Memoir '44

Subject: History
Category: WWII

Ages: # of players: 8 and up

Time to play: Mechanics/Game Type: Battle cards, dice rolling

Ratings (1 to 5) Educational Value: 5

Gaming value: 5

Aesthetic value: 5

Price value: 5

Ease of play: 3

Younger adaptability: 2

My comments:  Memoir '44 is an entry-level, hex-based war game based on World War II.  The basic set contains German and American army figures, including infantry, tanks, artillery, and obstacles like barbed wire and sandbags.  While the rules may seem a bit complicated, they are simple by war game standards and are well worth mastering.


The rule book is also a campaign book based on actual WWII battles.  Players decide which battle scenario they want to play, which has a description of the actual historical events.  Players then set up the board by placing a variety of terrain hexes and troops according to the scenario specifications.  In general, on your turn you play a card that allows you to activate troops.  You move them and then battle with them, using dice to determine how many if any of the enemy you eliminate.  Doing so earns you victory metals; collect the scenario-specified number of metals to win the game.  Movement and battle have various rules based on terrain, troop-types, and obstacles.


The game is made by Days of Wonder, the same company that makes Ticket to Ride.  And like Ticket to Ride, Memoir '44 comes with a variety of expansions, each with new armies (British, Italian, Russian, Japanese), campaigns, cards, terrain, and some additional rules. (See the Days of Wonder website for all the available expansion.)  Have only one war gamer in the family?  He or she can play free online (if you have a decent computer) against the computer or other live players (caution: opponents can chat live during play.)  You are given "50 gold ingots" to start but once they are used up you have to buy more to play ($8 for 200, or buy larger volumes at a discount.)


Overall this is a great introduction to war gaming, a world steeped in history and top-notch strategy.  It certainly has sparked an interest in WWII for my kids.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10630/memoir-44

Elk Fest

Subject: Category: General

Ages: # of players: 6 and up

Time to play: Mechanics/Game Type: Dexterity

Ratings (1 to 5) Educational Value: 2

Gaming value: 3 (though a fun value of 5)

Aesthetic value: 5

Price value: 5

Ease of play: 5

Younger adaptability: 5

My comments:  This simply is a fun two-player game.  Each side has 3 round, flat "stones", an island, and a moose (even though they are moose, I think it is called Elk Fest because the original German name, Elchfest.)  You place your moose on your island and the three stones next to it.  Each turn you "flick" the stone (hit the side of it with your finger much like a cue hits a pool ball) into position in order to move your moose across the table from stone to stone.  Whoever gets their moose to the opponent's island first wins.

The game can be played by anyone that can flick a stone.  Put the pieces in a bag and carry it with you for the kids to take out in times of boredom (like a restaurant.)  It's a fun, quick game to play anytime.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/403/elk-fest

Ticket to Ride

Subject: Category: Geography

Ages: # of players: 2 to 5

Time to play: Mechanics/Game Type: Card collection strategy

Ratings (1 to 5) Educational Value: 5

Gaming value: 5

Aesthetic value: 5

Price value: 4

Ease of play: 4

Younger adaptability: 5

My comments: Ticket to Ride has become one of the most popular board games around, as evidenced by the large variety of version available.  If you are studying geography of the US or Europe then these games are both fun and educational.

The game has Destination cards and various color Train cards; the board has railroad routes of various colors and lengths connecting various cities (gray routes can be any color.)  You try to collect enough of the same colored train cards to claim a route between two cities, placing your own set of neat plastic trains on the board when you do so.  Claiming a route earns you point, which you keep track of by moving a scoring marker around the outside of the board.  Ultimately you try to claim routes to connect the cities listed on your Destination cards.  The game ends after the first player runs out of plastic trains, when the final scoring for longest route and completed destination cards happens.

Each turn you have a choice of one of three actions: draw Train cards (up to 2), or claim a route, or draw Destination cards.  As for the deck of train cards, five are face up on the table while the rest are face-down in a stack.  You can draw either a face up card, and then replace it by turning over the top of the stack, or one from the stack.  If you draw a face up wild card your turn is over; if you draw a single-color face-up train or a card from the pile then you get to choose a second card from either source (other than a face-up wild card.)  When you draw Destination cards, you pick three but you only keep what you want.

