Publisher
Geronimo Games
30
minutes
€27,99
cost
2-8
players
Game explanation
In the Palm of Your Hand is a new party game published by Geronimo Games. In this game for 2-8 players you form a team with 2 or 3 players. One player assumes the role of a child and the other the role of grandfather. In the game, the child imitates memories in the hand of grandpa. The child can only use objects and cannot talk.
At the beginning of the game, each team is given 6 memory cards. These cards depict different events. The 6 cards you receive at the beginning of the game form your team hand. Then decide which team will start the game. A turn of In de Palm van je Hand consists of 4 steps:
1. Choose a memory card
The player in the role of child draws 2 memory cards from the deck. The child must imitate these 2 memory cards in grandpa's hand with the different objects. The cards may not be seen by anyone except the child.
2. Imitate the scene on the card
The player in the role of grandfather closes his eyes and extends his hand. The other player can now start imitating the memory cards one by one. The child player can use any of the 10 different objects. The other team must pay close attention during this phase of the game!
3. Blur the imitated memory
As soon as the child has finished the imitation, he or she puts the memory card on the table covered so that the other players cannot see it yet. Every other team secretly chooses one card from their team hand. The aim is for the other teams to choose a card that resembles the scene imitated by the child. In this way they can make it more difficult for grandpa to recognise the right card. Has the child imitated both memories and have the other teams 'blurred' the memories? Then it is time for phase 4.
4. View the photo album
The child adds more cards on the table (the 2 cards it has imitated and the 2 cards added by each other team) with cards from the pile, so that there are 8 cards in total. Once there are 8 cards, grandpa can open his eyes again. Grandpa must look closely at all the cards and of course try to choose the 2 correct cards. The grandfather player must also indicate which memory card was first and which was second. The active team scores 1 point per correctly guessed memory card. The opposing teams score 1 point for each of their misleading cards chosen by grandpa.
5. End of the game
When the points are distributed, it is the next team's turn. The game ends when everyone has played the role of grandfather at least once. This means that each team has 2 turns.
For more experienced players or those looking for a little more challenge, the game also offers a special expert mode. This mode introduces restriction cards. These cards give the child restrictions while recreating the memory. For example, there are restriction cards that require you to use a specific object and cards that indicate where on grandpa's hand you must recreate the memory.
Our thoughts
In the Palm of Your Hand is a party game that can be compared to the popular game Dixit. Dixit is one of our favourite party games, so it came as no surprise that we are very enthusiastic about In the Palm of your Hand. For us, this game is really like Dixit with an original twist. If you put this game on the table during a game night, there will have a good laugh. In the Palm of your Hand is really a game that leaves an impression on you. After playing, you will certainly talk a lot about the special imitations.
In the Palm of your Hand is, like Dixit, a game in which you can let your creativity run free. Therefore, it is a game for which you must have enough imagination. Because of this, In the Palm of your Hand will not be to everyone's taste. In any case, we think it is a very nice game! The theme of the game is nicely worked out in the artwork. The cards tell the life story of grandpa. You see pictures of grandpa as a baby and even pictures of his grown-up granddaughter. There is a lot of story in this quick and simple game! As we write this, we were also thinking how nice it would be to play a game of In the Palm of your Hand with your own photos. Do you have a well-filled photo album from when you were young? Take it out and see if you can imitate the pictures with the objects from this game! The nice thing about this theme is that it is easy to understand for everyone. This makes In the Palm of your Hand fairly accessible. Everyone has (had) a grandfather or has a photo album at home full of memories.
We will probably put In the Palm of your Hand on the table often during our upcoming game nights. The game is quick to explain, quick to set up and quick to play. It is therefore the perfect filler! Most people will be able to appreciate the game. Unless you have someone at the table who doesn't like Dixit either because he has too little imagination. Incidentally, in our experience you can also persuade these people to play a game with you. We have already played In the Palm of your Hand with someone who is certainly not a fan of Dixit. Even he found playing In the Palm of your Hand entertaining. As far as we are concerned, In the Palm of your Hand is a versatile and accessible party game. This could certainly become one of the new favourite party games!
The only thing we are concerned about is the replayability. We have played the game several times now and have noticed that we have come across the same cards several times. The game contains 100 memory cards. This is quite a lot, but you can also go through them quickly. When you get a card that you have already played once, it is of course very easy to do exactly the same thing again. You can agree to always use a different imitation, but it can make the game repetitive if you have played the same card more than once. If you often play with a different group, this will be less of a problem. In this case, your teammate will not know that you have already played the same card in exactly the same way. As far as we are concerned, it would be very nice if there would ever be an expansion for the game. Grandma's life story would be a nice addition to the card deck!
We will certainly be playing In the Palm of your Hand many more times. We can't wait to put this game on the table during game nights with friends.
Playing with 2 players
In the Palm of your Hand is primarily a party game. Therefore, the game is certainly most fun with a larger group of at least 4 players. Fortunately, In the Palm of your Hand does have adapted rules for 2 players. With 2 players, the game is still fun, but a lot easier. You miss the part where opponents cloud the memory by adding cards that resemble your portrayal. With 2 players, we would sooner choose for another game, but if we are with 4 players, we would definitely play this game!
Pros and cons
+ Original game mechanic
+ Beautiful artwork on the cards
+ Extra mode to make the game harder
– Low replayability
