Gearhead Mom

Monday, January 14, 2008

Gassy Gus, The Review

Posted by Jenny M. @ 9:24 AM

I think I need to explain why this silly game became the focus of my holiday gift-giving. So bear with me as we take a journey through History of My Family. 
I (and my four siblings) were raised in a household in which Potty Humor was Not Funny. Words like “fart”? Never hear them uttered by an adult related to me. Any inclinations we children had to welcome them into the family vocabulary were frowned upon. Heck, we were not allowed to use the word “butt” at any address we inhabited. Hence, I have always had a big “bottom (and I know, Sir Mix-A-Lot, that you are shaking your head at this lyrical travesty). 
My brother and I both married people whose family cultures opened the door (or window?) to potty (flatulent?) humor. This Clash of Cultures has been most interesting at my brother’s house, where his wife loves to needle him with fart jokes and make him uncomfortable with references to “boobs,” and where the firstborn is now a five-year-old son (Helloooooooooooo! No one appreciates potty humor—besides drunk frat boys—like a four-to-nine-year-old kid). So when a poor review of What’s in Ned’s Head led me to Gassy Gus, I thought I had hit the Mother Lode. I knew my sister-in-law loved playing board games with my nephew and his siblings. And this one would satisfy her, as well as bug my mother and make my brother uncomfortable. And it wasn’t like I was buying it for My House. It was the PERFECT GIFT. I couldn’t wait to give it to my nephew. (And then we had to sacrifice it to a gift exchange, and then it was sold out online, and then I managed to snatch the last one of the shelf at Target on Christmas Eve Eve! Thereby increasing the value of a Never-Tested Toy!). 

Gassy Gus debuted on a night my brother and sister-in-law were watching my two daughters. It was a hit, apparently, except that my own four-year-old showed an inordinate amount of concern (and fear) for the gaseous explosion as well as for WINNING THE GAME. She had to be taken aside, told to Calm Down, and then made part of a TEAM. The report was: funny game, accessible to kids.
When we had the opportunity to return the favor and take care of the nephews and niece, we required that they bring Gassy Gus. Here’s my assessment: it’s pretty fun(ny). With each card a player draws, he gets to pump up Gus’s stomach a corresponding number of times (it would appear that a chili dog outweighs other gas-inducing snacks, with five pumps; tacos, popcorn, etc. “cost” less, indigestion-wise).  Other players can lay on the fuel by judiciously playing one of their few “Gut Buster” cards (a big fat liter of sodaaaaaaaaaaa)...if Gus erupts (i.e., the little balloon in his pumped tummy fizzles), you have to take more cards. First player (or team) to get rid of (County Fair) Food cards, wins. 
By the way, “Gassy Gus” has become a euphemism in our family for anyone suffering from indigestion. Yesterday, my daughter referred to the dog as a “Gassy Gus.”  And coming from my family, I prefer that term to “Hey, the dog FARTED!”
Ultimately:
*Gassy Gus is pretty hilarious. I loved noting the relative “weight” (number of pumps) for each kind of food. And the gut-busting food they included (ha ha! Cheese Fries! Of course they thought of those!).
*But I was done after one round…and we played two with the kids. 
*It’s easy to set up and play but is best with at least one player (5 or older) capable of Gus Maintenance (it comes with a back-up balloon, but my guess is once you blow through the two, the game might be history). 
*As my sister-in-law (and Fan of Fart Jokes) pointed out: it’s a great game that kids can actually play THEMSELVES. 
There you go. 

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