The game is long for younger players, though fewer players speeds it up.  No reading is needed, and if you play open-handed then even younger players can enjoy this game, or get the dice expansion.  The biggest issue is the appeal for kids to play with the trains.  While you get extra, every player needs 25 trains since that determines when the game ends.

The basics of the game are easy to learn, but game variations have rule variants.  Even the basic game has some variation depending on the number of players; in a three-player game, for example, only one side of a double route can be claimed.  Ultimately the variations make play more challenging or interesting, but it can get confusing if you don't play often.

Here is another description on the Games by Johnny! blog about the game with pictures and details about playing.

BoardGameGeek.com links to these games:

Ticket to Ride;  Ticket to Ride Europe;  Ticket to Ride: Marklin Edition (Germany);  Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries;  Ticket to Ride: Switzerland expansion.  And there's more expansions--dice, cards, 1912 editions.  Check out the Days of Wonder website for the full line.

The aMAZEing Labyrinth

Subject: General
Category: Logic and patterns

Ages: 8 and up
# of players: 1 to 4

Time to play: 30 to 45 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Tile slide

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 5

Gaming value: 5

Aesthetic value: 5

Price value: 4

Ease of play: 5

Younger adaptability: 5

My comments: This is a game that's been around for awhile that the whole family can enjoy while building spacial, pattern, and logic skills at the same time.  The mechanics of the game are the same as for Chateau Roquefort but the board is much easier to set up.  The tiles are pictures of various types of tunnel pieces; the board has some fixed pieces and the rest are placed randomly on the board.  They may or may not connect to form a continuous tunnel depending how they are positioned, and one tile is left over.  Next all of the 24 cards are dealt out as a stack; you can only look at your top card at any time.

Your goal is to reach the character pictured on the top card.  On your turn you try to make a connecting tunnel by inserting the extra tile on the board to shift the whole row of tiles. Next you move your piece along the tunnel; if you land on your goal you turn over your card and end your turn, trying to reach the character on the next card next turn.  If you don't land on it your turn still ends and you try again next round.  If you push a player off the board, including yourself, that player moves to the other side of the row to the tile just placed.

The game is simple to set up, simple to play, and intriguing enough to make it interesting for the whole family.  Be careful to punch out the tiles from front-to-back when you first get this game for a clean tile separation.  The board is a little small, though.  Otherwise, the aMAZEing Labyrinth is one of our family favorites.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1219/the-amazeing-labyrinth

Parts of Speech Challenge

Subject: Language Arts

Category: Grammar

Ages: 10 to 14

# of players: 2 to 4

Time to play: 30 to 45 minutes

Mechanics/Game Type: Roll and move

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 5

Gaming value: 1

Aesthetic value: 3

Price value: 1

Ease of play: 5

Younger adaptability: 1

My comments: Like a lot of educational games on the market, this is a poor excuse for a board game designed to practice parts of speech.  You roll the die, move along the perpetual board (there's no end space) and do what it says on the board.  The four corner spaces have printed on them the definition of a part of speech in a question form and you choose the correct answer.  Why bother with the question?  Most of the spaces have you pick a card and guess the part of speech of the underlined word in one of three sentences (the board tells you which sentence.)  When you get a correct answer you place a chip on that part of speech in the center of the board and when you get 4 chips in a row you earn points.  The instructions even have a variation to play without the board!  The only thing you are getting here of any value is a deck of cards with the sentences and the answer key on the game instructions.  The board is nice enough, though the cards are small while the pawns and chips are cheap stock models.  It is certainly not worth the $20+ price tag.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25374/parts-of-speech-challenge

Scoop

Subject: Math

Category: Pattern recognition

Ages: 6 and up

# of players: 2 to 4

Time to play: 30 minutes

Mechanics/Game Type: Cards, dice, pattern building

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 3

Gaming value: 3

Aesthetic value: 5

Price value: 4

Ease of play: 5

Younger adaptability: 5

My comments: This is a fun game to play with your young kids that can handle a hand of 3 cards.  The game comes with a deck of cards and 25 dice.  The cards have ice cream cones on them with a variety of numbers and flavors (colors) of scoops on them, plus 3 special play cards.  The dice include one black "flavor of the week" die plus 24 white dice with cones and various colors of ice cream scoops on them.  Each player starts with 3 cards and 6 dice.  The object of the game is to get 5 matches, or "scoops."  On your turn, you roll one of your dice and choose whether or not you want to roll the flavor-of-the-week die.  Everyone then tries to match an ice cream cone on your card to the combination of colors on the dice and saying, "Scoop!"  Do that 5 times and you win.  The game starts slowly since only one player die and the flavor-of-the-week die are rolled, but each round a die is added and the scoops get easier to make.

