Key was so fearlessly competitive he broke all the rules, stooping low enough to lie about shooting a TV show for Comic Relief to win a task ( yes, really!). The combination of quietly furious Romesh Ranganathan and dry-witted Frank Skinner gave us the beautiful moment where, during a task about throwing a tea bag into a cup from the greatest distance, Frank Skinner jokes ‘someone will spend the first 45 minutes realising it’s easier when they’re wet’ and the scene cuts to an infuriated Romesh discovering just that. We played this as part of our belated Christmas party and there was a lot of fun to be had. We drew a task from the show (conceal a pea in your mouth or hand), and we had to make a representation of the Taskmaster Trophy with stuff around the house. It’s definitely a different kind of party game, and actually, one which would work well over Zoom if you can’t get out to see people.
What it’s like
The original board gamebrings the very essence of theshow to the comfort of your own home. Compete with your friends and family in a series of ludicrous tasks to be crowned Taskmaster Champion. Judge or be judged. It's time to summon your inner Taskmaster. Contents: Game board, rules sheet, scoreboard playing pieces, wipe-clean pen, Taskmaster trophy and 200 task cards, including video tasks from Alex Horne himself. My kids have had an absolute blast playing Taskmaster and are always really excited to play it. I do have to be in the mood for it though. The end of game scoring is akin to games like Cards Against Humanity and Scrawl, whereby one person dictates the scores. This can sometimes not reward the effort someone has put in but if the Taskmaster listens to the majority then it isn’t as bad. The rules of the game are pretty straight forward. Players take it in turns to be the Taskmaster, putting the gilded head of Greg Davies in one of four locations – Garden, Lab, Kitchen and Living Room, and drawing a task to provide to their fellow contestants. You have to read all of the instructions and that’s pretty much it. From there on in, it’s the Taskmaster’s call. Even the points scoring is arbitrary, with the Taskmaster able to dole out points for whatever reason they want. There are plenty of opportunities to show favouritism and begin arguments with the point scoring mainly being at the discretion of the Taskmaster. The time limits on the tasks ensure the game zips along at pace as players rush around trying to find the best materials to make trophies or snazzy footwear. Create some snazzy shoes – Taskmaster The Board Game The problem is those two key moments overshadow most of the rest of the series. We will give serious bonus points to Katherine Ryan’s genius method of extracting answers from a Swedish person and Doc Brown’s hiphop reimagining of ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, once I caught a fish alive.’ LVG 8. Series One
Taskmaster is styled brilliantly. The rules unfurl like a challenge on the show. The board looks like a bird’s eye view of the house off the telly and the cards are good quality. The cards are also plentiful and it will be an age before you see cards that you have done before. When you do, it might be time to buy the expansion!
Although Jo Brand spent most of her time in the CBA club, she also had moments of sheer brilliance (scream-singing Jerusalem down the phone to Alex as an egg timer) and other series highlights were Ed Gamble’s meltdowns and Rose Matafeo’s outstanding rootin’ tootin’ Taskmaster theme. ED 6. Series Fourteen Like I said, the QR code integration is very welcome. All the components help to make you feel like you are playing the game.
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