What Is Hasbro Doing Buying Cranium?

"This wrinkle in time, I can't give it no credit/I thought about my space and I really got me down (got me down)/Got me so down, I got me a headache/My heart is crammed in my cranium and it still knows how to pound" -- Frank Black, Headache

The above lyrics from (ex-Pixie) Frank Black's excellent song Headache, from the awesome album Teenager of the Year pretty much summed up how I felt when I saw that Hasbro (HAS) bought the company Cranium for $77.5 million. Cranium is the maker of the eponymous boardgame as well as a few spinoff games.

I'm not going to put this delicately, because I can't: Cranium sucks. It may be the worst board game I've ever played, and that includes some games from the board game-crazy 70's. Cranium is maddening because it's ostensibly a trivia and skills game (a mix of Trivial Pursuit, Balderdash and Pictionary, each of which can be fun), but it's really a pure luck game. The game is always won by the team that got the luckiest rolling the dice, as opposed to the smartest team. This is just the opposite of Trivial Pursuit, where luck and dicerolling have a trivial impact on the outcome. It's so maddening.

The really sick thing about it is that it's become a game that's fairly popular with the late-20s yuppie set. That line is seriously going to offend some of my friends, because it's at their house parties that I've found myself playing the game. But sorry, that's the truth. It's like Jenga was in the 90s. The only other things you need are a bottle of Yellow Tail and a copy of 69 Love Songs and you're all set -- party time!!

There are so many better games to play, like, oh I don't know... some little old game called chess. Maybe poker if it has to be more social. Heck, I'd play King Oil over this nonsense any day.

In a way I'm not surprised that the company behind the game is worth $77.5 million, but I'm also sort of dismayed. That being said, it sort of sounds like the company isn't doing as well as it once was -- evidently it recently laid off 1/5th of its workforce. So maybe it sold from a position of weakness. I'm not sure. An analyst quoted in the above article estimated that annual revenue was $100 million and apparently it's taken financing of $40 million, so obviously this isn't a monster exit.

Comments

[SDBryan:]

Go sit in a corner a play Risk then... Or maybe write a real financial article. What the hell is this doing on Seeking Alpha?

2008 Jan 07 03:13 AM

[a ray of light:]

1. stop writing articles and go read a book.

2. "this is just the opposite of Trivial Pursuit, where luck and dicerolling have a trivial impact on the outcome" : have you ever played trivial pursuit? I play once a week in regular games (against a former jeopardy champion) and can attest hands down that lucky dice rolling to hit roll agains and pie spaces is JUST as important as the questions. Also there are times when pure luck dictates one team repeatedly gets very easy questions compared with the other teams. Also pure luck and not skill.


you are a uninformed boob and should be writing articles for highlights for kids. quit your whining. or just complain to your (probably just as stupid as you) wife about your crappy skillset at cranium during your next vomit inducing lame ass dinner party.

2008 Jan 07 09:49 AM

[Maryna:]

Hasbro is not a fool, otherwise it won't be where it is now. If it pays $77,5 million it must have calculated the risks. Besides it may have some special plans or innovative ideas regarding Cranium. So let's just wait some more time and see what will come out of it, before starting to criticize.

2008 Jan 08 09:38 AM

[User 139228:]

Frank,
If you're looking for a game where luck doesn't enter the picture
get yourself a"wizard" card game;more fun than Hearts (If that's possible)At $7.95 Retail it isthe best value in the game business.
Frank Martin

2008 Jan 12 01:57 PM