I really like the compact packaging of this game--great for travel and storage.  The cards are a nice size, easy to read, and colorful.  Lots of dice always appeals to kids, too.  You keep track of your scoops using a handy card and scoop markers rather than keeping track of cards.  The only reading you need for the game are the 3 special play cards, but they are distinct enough that your child will be able to recognize them once they learn what they do.  There's not a lot of thought or strategy, just a light, fun game of chance.  The list price is high at $15 but you can pick it up for less than $10 at some outlets--well worth it at that price.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39386/scoop

Chateau Roquefort

Subject: General
Category: n/a
Ages: 6 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Memory

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 3, especially younger players
Gaming value: 4
Aesthetic value: 4
Price value: 3
Ease of play: 3 (takes a bit to learn)
Younger adaptability: 5

My comments: This is a really nice game to buy your 6 year old, and it should be for the price, though you will likely find yourself playing with friends after he goes to bed. The game comes with 4 sets of hefty, solid, good-sized mice, roof tiles, a waffle-like board, field tiles pictured with stones or cheese on them (3 of each type of cheese), 3 field tiles with holes in them, and smaller cheese markers to collect. It is interestingly packaged in that the bottom of the box is used not only to store pieces, but also to construct the board (so be careful when you first take apart the components in a new box.)

To play, you first talk everything off the plastic insert, which is a grid of deep holes, in the bottom of the box and dump out the mice and cheese markers from the holes. Next you place the field tiles in random order, including all 3 fields with holes in them; 1 stone tile is left over. Next you place the waffle-like board over all the filed tiles, and then you place the various roof tiles over everything. Don't forget to fold up and place the ramparts on each corner! Start with one of your mice in a corner.

The object of the game is to collect 4 different types of cheeses by moving 2 of your mice onto separate fields with matching cheese. Each round you get 4 actions, and your choice of actions are uncovering (removing a roof tile,) running (ie. moving through the fields, 1 action per field, or putting another mouse into a turret) or sliding (which is the big attraction.) So you remove roof tiles and move your mice to the cheese squares to collect the marks, no problem. But once a turn you can slide, in which you take that one left over field tile and insert it under the waffle-like board such that you slide all the field tiles in that row over one, causing a tile to fall out the other side--and maybe slide a field with a hole under a mouse so it drops into plastic insert and taking it out of the game.

The box and all the components are very well made--the box top even took a hit from my 6 year old when he jumped back and landed on it without tearing or bending. You have to first remove and then reassemble the entire board to put everything away, and then remove everything again the next time you play, though the game travels well. It is definitely a fun game to play with the kids!

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/28089

Caribbean

Subject: Geography
Category: Maps
Ages: 8 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 30 to 45 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Pick up and deliver; Simultaneous Action Selection

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 3 (excellent map)
Gaming value: 4
Aesthetic value: 4
Price value: 4
Ease of play: 4
Younger adaptability: 3

My comments: This is a cut-throat game, no doubt, fitting in well with the pirate theme. Players bribe (with barrels of rum) six pirate ships (their names beginning with the letters A through F) to capture and deliver treasure chests. Players have bidding tiles, one each from -1 to 5. Each round players decide how much rum to bid for all the ships by placing each card rum barrel card in a tray labeled with all the ship names, leaving one tie-breaking tile left over. Starting with A (for Aribba) players reveal their bid, and the highest bidder gets control of that ship. You move the ship as many spaces as barrels of rum you bid, minus any -1 cards your opponent may have played. You pick up treasure by sailing to a port, or by stealing it from another ship. If the ship moves into a square of your color, you get the gold. After A ship is moved, bids for the B ship are revealed, and so on. The first player to capture so much gold (based on the number of players) wins the game.

