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

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

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

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

Tumblin' Dice

Subject: Math
Category: multiplication
Ages: 8 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 15 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: dexterity

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 5
Gaming value: 5
Aesthetic value: 5
Price value: 3 (this is an expensive game!)
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 5

My comments: While expensive (somewhere around the $60 mark), Tumblin' Dice is a large, fun dexterity game everyone will enjoy. It consists of a large, multi-tiered, maple-topped board on which each tier multiplies the value of the dice that land on it. It comes with 4 sets of 4 hexahedral (6-sided) dice, each set a different color. Players roll/flick/slide the dice off the top tier to try and get the highest score. The board even has 4 small dry-erase boards to keep score.

Put this game on a table to have a little movement with your board gaming! Younger kids can easily launch the dice even if they can't do the math yet. You could easily change the multiplication values, use dice with more sides, or even add "special spaces" to practice a variety of multiplication facts.

Unfortunately, I have not seen this available new since Christmas. The company still continues to make the smaller Tumblin' Dice, Jr. for 2 players. For now, the full version is still available through Amazon.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://boardgamegeek.com/game/16747

Smath

Subject: Math
Category: Arithmetic
Ages: 6 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 60 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Tile placement

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 5
Gaming value: 3
Aesthetic value: 3
Price value: 3
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 1 (already adapted)

My comments: This is Scrabble, only you're building equations instead of words. In the game you are allowed unlimited equal signs and parenthesis (great for teaching math order) while randomly choosing from a mix of tiles with numbers from 1 to 12 and +, -, x, or ÷ signs. Remove the multiplication and division tiles for younger players. The board has squares for increasing the values of tiles and equations, just like Scrabble.

While not as colorful or novel as Totally Tut, it seems to play easier to me because you are not necessarily constrained by already having an answer for which you must make the equations. The edition I have, in a somewhat flimsy square box, has a basic board and plastic tiles. I have read about a much more expensive game called Equate based on the same concept. So I think of Smath as Scrabble, and Equate as Scrabble Deluxe.

Unlike Totally Tut, it is limited by having tiles only up to 12, even for answers, and using only the 4 basic arithmetic functions. (If you're really imaginative, you could modify it by letting people place two "2" tiles for 22, for example, and putting in things like squares and square roots.) Still, If you're family is a fan of Scrabble and you like building math equations, then you will get many years of play from this game.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://boardgamegeek.com/game/9938

Cranium Jam Pack Jam

Subject: Math
Category: Arithmetic/Spacial Relation
Ages: not specified, 3+
# of players: 2 - 4
Time to play: 20 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Simulation

Ratings (1 to 5)

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

My comments: While this should probably not be listed as uncommon, it's made by Cranium so you know you'll see it in all the stores, I just couldn't resist reviewing it. In any event, it's a 2007 game so maybe it is still a bit uncommon.

It's all about getting as much stuff jammed into the trunk of a cool little toy SUV. Cards are dealt and players can choose items from their hand to try and pack into the trunk on their turn. Each round goes by very quickly making this ideal for the young players and the Mommies who are teaching them to play. The game comes with all sorts of odd shaped items to pack such as a guitar, suitcase, rug, aquarium, spare tire and a skate board among other things.

Once a player finishes his turn he tallies up the number of items he was able to fit into the trunk and records it on the score card. I use this as an opportunity for my 5yo to practice writing his numbers and I even let him add up the score after the final round. So while this is not an overtly mathematical game I do still place it in that category for the adding/counting practice as well as the continuous estimating done during the actual packing.

This can easily be converted to a solo game or just a quick 5 minute game by leaving out the score pad.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://boardgamegeek.com/game/31318

Knights of Charlemagne

Subject: Math
Category: Matching, sets
Ages: 8 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 20 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Card management, tile collection

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 2
Gaming value: 3
Aesthetic value: 5
Price value: 4
Ease of play: 5 (easy once you figure out how it plays)
Younger adaptability: 5

My comments: This simple, fast-paying game has a set of 20 tiles set out in 2 rows and 1 cathedral bonus tile at the end. One row has 5 manor tiles numbered 1 to 5 and 5 city tiles of 5 different colors; the other row has all treasure tiles. The cards have both a color and a number. Each player takes turns placing a card to match either the color of the tiles or the number of the tiles. A green 4, for example, can be placed either next to the green tile or the 4 tile. When all the cards are played, whoever played the most cards next a tile keeps it, while the opponent keeps the less-valuable treasure tile. A few more rules not mentioned add more depth to the game. 4 players play as teams; 3 players require an extra space be made among the tiles for that player to place cards.

