Review | Backgammon game review: Mayhem at the Museum

You might think that when it comes to board game testing, everything conceivable and possible has been invented by now. Then another game comes around the corner with a new trick!

Same thing with Chaos in the museumwhere the answers are literally on the table in the middle of a chaos of 300 offers…

Karina Brachter

Authors: Caroline and Morten Weber ■ Illustrations: Gabor Raksmani
Publisher: Checkverlag GmbH ■ Year of publication: 2022

2-8 players

From 8 years

About 30-60 minutes

Game rules (external link to Frechverlag)

Feeling the game and the score

Chaos in the museum Brings 150 question cards printed on both sides in the five categories Everyday things, story, culture, technology And nature Plus 300 small cardboard plates with drawn illustrations. All these little pictures are answers to the questions in the game, because when the question is read, you don't have to say the answer, but look for it in the screen and find it first. Before the game starts, all 300 tiles are placed on the table – so having a large, well-lit table is an advantage.

Now it begins: the question category is displayed for each round separately. With six you can choose a category. The person rolling the dice reads the question to others, but does not look at the current round.
The questions on the cards are presented in three different levels of difficulty for more variety and play in mixed groups – eg with children. The first question on each card is the hard version, the middle question is actually easier, and the easy wording at the bottom of the card makes finding the solution more straightforward.

The basic game works in such a way that the group agrees on a level of difficulty and then only that question format is read.

Once the question is read, everyone starts searching in two ways: Either you know the solution and therefore what exactly to look for in the museum's 300-piece display. Or you don't have any idea yet, let your eyes scroll through the images, searching, and trying to discover something inspiring that might fit the question.

However, silent action is required at this stage, because all participants are busy “scanning” the screen with great concentration and method. Until finally someone steps forward, grabs the object they are looking for and says its name. If necessary, the word solution is also on the back.

If the answer is correct, he gets to keep the item. If false, the object is returned and the search continues. The first person to collect five items wins the game.

Chaos in the museum It doesn't reinvent the world of quiz games, but the trick to finding a solution using pictures is a refreshing new element with a very stimulating nature. Everyone who passes the table where mayhem is being played out in the museum stops and takes a closer look at the whole thing.

Beautifully designed cardboard panels look great and are the deciding point. They are also – despite being very thin – really stable and can survive games of clearing, distributing, searching, grabbing and banishing without any damage.

But you have to be careful not to lose any of the cardboard tiles. We searched for ages for a solution, only to discover that the exact answer to our question ended up under the lining during transportation. But the tiles soon fell to the floor. When putting things away, always look under the table!

The game is certainly not designed to last forever, as every new trick expires at some point. Chaos in the museum But it is very suitable for gaming gatherings or large families because it is really scalable for all age groups. It is suitable for both young people – as long as the “easy” question category is chosen – and for older people – as long as a moderate pace of play is chosen and the corresponding visual abilities are still well developed.

For diversity there is also that Chaos in the museum It offers four different game types:

• To play with children, the difficulty of the question is adjusted according to their level of knowledge.
• A game for two, where you can quest together and chase your high score.
• For a four-player game, questions are solved from difficult to easy if the solution is not found.
• To play in groups, where teams work for a limited time and with a word description of the solution.

We have enjoyed the game in all groups so far. I think some of the questions are perhaps too difficult for eight-year-olds, and in groups of more than six, I think not everyone can see the display on the table very well, but you basically get along with it Chaos in the museum There is certainly nothing wrong if you are looking for a quiz game for the whole family – for example at Christmas.

• An innovative quiz game with easily accessible rules
• The game material is of a very difficult nature
• Diversity through game variables

• Little effort is needed to set up (and unpack!), as all 300 exhibits must be placed on the table in a visible manner
• The categories vary in difficulty and some questions are worded strangely.
• Yellow cards in this category Everyday things It is very difficult to read.