The game not only involves anticipating what other players might do but also a lot of abstract strategy to figure out if it is better to do a straight move to a harbor and then to your color, or to use a less-sought-after ship to steal it off another. The gaming value will far outlast it's educational value.

The board is an attractive, realistic map depicting the Caribean and all the major port cities, although countries are not named, nor are their boarders shown. The ships are neat and can be taken apart for flat storage but they do not always stay together well. The treasure chests are very small and can be difficult to read. They are thick cardboard, as are the rum barrel tiles, with colorful designs.

Minimal reading is involved, but the bidding process makes the game are to adapt to younger players, though they'll want to play with the ships. You can get this game for just under $20, making it a good value given it's attractive components and long game life.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13301

Pandemic

Subject: Geography, Science
Category: Major World Cities, Epidemiology
Ages: 10 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 45 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Cooperative

Ratings (1 to 5)

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

My comments: If you are not a fan of cooperative games, this one will likely change your mind.

Four "viruses" (colored cubes) are spreading around the world and the players need to work together to stop them. There is one way to win: collect the cards needed to create cures and eradicate the 4 diseases. There's three ways to lose, however: too many outbreaks, too many virus cubes on the boards, or running out of cards. I have played this games four times now; I have seen all the ways to lose and have yet to win.

Each player is randomly dealt one of five roles. The Medic, for example, can remove all virus cubes on a city instead of one; the Scientist only needs four cards instead of five to create a cure. Players move around the board trying to remove virus cubes, collect cure cards, and build research stations. Meanwhile, more cities are infected at the end of each turn. If more than three virus cubes come up in a city then an outbreak occurs, spreading the virus to adjacent cities. Pick a dreaded epidemic card and not only do more virus cubes appear, but the cards with the cities that already have infections get shuffled and placed on the top of the pile to be drawn again!

There's no need to hide cards or create strategies alone--this game is challenging enough to win--so it is great for younger players or those who generally shy away from complicated board games. The board displays the world's major cities, though you have to look carefully to see the actual location of that city. The pawns, virus cubes, and research stations are made of wood. The cards are a nicely sized and drawn with geographic and population information on them.

This has become one of my favorites; I've been won over to this cooperative game.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/30549

L C R

Subject: General
Category: Preschool
Ages: 5 and up
# of players: 3 or more
Time to play: 20 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: dice rolling

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 2
Gaming value: 1

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

My comments: Left Center Right is a game that requires each person to know the difference between their left and their right and that is precisely why I purchased it. While I don't think the game is intended for preschoolers, I categorized it that way because it is really great for anybody who needs practice figuring out their left from their right, like my 4yo who just received it in her Christmas stocking.

You can purchase this game in a tube or a tin although I have found the tube to be less expensive and even better, I'm sure you can figure out how to make a version of your very own for next to nothing. The components include 3 dice, each one with an L, an R, a C and 3 dots on the remaining three sides as well as about 20-25 small poker or bingo chips. There is absolutely no strategy involved in playing this game, it is merely rolling the dice and passing your chips either to the left, right or into the center pot. Again, good for the preschooler who needs directional practice and who just needs time playing something that requires him to follow instructions.

Because it is so compact and is quick to play, you can get it out while waiting at the doctor's office or the airport or while waiting for the next game to start.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game:http://boardgamegeek.com/game/3522

Have You Herd?

Subject: General
Category:
Ages: 8 and up
# of players: 2-4
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: dice rolling and set collection

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 2
Gaming value: 4
Aesthetic value: 5
Price value: 5
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 4

My comments: Unfortunately, you really have to stretch quite a bit to find the educational value in this game. I say "unfortunately" because other than educational value, Have You Herd is a great game in every other category.

There is a little strategy involved but mostly this game is based on the roll of the dice. The best time to use it is when your children are learning the concept of trading value and even dollar value although there is no money involved. One of the hardest things to get across to young children is that all coins are not created equal nor is all paper money and this game gives them a little practice in trading and learning that they have to trade more items to get a higher valued animal, ie. not everything in life has a one for one value.

