Board Games - Part 5

Here are some more board games we have in the shop. I hope this helps you choose the right one.


Shopping List (Orchard Toys) Ages 3-7

This award winning game encourages memory and literacy skills and is our most popular game. Suitable for 2 to 4 players, who each take a trolley that they must fill. Turn over one of the 32 cards showing familiar, everyday items from the supermarket, such as eggs, tomatoes, washing powder and aubergines, and if they are on your list, you can pop them in your trolley. The winner is the first player to collect all the items on their list and fill their trolley. Children can learn to recognize various grocery products and read the names from their lists. The game can promote plenty of discussion, not only while playing, but also on a shopping trip to a real supermarket - children can see how many items from the game they can see on the shelves. The game can be supplemented with one or both of the booster packs ('fruit and veg' or 'clothes') to increase the number of players and/or the number of items to buy. The sturdy, wipe-clean board means that the game will withstand constant playing, and the colourful illustrations allow the game to be played by young children with no reading ability. There is an educational guide printed on the box showing how the game can compliment your child's education.


Hoppers Jr . (Think Fun) Ages 5+

Hop to it with Hoppers Jr., a Peg Solitaire Jumping Game. Set the frogs on the pond, then start jumping until only the Red Frog remains. Game includes 40 Challenges ranging from Easy to Super Hard designed to encourage your child to explore, succeed and have fun. Enclosed Parent Guide offers tips for helping your child enjoy an enriching play experience. Share the fun with Hoppers Jr. and watch your child’s thinking skills and confidence grow – by leaps and hops. Promotes critical thinking and problem-solving.
$39.95


Make ‘n’ Break Junior Ages 5+

Make 'N' Break Junior is an exciting challenge for budding builders. You'll need a good eye and dexterous fingers as you race to create as many wacky structures as you can in the time allowed. But watch out - some of the structures are very difficult to build, and time is running out!! Game includes a timer, building blocks, building cards, counters and a die.
$42.95



Slug in a Jug Ages 5-9

Play Slug in a Jug by collecting rhyming cards to make a silly sentence, or play Find the Rhyme or Rhyming Pairs. Encourages observational, language, personal and social skills.
$29.95






This or That Ages 6-9

This or That? Is a quick and clever get-to-know- you game! Players pick a stick, read the This or That? Question, and then choose their answer.
$26.95









Qwirkle Ages 6+

An addictive strategy game in the tradition of Sequence, Scrabble, and Othello, the Qwirkle Board Game from MindWare has a simple, straightforward premise: match tiles and win points. But the real joy of the game lies in plotting and scheming your way to victory. Winner of the Parent's Choice Gold Award and a Mensa Select National Competition Winner, Qwirkle is destined for two to four players.
As in Scrabble, the game starts with players drawing their own "hand" of six tiles. The player with the most tiles that share something in common (color or symbol) plays their pieces and wins points. And so it goes until the pieces make up a giant grid. One rule adults will likely need to reiterate to little ones is that duplicate tiles don't count. For instance, if someone has three diamonds, and two of them are green, they can only count one of those diamonds for points.
As play continues and the stakes get higher, younger kids may need some help deciding where to build to maximize their points. Our testers found that the length of the game may make younger kids squirmy halfway through. To keep them engaged, parents can always distribute half the number of tiles to start. The game is over when all the tiles have been played and all the points have been tallied.
$49.95



Top This Ages: 8+

You will be challenged and delighted in this game that confounds your ability to visualize and match patterns. Game cards specify different orange and blue puzzle shapes. You must create identical shapes by stacking orange pieces on top of blue pieces, or vice versa. This surprisingly tricky game will have you slapping your forehead in happy exasperation. Intermediate and expert levels offer more challenging fun with greater numbers of game pieces. It features forty mind challenge cards with solutions, twenty shape pieces, card holder, and game-go bag.
Although there are only orange pieces and blue pieces in this puzzle game, players will have a hard time trying to solve it. Players have to make identical shapes by stacking orange pieces on top of blue pieces, or vice versa. It's tougher than it looks! ThinkFun.
$24.95




Spy Alley Ages 8+ (NEW)

Deceptively simple and surprisingly intense, Spy Alley keeps you on the edge of your seat. Players become a spy for their given country and try to uncover their opponents' identity while keeping their own identity a secret. Players use deductive reasoning to expose other spies while attempting to complete their mission by obtaining the necessary code books, disguises, keys and passwords. You will be surprised how difficult it is to deceive your friends and family. A slip of the tongue, the blink of an eye, or even the twitch of a muscle may give your identity away. Players must be careful when entering Spy Alley. It is a calculated risk that only the bravest spies will take. The first spy to complete their mission or the last to retain their identity wins the game. For 2-6 players ages 8 and up. It takes about 45 minutes to play a game.
Watch a review on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urZSdiUMTT8
$44.95



