Title: Truth or Dare: A Game of Passion Author: Kicki, Grabbi Thrusti Publisher: Chronicle Books Publish Date: 2007 Pages: 100 Genres:: Games,Reviewer: L. Raphael

Rating:

Seven minutes in heaven. Spin the bottle. Truth or dare. Before Trig, English and P.E., don’t these sound more like the things you were getting straight A's in during junior high school? Maybe best categorized as your, ahem, "extracurricular activities," these initial ventures into sexual experimentation can still be topical in your grown-up sex life. And—hopefully—it'll be all the fun minus the fear of your parents walking in on you.

Chronicle Books' card and dice game of Truth or Dare ($16.95) will bring a little naughtiness back into any ho hum humping. You roll the die that has "Truth," "Dare," and "Wild" on its faces. If you get the first two sides, choose from the two decks of aptly named cards and perform the task on either. If lady luck hands you a "Wild," she's also delivering a few minutes of total power. You get to choose which deck you pick from, and whether you want to follow the directions on the card or pass it to your partner.

Being a competitive person by nature, I think incorporating fun and games into sex keeps everything exciting, and adds a different thrill. In this Truth or Dare though, everyone wins—and your relationship can benefit too. For fans of foreplay, you'll love this, which lets you draw out the anticipation for as long as you like. But eventually, you'll pull that card that makes it difficult to stop, and after a dozen or so truths and dares and all the built-up expectation, well, you can imagine the excitement of ending the game.

This Truth or Dare is best put on hold until a rainy day or night when you can savor some one-on-one time and afford a couple hours behind closed doors. In a dainty little compact box, it can even be packed away for a romantic weekend trip. While the rebel in you might want to play all dares, beware that most cards assign serious workload. This deck is stacked with a lot of role plays—teacher and student, sexy stranger, even a Paris Hilton-inspired celebrity and her chauffer situation. Some of the doled-out tasks are a bit strange: have your partner put makeup on you, make up your own dialogue and sound effects to porn, but they at least makes sure there' s a pervasive sense of humor during your sexy romp. Others you might want to keep around for later:  have your partner blindfold you and make you guess what objects they're rubbing on your body, pick letters and use them to name tasks for your partner to perform on you.

The truths promise to help you and your partner explore different parts of your past, present, and future sex lives. The questions will uncover your fantasies and help you explore your greatest turn-ons. If your relationship was good to begin with, you'll only be improving it with a healthy discourse and hopefully paving the way for more experimentation with or without the deck and die! No free weekends in your future for a romantic getaway? This game is worthy of a day spent playing hooky! How retro.