Have You Herd is played with a pair of 12-sided dice and 52 animal tiles consisting of rabbits, sheep, pigs, cows, horses and two special animals: the guard dogs and the skunk. Throughout the game you roll to collect more tiles, each one representing a herd. On each turn you have opportunities to trade up for more expensive animals. With 5 rabbits you can trade up for one sheep and for 2 sheep you can trade up for one pig and so on. In the end you want to have one of each herd to win. The strategy comes in when you are trading, for example, it's a good idea to trade for a guard dog early on in the game if you can because he will protect your herds when the fox or the wolf are rolled.

This is an enjoyable game to play, requiring no set up time and is very easy to learn. In fact I'm not sure why the recommended age is 8 and up, I would gauge it at 6 and up without adapting any of the rules. The packaging is compact, everything fits into an adorable 3x6 inch silo. Finally a manufacturer that understands my distaste for wasteful, unnecessary packaging. :)

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game:http://boardgamegeek.com/game/33907

Totally Gross, The Game of Science

Subject: Science
Category: General
Ages: 8 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 60 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Trivia

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 5
Gaming value: 2
Aesthetic value: 2
Price value: 3
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 2

My comments: Science games are hard to come by, so given the scope of what is available, this game is pretty good. Based on the "gross" theme that has been in vogue for the past few years (as if our children won't be interested in science otherwise,) the game does have a good amount of trivia covering both physical and life sciences.

You roll and move around the board and either answer a trivia question or complete a "totally gross" challenge in order to stretch a piece of "slime" 10 spaces (more about the slime later.) The challenges are as simple as showing your "abs" to as gross as making the noise of peeing, burping, and farting (I got that one and my 3 boys were literally rolling on the floor with laughter. I suppose I could have passed on that one.) Once you do that, you get to the lab so you can perform an experiment in order to answer the winning question. If you don't happen to have the materials needed for the experiment (though you most likely will) then you can just pick another experiment.

Like most educational games, the components are flimsy for the price. The board is nice, but that's all. The "slime" doesn't really stick or stretch well enough so we use other markers instead. The playing pawns are small standard pieces; nothing with a fun science theme. The cards maybe have the thickness of an index card. Really, for the $20+ price tag these companies should be able to put better components in their games. The game does provide a good amount of trivia, challenges, and experiments to make this game playable for awhile.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/14705

Bucket Brigade

Subject: General
Category:
Ages: 7 and up
# of players: 3 to 5
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: card game with board

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 2
Gaming value: 5
Aesthetic value: 4
Price value: 4
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 1 (card holding)

My comments: This is a quick, fun, and interesting game to play. The game board pictures a burning building with a ladder against it, and 4 wooden firefighter meeples. Each rung of the ladder has a point value, starting at -1 for the first several rungs up to 3 points at the top. The cards picture firefighters in each of the 4 colors walking (move 1 rung) or running (move 2 rungs) as well as wild cards than can move any color either 1 or 2 rungs.

When a firefighter gets to the top of the ladder the game is scored based on all the cards left in your hand. The player that brings the firefighter to the top gets 6 points. Wild cards are worthless, and the other cards are scored based on where that color firefighter is on the ladder.

What is so fascinating about this game is the incredible advantage to using either one of opposing plays. You want the color that you have the most of to get to the top yet you don't want to use up those color cards to get that piece there. You want the versatility of the wild cards but you don't want to have any at the end of the game. The higher up your preferred color gets, the less likely other players will move that color. "Move 1" cards are worth little in scoring alone, but in pairs they are very valuable. You'll see what I mean when you play.

All the cards are dealt out to play, making this game difficult for little hands. Also, your child has to understand that players don't pick just one color and race that one to the top like a typical game might be played.