Why? Challenge Series (Dr Wood) Ages 8+

13 pieces… that could drive you to the very edge of sanity. Simply place the pieces on the grids provided to create the letters W, H and Y. 3 different challenge sheets included.
The Dr Wood Mind Challenge: Can you solve it in one hour?
If you want to cheat, you can view the solutions on you tube.
$19.95



Sherlock Ages 5+

As Sherlock goes around searching for clues, every player tries to remember each of the 8 objects hidden in the facedown circle of cards. Then, Sherlock travels from 1 card to another. Each time Sherlock stops at a facedown card, the player has to remember which object is on that card. Sherlock continues to move, as long as the player guesses correctly. If Sherlock travels to a faceup card, then the player gets to keep that card. The first player to collect 6 cards wins!
Winner of the parents Choice Gold award
$21.95



What’s Gnu Ages 5-8

Portrayal Ages 12+

Portrayal is a funny, fast-paced, family/party game that tests each player's ability to describe, draw, & evaluate wacky images.

In each hilarious round of Portrayal, one player (the Portrayer) describes a unique and utterly bizarre image while the other players (the Artists) attempt to draw the image based solely on the Portrayer’s description.

Once time is up, Artists trade drawings and the ten hidden criteria for the image are uncovered. It’s up to each Artist to decide whether the drawing he or she is judging meets the criteria and receives points.

Everyone plays during every round. Be Portrayer one round, be an Artist the next. No one sits on the sidelines — Ever!
Portrayal is a great game. You will quickly discover that drawing skill only gets you so far, and in some cases, can be a hinderance. What really counts is attention to detail and the ability to describe and draw precisely and quickly. Portrayal exercises different brain muscles than most of us are used to, and is quite a lot of fun. The funny artwork, the unique, non-artistic skills required to play, the brain-bending and communicative aspects, and the game mechanics that allow every player to participate fully during every turn, make Portrayal a great family or party game that will keep you coming back for more.
$37.95

The object of the game is to spell more three-letter words than the other players. Up to 36 Word-Starter cards, which have one letter provided and two blanks, are spread out for everyone to see. Players slide the clever Letter Getter to magically reveal two letter tiles. Kids then must look at these tiles and try to make three-letter words by filling in the blanks on the Word-Starter cards. The player with the most three-letter words when all the tiles run out wins. Building your vocabulary is three times more fun. For 2 to 6 players




Albert's Insomnia Card Game Age 8+ ($16.95)

A great new game designed by a dad who wanted to make math fun. He did a great job.
The game is very simple: Deal a collective set of cards for every player to use. Taking turns, the group has to count from 1 to as high as you can go in numerical order by adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing the numbers on the cards in any combination. The game can be simple for kids just learning math or more complex for older kids. It’s even great for parents who rely on calculators way too much.

It’s got many great game attributes:

Easy to learn
Fast paced
Multiple levels of difficulty
Great for small or large groups.
Holds attention span
FUN


There is an instructional video on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hg-OdH_5SqE#!


Miaou Matou - $21.95 (Ages 3-6)

Miaou Matou is a modern version of the traditional game of Snap. Like all Djeco toys and games Miaou Matou is extremely colourful and fun to play. The aim of the game is to match the kittens to the cats in the fastest time. The winner of each round wins a mouse token and the game ends when one of the players has 5 mouse tokens. The kitten cards are placed face up and the cats are placed face down. Each player chooses 2 of the large cats and must find the kittens related to that pair. For example if you have a red and a blue cat you need to catch the kittens with red and blue body parts. The player who collects 3 kittens first calls out "Miaou" and the round stops. If the kittens correctly match the cats that player wins a mouse token.

Check out the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kNVkfd1sPc

Board Games - Part 4

More board games (all this information is in the shop so if you need a reminder, just ask at the counter and we'll give you a hand-out)

Ten Green Bottles (Orchard Toys) Ages 3-6

Can you be the first to recycle all ten of your green bottles? This very simple game, based on the popular song, helps children with number recognition while having fun. The game can be played with 2 to 4 players, and is suitable for players aged between 3 and 6. Each player makes up their jigged wall board, and places their green bottles, numbered 1 to 10, across the top. The 40 spotty cards are placed face down in the centre of the table, and the first player starts by turning up one of the spotty cards. If the number of spots on the card matches the number shown on one of the bottles on the player's wall, the player takes both cards and posts them into the bottle bank. If the card shows a number that the player has already posted, the card is put back on the table. When a player matches the last bottle on their wall with a spotty card, they win the game and sing "There are no green bottles standing on the wall". This game helps children with their number skills, as they have to count the spots on the card and connect the card with the correct numeral printed on the bottle. You could add play value by using either the spotty cards or the bottles to play 'Pairs', and you can ask children to add the numbers on the bottles or the spotty cards together.
Enhances maths skills and number recognition
• Suitable for ages 3 to 6
• For 2 - 4 players
• Encourages re-cycling
• Brightly illustrated game
$39.95




