Apples to Apples Junior

Subject: General
Category: N/A
Ages: 9 and up
# of players: 4 - 10
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: cards

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 2
Gaming value: 4
Aesthetic value: 3
Price value: 3
Ease of play: 4
Younger adaptability: 3

My comments:
Here's how it goes: The dealer of each round lays down a card with a word on it and the other players all put down a card from their own hand, that they think has the most in common with it. The object is for you to get the dealer to choose your card over all the others. Given the right crowd, this game can be hilariously funny. Adults will not mind playing this kids version of Apples to Apples because it is played just like the original however there are no adult topics, names or innuendo.

The drawbacks to this game is that you will not always have the "right" crowd and many times no crowd at all. The game requires at least 4 players! I don't see a big educational value with this game except that maybe your kids will pick up some vocabulary and it does get them thinking about how two things can relate to each other when no obvious similarities stand out.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game:
http://boardgamegeek.com/game/10681

Mystery Garden

Subject: General
Category: Art/Reasoning
Ages: 4 and up
# of players: 2 - 6
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Q&A

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 4
Gaming value: 4
Aesthetic value: 4
Price value: 3
Ease of play: 4
Younger adaptability: 3

My comments:
Now here is a game that you will enjoy playing with your younger children. Not your run-of-the-mill match your color, count the spaces type of game. Basically this is a game of 20 questions (or 15 as the game suggests) using a darling board with lots of details. One player takes a tile with an item from the board pictured on it. The other players take turns asking yes or no questions, moving the pawn ahead one space for each question, until someone guesses what is on the tile. The player who guesses correctly gets the tile and after a set number of rounds the person with the most tiles wins.

Searching out details on the high quality board is the best part. Interestingly when I did a search for this item I found there are two different boards available, one with a castle scene and another, the one I have with a country house scene. Kris even suggested making a board out of a print of a famous painting that you are studying with your children for art class. Two color copies of the print, one for the "board" and one for the tiles to be cut out. What a brilliant and inexensive game to add to your art study!

Although four is already a good young age for game-playing, you could still make this adaptable to younger children by having them find items that you call out to them or use the board for a game of I Spy.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game:
http://boardgamegeek.com/game/1216

Through the Desert

Subject: General
Category: Math
Ages: 8 and up
# of players: 2 to 5
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Tile placement, area enclosure, abstract strategy

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 3
Gaming value: 5
Aesthetic value: 5
Price value: 5
Ease of play: 4
Younger adaptability: 2 (small parts!)

My comments: Through the Desert s another wonderful Reiner Knizia game in which players take turn placing pastel-colored camels (cameeples) to create caravans that snake throughout the desert to reach point tiles and oases. You earn points by picking up point tiles, by reaching oases, by having the largest caravan of a particular color, and by sectioning off areas of the board to gain point for entrapped hexagons. As the game gets going, it is reminiscent of Blokus such that one color caravan expands and winds around caravans of other colors.

Like many Euro games, a lot of math skills are involved here even though it is not a "math" game. Skills like addition, spacial relations, and sorting are well-used for this game.

Kids younger than 8 can certainly play this game, but there are a lot of small camels, some with tiny riders placed on them...They are pastel colored, almost like mints in appearance. The game also has palm trees to place on oases, and a hexagon-covered desert board. It comes in a colorful, small, thick box making it very portable. It is definitely a family game to be enjoyed for years.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/503

Doodle Dice

Subject: General
Category: n/a
Ages: 6 and up
# of players: 2 to 6
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: dice rolling, set collection

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 3
Gaming value: 4
Aesthetic value: 5
Price value: 5
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 5

My comments: This inexpensive game is simple to play and lots of fun. It comes with 6 identical dice, and each side of a die has a different "doodle" on it. These doodles are used to construct the doodles on 60 cards in 6 colors. Orange requires 1 die, red 2 dice, yellow 3dice, green 4dice, blue 5 dice, and purple 6 dice to complete the pattern. You flip cards over from the pile to create a gallery, and then you get 3 rolls of the dice, selecting which dice you want to roll again, to match one of the cards. If you match, you keep it. You win when you collect 1 card of each color. The deck also contains 3 Free Roll cards and 2 Block A Turn cards, plus you have the option of trying to take a card from another player (though this really isn't a necessary option too often.) The game also comes with a bright red cup for rollings and storing the dice.

This game is enjoyed by everyone in my family, from my 4 year old on up. The cards are colorful, the dice are a nice size, and the cup makes it easy for even small hands to roll the dice. This type of doodle matching is great to improve math and art skills as well as imaginative and abstract thinking in general.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/23334