The board and meeples are well-made, and it is all packaged in a handy 6.5" x 9" inch box with a compartmentalized plastic insert that holds the parts in place. At well under $20 this is a nice game to have.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/359 (the older Honeybears version)

Number Chase

Subject: Math
Category: Arithmetic
Ages: 6 and up
# of players: 2 -5
Time to play: 15 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Deduction/cards

Ratings (1 to 5)

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

My comments:
Number Chase is basically 20 Questions in Numberland. It is played with a nice quality set of cards and a pencil and paper which you supply. One person chooses a number between one and fifty while the other players try to guess what he chose by asking yes or no questions. What makes this fabulous is that the players do not choose their own questions but have to ask the questions that come up on the cards, which is where the educational value really comes in. Number Chase is a fun game for kids in the early grades who are learning math terms and symbols, number patterns, counting to 50 (you can easily tie in some mental computation) greater than/less than and number ranges as well as the art of narrowing things down in order to make an educated guess.

I bought this game for my son's 6th birthday and the age category is right on. I was able to include my 4yo (and she did better than I expected) but she really didn't understand some of the math concepts. So a younger player who doesn't understand ideas like odd and even numbers would need a partner to help them along with answering the questions. Although this game is ideal for the 6 - 9 crowd, it is fun enough for the 12yo to play along with little siblings without getting bored.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game:

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/21635-Number%20Chase

Planet Earth DVD Game

Subject: Science
Category: Nature
Ages: 8 and up
# of players: 2 to 5
Time to play: 45 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Trivia

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 5
Gaming value: 2
Aesthetic value: 4
Price value: 4 (or less for more expensive versions)
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 3

My comments: This game is like most DVD games on the market, except that this one is based on the visually spectacular Discovery series, Planet Earth. The object of the game is to complete a jigsaw puzzle by answering trivia questions. The board is like Trivial Pursuit in that it has 6 special spaces that require you to answer a question from a particular Planet Earth episode, and a correct answer earns you as many puzzle pieces as the narrator tells you. Unlike TP, you don't have to answer one question from each episode--you get a chance to earn pieces every time you land on any of these spaces. Otherwise the board is designed such that you get a question every turn.

It has the inherent limitations of a trivia game, and I cannot find any listing of how many total questions the game has. On the second playing I already had around 5 repeated questions. The game can be played cooperatively, everyone giving answers with an objective to complete the puzzle. The puzzle is actually double-sided with two pictures that are similar enough that it is difficult to tell which side needs to be up.

The beauty of this game is the DVD footage. If you have never seen Planet Earth, go to Discovery Streaming, sign up for a free 30 day trial, and watch. You will be awed.

As someone on BGG put it, Scene It meets Trivial Pursuit at the Discovery Channel...

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34395

10 Days in the USA (Europe, Asia, Africa)

Subject: Geography
Category: US (Europe, Asia, Africa)
Ages: 10 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Set collection

Ratings (1 to 5)

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

My comments: The game has a large board picturing the United States, each state of a different color, but you don't play on it. Each player has a tray in which to place 10 "tiles" that are small, thick cards each with a picture of a state along with the capital city and population, as well as car and colored airplane tiles. The object of the game is to create a 10 day trip through the US. You can "walk" to bordering states, meaning the tiles can be placed next to each other in the tray; you can drive 2 states away, meaning you have to place a car between the two states; or you can fly between any two states of the same color so long as you have a plane of that color between them in your tray. You start the game by drawing and placing tiles in your tray--you cannot rearrange a tile once you place it--and you spend the rest of the game trying to complete your trip. The mechanics are easy--draw a tile (from the deck or discard pile) and then discard a tile into 1 of 3 discard piles.

Certainly children younger than 10 can play this game, and you could play "open hand" with younger children with minimal modification to depend more on the luck of the draw rather than the strategy of the discard pile. The parts are well made and colorful, the trays are wood, and the box is small and sturdy. Besides 10 Days in the USA, the company makes 10 Days in Europe, 10 Days in Asia, and 10 Days in Africa. It's a great way to really look at and get to know states and countries.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/7866

Way Back When in History

Subject: History
Category: Early American, Civics
Ages: 8 and up
# of players: 2 to 8
Time to play: Variable (45 minutes on average)
Mechanics/Game Type: Trivia, roll and move

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 5
Gaming value: 3
Aesthetic value: 4
Price value: 4
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 5, playing in teams

My comments: This game is a really great way to review history facts with your kids. It comes with a colorful board divided into 5 sections--Explorers, Colonies, Revolution, Constitution, and Civil War. The 48 trivia cards each contain one question for each game board section, for a total of 5 questions on each card; there's also 6 wild cards. The very large six-sided die is made of a rubbery plastic so it bounces when it rolls and doesn't make a lot of noise. It also comes with eight pawn-shaped playing pieces.


