We got this in time to bring along with us to a few holiday time gatherings and in every situation, the game seemed to take on a life of its own.  A large part of how successful the game will be depends on the people you are playing with.  If you have some particularly manipulative players, you'll end up having a few paranoid guests who are convinced that EVERYTHING that ANYONE is doing is a ploy to get their beads... and they are probably right.