The tiles and cards are richly colorful; the tiles and box are thick. There's even a touch of geography on the manor and city tiles, as well as the history reference in the title. You do more math than anything in this game, though the skills are those already mastered by kids old enough to play. This is a nice quick game on a busy homeschooling day.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/182

Iguana Factor, The

Subject: Math
Category: Arithmetic
Ages: 8 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Abstract strategy

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 3
Gaming value: 3
Aesthetic value: 5
Price value: 2 (see comment about spinner)
Ease of play: 4
Younger adaptability: 5 (the game doesn't require you actually know any factors.)

My comments: This game is a good one for reciting or familiarizing, rather than drilling, products. It's abstract strategy gives the game some interest, even for older kids and adults.

The colorful, thick board is a multiplication table; the object of the game is to make a path from one side of the board to the other with your chips. You spin the colorful, cardboard, three-layered spinner (see comment below) to create a multiplication problem, then put your chip on the answer on the board. If the space you want to cover is already taken, you can place your chip on any space with that same answer (so if 2 x 3 = 5 and 3 x 2 = 5 are taken, you can put it on the 1 x 5 or 5 x 1 answer space, which reviews different factors for the same product.) If all the spaces with that product are taken then you can bump someone off of it. The abstract strategy is that you can "capture" (put your chips on) blank spaces if two of your chips align in a row, column, or diagonal. You can also turn an opponent's single chip to your color by surrounding it on opposite and adjacent sides. You have 25 chips; if you place them all on the board (and we have) then you must decide which chip to remove in order to cover the new product.

Two things disappointed me about this game. First, it requires no memorization of facts since all answers are revealed on the board. (I'll have to come up with some sort of modification for this.) Second, the eye-catching spinner doesn't spin well. You hold the bottom layer to spin the middle layer, then you hold the middle layer to spin the top layer. In each case the spinner does not make at least one full revolution before stopping. Since the spinners have 1 through 10 plus 2 "pick a factor" spots, I replaced the spinner with two dodecahedra (12-sided) dice, which work just fine. I do, however, like abstract strategy, so that keeps me coming back to play this game.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/17175

Poison

Subject: Math
Category: Arithmetic
Ages: 8 and up
# of players: 3 to 6
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Card management

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 3
Gaming value: 4
Aesthetic value: 4 (though some may find graphics objectionable)
Price value: 5
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 5 (so long as kids can hold a lot of cards)

My comments: This game is easy and fast to play. It comes with 50 cards and 3 thick cardboard cauldrons. The colorful cards have flasks filled with red, blue, or purple liquid and a number from 0 to 7, as well as lime green poison bottles. You place cards into cauldrons (only one color is allowed in each cauldron except poison, which can go in any.) If you place a card in the cauldron that puts the sum over 13, then you take all the cards in that cauldron. At the end, whoever has the most of any color card does not have to count that color towards his/her total; otherwise, cards are 1 point and poison cards are 2 points (poison cards are never eliminated from the count!) Whoever has the most points loses.

This is a good game to practice simple addition. Younger kids can certainly play, though holding a lot of cards may be difficult, and they may not fully grasp the strategy (that never stops us from playing.) The box states 10 and up, but I list it as 8 and up and it can be played by younger kids, too.

The box depicts an evil alchemist mixing potions in a cauldron (see boardgamegeek link for pictures.) Check the images to see if you find it appropriate for your home.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/17025

Totally Tut

Subject: Math
Category: Arithmetic
Ages: 6 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: tile placement

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 5
Gaming value: 3
Aesthetic value: 4
Price value: 4
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 1

My comments: Totally Tut is reminiscent of Scrabble in that you pick tiles of numbers that sit in a tray in front of you and you put them on the board to form equations. What is different is that each player randomly picks an answer tile that goes at the top of his/her pyramid, and then you use the tiles to make a 4-number, 3-number, and 2 number equation for the answer on your pyramid.

