If you love yelling out random things and pretending you’re a secret genius, you might want to hear my thoughts on Connections. This review is based on several rounds with friends who ranged from trivia champions to people who thought Mt. Everest was in Canada. Spoiler: it got heated. I’ll break down the rules (don’t worry, they’re easy), the fun at different player counts, whether luck or skill will rule your night, and how many times you can play before losing your mind. Let’s see if Connections is worth squeezing onto your already packed game shelf!
How It Plays
Setting up
Shuffle the Connections deck and place it in the middle. Give each player a board and marker. Everyone grabs a snack, but that’s optional (though highly recommended by my group).
Gameplay
Each round, one player reads out a card with a bunch of different items, words or people. Players secretly group them into sets of four that they think are connected. Write your answers down. Arguments may break out, but that’s half the fun. Once everyone’s ready, reveal your groups. Get points for each correct set, bonus laughs for the weirdest connections.
Winning the game
Keep tallying scores until you run out of cards or get tired (or someone spills soda on everything). The person with the most points at the end wins ultimate bragging rights and, if you’re in my house, last slice of pizza.
Want to know more? Read our extensive strategy guide for Connections.
How Easy Are the Rules to Learn in Connections?
I have a confession: I hate rules that make my brain sweat. Lucky for us, Connections keeps it simple. Honestly, I didn’t even need to bribe my friends with snacks to read the rulebook this time. It’s so short you could probably learn it while wolfing down a sandwich. In our group, we had one person explain the whole game in less than five minutes, and nobody got that glassy-eyed look you see during Monopoly instructions.
The main idea is to sort words into groups of four based on what they have in common. That’s it. No weird scoring charts or funky dice, just pure word-nerd action. Even our resident “I’m just here for the snacks” friend picked it up without her usual thirty questions.
What I really liked is that you can jump straight into the action, even if you’ve never played anything more complex than Go Fish. The game comes with examples, and the cards are clear. If you mess up a rule, it’s probably because you were too busy giggling at someone’s bad guesses—yes, that happened to us, a lot.
If you want a game to teach in two minutes so you can get straight to the fun part, Connections wins gold. Next up, let’s see if it keeps the fun going, even with that one guy who always brings his cousin and her pet iguana to game night…
How Does Connections Play With Different Group Sizes?
The real magic of Connections is how it brings people together—unless you play it solo, then it’s just you and your self-doubt. I tested Connections with a bold group of two, a polite group of four, and one chaotic group of six (never again). Each offered a slightly different flavor of fun.
With two players, Connections turns into a sharp duel. Every word you pick or connection you try feels tense. There’s nowhere to hide your bad guesses! If you love outsmarting one other person while quietly judging their logic, this is your sweet spot. But I have to warn you—it can get repetitive if you play back-to-back. My friend Dave started thinking of calling his lawyer after the third round. Luckily, we’re still on speaking terms.
With four players, Connections really shines. There’s the perfect mix of ideas flying around, alliances forming and falling apart, and laughter when someone says, “Wait, how is ‘banana’ like ‘computer’?” This sweet spot lets everyone feel involved, but nobody can dominate (except my cousin Kelly, who may be part robot). The table energy jumps up a notch, and so does the competition as you try to outthink the group.
Six players? Brace yourself. Chaos reigns. The game is still fun, but sometimes the group gets loud, and it’s easy for some voices to get drowned out. If you play with six, pick a group that enjoys rowdiness. Connections does accommodate the crowd, but you may spend half the time telling Sam to stop making random guesses.
Next, I’ll talk about something very important to me—the balance between skill and luck in Connections. Let’s see if this game tips the scales or flips the whole table!
Does Connections Reward Brain Power or Dice Rolling?
Balance between skill and luck ruins or saves so many board games, doesn’t it? Some games are closer to winning the lottery than strategy. So, the first thing I paid attention to in Connections was how much my clever moves actually mattered. (Spoiler: my clever moves count, but not as much as I’d hope!)
In Connections, you try to group related things together—like putting “banana,” “apple,” and “pear” in one set, and scratching your head on what to do with “ladder.” This sounds like it should reward skill. And yes, you do need sharp thinking and a good memory. My friend Sam, who remembers every movie quote and song lyric ever, destroyed me in the early rounds. But then, out of nowhere, someone guesses a strange connection and sweeps the round. Sometimes the links are wacky, and you might just luck into a match without meaning to.
So, is Connections balanced? Mostly. One clever person won’t always sweep the floor, but there’s enough logic involved that you can’t blame your loss on bad luck alone. Still, some connections feel forced, or just bizarre enough that no amount of skill can help you. That’s a little annoying if you like things super fair. But at least everyone has a fighting chance (even my cousin, who once thought a trebuchet was an Italian dessert).
Next up: does the fun keep going every game, or do the connections start to fizzle? Let’s talk replayability and game variety!
Replayability and Game Variety: Can Connections Keep You Guessing?
Let’s talk about replayability and variety, which is just a fancy way of asking, “Will Connections hit the table more than once, or will it be collecting dust next to the Monopoly box?”
First, Connections is like that friend who always has a new story. Every game shakes things up. The word card combos change faster than my opinion about pineapple on pizza (which is, for the record, firm and strongly negative). It’s never the same puzzle twice. I’ve played it with my weekday group, my family, and even that one friend who thinks all games should be about medieval farming. Each time, the mix of words throws us for a loop. One round we’re linking animals, next it’s types of bread, then out of nowhere—space shuttles. You never know!
But here’s the kicker—variety comes from the people as much as the cards. My Aunt Linda and her bizarre connections between yoga poses and kitchen utensils? Game-changer. The game’s open-ended thinking means you can play with different folks and it will feel fresh. No two groups link ideas in the same way. It’s like a brain exercise, but with more laughter and a lot less sweating.
Still, after about twenty plays, I started to notice some themes repeat. It’s not a big deal, but if you play all day, you might wish for even more category cards. If you’re someone who wants endless new content, this isn’t a magic well, but it’s pretty darn deep for most people.
So do I recommend Connections? Yep! It stays fun and surprising well after the first few games…unless you’re a robot, in which case, what are you even doing here?
Conclusion
So that’s the end of my Connections review! This game is a blast when you have friends who like to think outside the box. The rules are easy to learn, and the fun ramps up fast, no matter your group size. Sure, a bit of luck sneaks in now and then—like when someone links things I’d never even think of (seriously, “banana” and “moon landing”?)—but skill and clever thinking win the day most times. I do wish there was more variety after a ton of plays, but I haven’t run out of laughs yet. If you enjoy creative games that get people talking, Connections will fit right into your collection. Grab it if you want to see what oddball ideas your friends come up with next!
