You know that feeling you get when two of your very favorite things in the whole world collide, leaving you feeling excited and smiling like a dope for days? You know, like when nachos meet barbecue sauce? Or when Sonic ice meets half price drinks? Perhaps when the guy you are smitten with turns out to be a super amazing dad? Or when one of your favorite board games gets a spin is actually educational?

That feeling is exactly what I experiences when I first heard of Headhunter. You see, back when I was just an average board-game-lover, I loved to play Apples to Apples. I could come up with hilarious answers that you always knew belonged to me. They were hilarious, witty and sarcastic. We spent hours playing Apples to Apples. But once our kiddos started playing board games with us, we ventured into different board games. First it was cooperative, then single player. Then we decided to gameschool for a few months and I tried my hardest to teach my kiddos using only board games. That was an amazing time in our homeschool.

I received Headhunter for free and was compensated for my time. All opinions are 100% my own.

The problem I ran into was that there weren’t enough lighthearted games to teach history. I could use Bananagrams for a quick language arts lesson. Or I could play Scrambled States of America for geography. QuiZoo was perfect for a quick science lesson. But when it came to history, we didn’t have any games that were a quick and easy play and the games we had certainly didn’t leave us laughing out loud.

Most history games are based on a certain time period, like the Civil War or Ancient Egypt. They didn’t dive deep into the events and people who influenced those times. While they were fun, I still wanted more.

Until we found the Headhunter board game.

It was the perfect addition to our game closet and rounded out our history needs, while keeping us in stitches all at the same time. Best of all, it’s played in Apples-to-Apples fashion so everyone gets to play during each turn. No waiting, no falling asleep and no bad answers. (Okay, that last one may be questionable.) 😉

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Headhunter: Hilarious Hires from History

What you need to know:

Can be played rather quickly, depending on how long it takes you to recover from your laughter
Introduces you to people from the past that you’ve never heard of and some you know all-too-well
Includes all types of people, from George Washington Carver and Henry VIII to Grigori Rasputin and Harriet Tubman
Inspires you to think outside of the box. You may have to explain why your client, Elvis Presley would make a better brick layer than your opponent’s client, Mother Theresa, for example.
Excellent replay value!
MATH! This game is Apples-to-Apples plus history AND math! How, you say? Well, each player is trying to get their client “hired” for the job and each job pays. Some jobs pay more than others but the first player to $1,000,000 is the winner! You’ll want to be as creative and persuasive as possible because one job may be worth $150,000 while another is worth only $40,000.
Can easily be played with as few as 4 players but will be even more fun with a large group of up to 10 players!
Aren’t sure who your client was? No problem! Each card includes all the information you need: full name, birth and death dates, a famous quote by them and their occupation or claim to history. I do wish it included a photo of each person on the client cards, though.
The client cards give you the perfect chance to dive deeper into history and learn more about the clients. We like to keep this book handy, so my kiddos can do a little extra research while still playing the game. (Google would also be an easy way to learn more quickly but who wants to have cell phones present while playing a board game!?!?!)
Fun for all ages. Young kids will love this game just as much as your 90 year old grandma. Anyone who enjoys a good laugh will be a blast to play with!
Headhunter was created by a homeschooler! It just doesn’t get much cooler than that, now does it?