When will Ralph Richardson name this wet fish from Superior Scott? This is just one of many sentences created during our latest game of You've Been Sentenced! You've Been Sentenced! is a game for ages 8 and up, and it is designed for 3 to 10 players. It comes with 540 cards (with 5 words per card), a score pad, a pencil, a timer, and game play rules (with several variations).

The NASA Space Terminology Add-On Deck includes an additional 80 cards that contain words based on space (missions, exploration, astronomy, etc.). This deck also includes two additional ways to play the game. There are a handful of other add-on decks available as well.

The cards are shaped like pentagons, and each card has five related words on it. For example, one card from the original game has the words "experiment," "experiments," "experimented," "experimenting," and "experimental" on it. An example from the NASA Space Terminology deck is "lunar," "Luna," "lunar lander," "lunar module," and "lunar eclipse." To play You've Been Sentenced! each player draws ten cards. When everyone has drawn his cards, all players flip their cards over and attempt to make a grammatically correct sentence. The first player to finish a sentence starts the timer, and the rest of the players must finish their sentences before time runs out. Then the real fun begins. Each player reads his sentence. If another player doesn't think the sentence is a proper sentence, he can issue an "objection." The sentence creator then has to offer a "sentence justification" to defend their sentence. This can be anything that clarifies the sentence to the jury--a story or explanation of word choice, for example. The jury (the rest of the players) then votes either thumbs up or down for the sentence. If the sentence stands, the player is awarded points for the sentence. Points are determined by the value for the words printed on the cards. Most words are worth 5 points each, though there are some words worth 10 points. The first person to 200 points wins the game.

I played this game with my 12, 11, and 9-year-old sons, and we had a lot of fun. My 7-year-old attempted to play with us, but the game proved to be a bit difficult for him, so I think the 8 and up recommendation is pretty spot on. It took us about 30 minutes to play a game, and there were lots of laughs involved. I loved how it challenged them to build proper sentences out of random words, and the defending of their choice is an added bonus. They loved the silly sentence factor. I highly recommend You've Been Sentenced! as an easy and fun way to get in some extra grammar and writing instruction.