Play Anticipation Online

Summary

Anticipation, Nintendo’s quirky "first video board game," blends the quick‑draw fun of Pictionary with the trivia chase of Trivial Pursuit. Up to four players can compete, sharing controllers when needed, though the NES Four Score isn’t supported. Each turn a picture slowly materialises on the screen while a die counts down from six; the first to buzz freezes both and has 25 seconds to spell the answer, with two mistakes or a timeout locking them out temporarily. Correct guesses award a colored token—pink shoes, a bugle, an ice‑cream cone, or a teddy bear—and move the piece the number shown on the die, dictating the next category’s hue. Collecting all four colors lifts the token to the next level, and the first to clear every level wins. Higher difficulties strip away helpful dot‑patterns and word blanks, while later levels add "Feature Squares" that send the token spiralling and "Drop‑Out Squares" that drop you back a tier, keeping the competition lively and unpredictable.

Storyline

Anticipation is a party game for the NES that blends the drawing‑guess mechanic of Pictionary with the quiz‑style competition of Trivial Pursuit. Players race to be the first to clear every level, making it a fast‑paced multiplayer showdown.

To finish a level, each participant must correctly identify a series of pictures the computer draws, doing so multiple times across four different categories. The game includes several difficulty settings, allowing groups to tailor the challenge to their skill level.