Funko Games has released a tabletop party game based on the popular NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. Embodying a mockumentary setup like fellow NBC sitcom The Office, Parks and Recreation earned widespread critical acclaim and is generally considered one of the better comedies of the 2010s. It helped launch the careers of stars like Chris Pratt and Aubrey Plaza, while giving Amy Poehler her most recognizable role in Leslie Knope.

Parks and Recreation won numerous awards during its run on NBC from 2009 to 2015. While it returned for a COVID-19 special episode in 2020, Parks and Recreation has otherwise been off the air for seven years at this point. Despite this, the show still has a large following of fans who enjoy watching it to this day. Those diehard Parks and Recreation fans may be interested in playing a party game based on the show, though Funko Games' Parks and Recreation Party Game may be more appealing as a collector's item.

For those unfamiliar with Parks and Recreation, the show is a comedy about government employees in the fiction small town of Pawnee, Indiana. Protagonist Leslie Knope is extremely passionate about her job in the Parks and Recreation department, often going overboard when it comes to work projects and pleasing her friends. In contrast, Leslie's boss Ron Swanson is an anti-government libertarian who says in Season 1 that he doesn't want the parks department to do anything because he doesn't "believe in government." The rest of the cast is made up of other eccentric characters, from the absurdly polite and fitness-obsessed Chris Traeger to the brooding and morbid April Ludgate, the show derives much of its comedy from its many over-the-top and conflicting personalities.

While Parks and Recreation itself is hilarious, it's hard to see how the concept could really be translated to a game format beyond maybe a city management sim of some kind. Those that play the Parks and Recreation Party Game will likely be underwhelmed by it gameplay-wise, as it quickly becomes apparent that the Parks and Recreation world doesn't really go well with tabletop gaming.

In the Parks and Recreation Party game, three to six players take on the roles of popular characters from the TV show. Players have all the main cast members to choose from with exception of the universally despised Jerry, who has a different role to play in the game. Players draw cards with symbols representing sponsorships, music, and various other things that they need to complete the projects.

Players sometimes have to take cards from other players to ensure they have enough to complete each project. Once a project has enough resources to be completed, anyone that was involved with it is rewarded with waffle tokens, which are like the Power Stars in Mario Party. The ultimate goal of the Parks and Recreation Party Game is to earn as many waffles as possible by completing projects. A new project is drawn whenever one is completed, and this usually means the fan-favorite miniature horse Li'l Sebastian gets to eat one of his waffles as well.

The game comes with a cute Li'l Sebastian statue that "eats" waffles as the game goes on, with symbols on the project cards letting players know when they need to move the figure forward and eat the waffles. Once all the waffles have been eaten, it's game over. At that point, players count the numbers on the back of their waffle tokens, and whoever has the highest score wins.

It may go without saying, but this does not make for very exciting gameplay, and it's unlikely that the Parks and Recreation Party Game is going to replace other popular tabletop games on game nights. However, that does not mean the game is without value. While it's not all that fun as an actual game, it does make a great gift for Parks and Recreation fans and functions well as a love letter to the show.

Many of the cards have hilarious quotes from Parks and Recreation written on them, and there are fun references to the series on the project cards, visitor cards (cards that add special rules and often reference the show's many side characters), and with the Jerry card. The party game leans into the fact that the Parks and Recreation characters all dislike Jerry, though he still proves his worth as he is able to help players complete project goals when they don't have enough icons on the cards they're playing. Even the video instructions on how to play the game takes shots at Jerry, with a groan heard as soon as his card is brought up.

The Parks and Recreation Party game is only $19.99, and it makes a solid gift for diehard fans of the show as a collectible item. It's not very fun as a party game, but it's still good for a laugh.

The Parks and Recreation Party Game is available now. Game Rant was provided a copy of the game for this review.