This game is better for kids that pretty much know their facts and you are trying to reinforce them, or to use in place of a drill sheet. When played with just the +/- tiles, the game is pretty simple and moves right along. When you add in multiplication/division, then the possibilities of creating equations with the desired answer becomes large and the game moves much more slowly. The game is intuitively modifiable to be able to play with just multiplication/division to practice those skills if so desired. the game includes a spinner at the center of the board to add a bit of unpredictability to the game: draw a number, steal a number, trade a number, or no new number.

The board is well-made and very colorful with fun cartoon graphics. The trays are thick folded cardboard that could be a little better made, and have such a low angle that it is hard to keep tiles concealed from other players. The "red" (per instructions) level 2 answer triangles are actually an orange that's just a shade darker than the basic answer tiles; the "pink" (per instructions) tiles are actually purple. The tile sets all came in their own sealing plastic bag, which is a nice touch!

If you are an adult that likes working with numbers in much the same way as Scrabble players do with letters, then your family will not grow out of this game. (You might want to check out the game Equate as well!)

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/11537

BibleMan Adventure Board Game, The

Subject: Math
Category: arithmetic
Ages: 4 to 7, 8 and up
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 30 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Roll and move, pick up and deliver

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 3
Gaming value: 3
Aesthetic value: 3
Price value: 4
Ease of play: 3
Younger adaptability: 5 (Game has two level design)

My comments: "Why is Bibleman listed under Math?" you ask. Though Christian values are integral to the game as you try to "rescue" kids and bring them to the church, the advanced game teaches great math skills. You roll and move 1 of 4 heroes (Bibleman, BibleGirl, Cypher, or Coats) around the board. When you land on the Docks, School, Refinery, Villain's Lair, Church, or BibleMan's Cave, you choose a villain card and do battle. In the basic game, you simply spin one of two spinners and if you land on the Bible icon you win--you pick an adventure card with a child that you have saved. In the advanced game, each hero and villain has a number next to 5 attributes (faith, love, truth, joy, patience, forgiveness for heroes; doubt, fear, lies, sorrow, rage, bitterness for villains.) You spin the U.N.I.C.E. spinner for the hero and the L.U.C.I. spinner for the villain to determine which attribute and what bonus will be used for the battle. Next you roll a red and blue die to determine the final sum for both the hero and the villain--whichever is higher wins. If the hero wins, s/he picks an adventure card and saves a child or gets armor enhancements for the next battle. You can see where all the math comes in! In either game, after collecting 6 saves, you drop the kids off at the church and then return to the BibleMan cave to win.

What is really great about this game is the 2-level design so that even younger gamers can enjoy it (my 4 y.o. has no trouble with it.) The board has an interesting elevated cardboard center with the spinners around which you place the standard playing board--interesting, yes, but the tabs on it keep the playing board from lying flat. My boys love battling the villains. Minimal reading is involved, and readers can read for non-readers without affecting the game play.

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/19138

Blokus Trigon

Subject: Math
Category: Geometry
Ages: 5 to adult
# of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 20 minutes
Mechanics/Game Type: Abstract strategy

Ratings (1 to 5)

Educational Value: 5
Gaming value: 5
Aesthetic value: 5
Price value: 4 (while board is sturdy and well made, it is still plastic, as well as the piece-holder)
Ease of play: 5
Younger adaptability: 5 (If a child knows same color and point vs. side, s/he can play!)

My comments: I'm starting out with one of my favorite games. Blokus Trigon consists of a hexagon game board into which fit 22 geometric shapes made out of triangles (see BGG link below for pictures.) You take turns placing pieces such that: 1. You must touch your own color, and 2. You must connect to your other pieces using the point of a triangle rather than the side. The object of the game is to place as many pieces as possible on the board. The two-player version requires each person play 2 colors; the three player version eliminates the outer-most ring of the hexagon.

This game builds spacial perception and thinking ahead. The game is easy to set up, easy to play, and the colors and pieces are visually appealing. This game is one that will be enjoyed for many years (so long as you don't lose the smaller pieces!)

BoardGameGeek.com link to this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/21550