Playing the game is simple--the player gets asked a question based on what section his playing piece is in; if he answers the question correctly, he rolls and moves. Everyone starts in Explorers; as you answer questions correctly you move from one time period into the next, and the questions change. The Constitution section has a lot of questions about the document itself (thus the civics lessons) as well as historical facts. We play with the variation that you move double the number rolled on the die to keep the game short.

The game is limited as any trivia game is, though you could get questions from other sources, like Professor Noggin card games, for example. They already have Explorers, Revolutionary War, and Civil War. I bought this game at Old Sturbridge Village; it is available online directly from the manufacturer.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: none

Manufacturer's web site: http://www.waybackwhengames.com/index.htm

Ingenious

Subject: Math
Category: Geometry, pattern recognition
Ages: 10 and up
# of players: 1 to 4
Time to play: 45 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: abstract strategy; tile placement, pattern building

Ratings (1 to 5)

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

My comments: This elegant game consists of a game board (shaded three colors to accommodate different numbers of players,) a bag of double-sided hexagon tiles with one of six colored shapes at each end,a tile-keeping tray, and four scoring cards with a small wooden blocks for each color. The scoring cards have one row for each color and 18 columns; each time you score a color you advance the small wooden block of that color on the score card.

Each player starts with six tiles; you play a tile and then draw a tile, trying to get as many color matches as possible with each tile placed. Yet unlike most games, the object here is not to score the highest, but rather not to have the lowest-scoring color.

Both my six and nine year old sons can play this game. The tiles could be a bit thicker, and if they actually fit into a grooved board, like in Blokus, that would this easier to play with active kids. I picked this game up at Barnes & Noble so it was 20% off with my educator's discount. It is well worth it for a game that you'll never outgrow.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://boardgamegeek.com/game/9674

Sum Swamp

Subject: Math
Category: Addition, subtraction
Ages: 5 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 20 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: roll and move

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 4
Gaming value: 2
Aesthetic value: 5
Price value: 5
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 5

My comments: This simple game is a great way to practice single-digit addition and subtraction. Kids are really attracted to this game because of the chunky, soft, colorful swamp critter playing pieces, the "unusual" dice, and the colorful board. Two of the dice have integers 1 to 6 while the third die has + and - on it; roll the three, make the equation, and move that many spaces. If you land on a space that says even or odd then you need to roll the appropriate number to continue on; if you land on a number, roll the operation die to see if you go forward or back that many spaces. The first player to the finish line wins.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/11585

Big Top (also Barnyard Critters)

Subject: Math
Category: Pattern recognition, logic
Ages: 4 and up
# of players: 2 to 8
Time to play: 15 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: card collection

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 5
Gaming value: 3
Aesthetic value: 3
Price value: 5
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: n/a

My comments: A nice twist on matching games, the object is to find what is missing rather than matching what is there. The game uses 5 animals and 5 colors on two types of cards--one type has one animal in one color that are spread out on the playing surface, and the other type has 4 animals in 4 colors that are stacked face down in the middle. You flip the top card and try to figure out which animal and color are missing, and the first player to slap the card with that single animal and color gets to keep it. After flipping all the cards in the deck and collecting all the single animal cards, the player with the most cards wins.

Because the cards have to be analyzed systematically on two different features, the game builds logic skills aw well as pattern recognition. Speed is a factor, which may be a bit frustrating for mixed-age players. It is a good game to start with if the Set (to be reviewed) is too challenging. The deck comes in a hard lidded box rather than the typical flimsy flip-top with colorful animals on them.

For a more challenging variation, switch the decks such that the 4-animal cards are spread out and the single-animal cards are flipped over.

NOTE: be sure to look at the images at Board Game Geek. Barnyard Critters is made by Rio Grande and though still available, it is discontinued (see here at Thoughthammer.com) Big Top is made by Gamewright (see here at Thoughthammer.com) in a magenta box with an elephant but there is another completely different game of the same name by Advanced Primate Entertainment in a yellow box with a ring master meant for older kids.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/486