Anti-Virus Ages 7+

Put your body and mind to work and get rid of the red virus! A virus has invaded your system. Can you get rid of it before it can multiply itself? This game is more mind challenging to solve than it looks. As you'd imagine, there is not a lot of room in a cell, so the virus and all different shaped molecules are constantly blocking each others path. And what's more, everything moves in a special way: the tiles can only slide diagonally and can move in a group! No one is immune to the infectious fun this sliding game brings. The 60 challenges keep your body and mind healthy. Young and old alike are quick to catch the bug -- once you've started playing you won't want to stop!
• Builds logistical skills
$29.95


Greedy Pirates Ages 3-7

A fun counting and collecting game. Roll the dice to sail around the board grabbing more treasure than the other greedy pirates. Use counting strategies to reach the treasure, but beware of the other pirates ships who are looking to steal it from you. Win by having the most treasure.
Silver Award Good Toy Guide 2008
$34.95



Smart Car Ages 3-8

There are 4 wooden pieces that you need to assemble into a car. Sounds Easy?? It’s not. There are 48 challenges where the model remains the same but the car construction plans get more complex. Think you car is ready? It might not be as the eyes need to stay on the road. This is a multi-level single player game that will keep children 3-8 occupied for hours. Great for developing logical thinking and visual/spatial perception.
$38.50



Bogoss glow in the dark strategy game (Djeco) Ages 6-10

A fantastic glow in the dark strategy game. Find 6 pars of a skeleton, but be careful of broken bones. An exchange game with phosporescent cards so you can also play in the dark!
The winner is the first to lay down 2 complete skeletons or 1 broken skeleton.

$29.95



Mindtrap Ages 12+

This is an exciting Lateral Thinking Game. Players break up into teams. Each team selects a scoring token and places it on the appropriate path on the game board. Teams are also given shape pieces and sticks that match their token's colour.
Teams decide which group goes first. A member of the team whose turn it isn't is selected to read the question. The reader draws a card, then reads the question aloud to his/her team, then flips the card over and silently reads the answer.
The choice of the question depends upon the color of the space that the answering team's token is sitting on. A purple space yields a mystery question -- the object is to solve the mystery. A pink space represents picture/sticks/shape puzzles, and a blue space represents miscellaneous questions. Finally, a space with an "M" is a wild space where the answering team chooses the style of question they prefer.
If a correct answer is given, the team receives one point and then chooses to either answer another question or roll the dice for a number of bonus points (the dice has numbers 0, 1, 2 and 3.)
If the team answers incorrectly, the opponent team (without the member reading the question) is allowed to answer. If correct, they receive a bonus point.
Once the dice have been rolled, or a question was answered incorrectly, the other team is asked the questions.
The game ends when one team reaches the end of the board.
$37.95



Master Labyrinth Ages 10-15

S’Match Ages 4+

A Memory Matching Game with a Spin! A new take on the classic memory game, S'Match challenges young players to find matching pairs by color, number or category. Only here, it's the S'Match Spinner that decides which way to match-and every player gets a spin! Pictures and words allow pre-readers and early readers to play together and enjoy hours of memory-building fun
$38.00


Based on the simpler Amazing Labyrinth game, this one is played on a board with maze tiles arranged on it. Players are represented on the board by little wizard pawns. Players are wizards-in-training and they are charged with running around the maze and finding all the ingredients (numbered chips) needed to become a Wizard. The trick is that the two chip cannot be taken until the one chip is taken, and the three chip cannot be taken until the two chip is taken, etc.
Perhaps the most novel aspect of this game is that players mutate the maze by sliding a tile onto the board from the side, which hopefully will enable them to travel to the next ingredient. Once all twenty-one items have been taken, the highest total score wins!
• Enjoy the master edition of the famous Labyrinth series!
• Shift the corridors of the labyrinth as your adventurers endeavor to claim the legendary treasure from the dragon's refuge.
• But beware! In the middle of the maze, a mighty dragon sits enthroned on a mountain of gold.
• He is defending his booty against those who dare to plunder.
• Who'll obtain the most valuable treasure and defeat the dragon?
$59.95



Camelot Jr from ‘Smart Games’ Ages 4-8

Can you build a stairway so the knight can rescue the princess? Create a path using the different shaped pieces of wooden towers and stairs. There is 48 different path configurations that need to be figured out - all increasing difficulty.
This unique multi-level logic game helps to develop logic thinking and fine motor skills, as well as spatial insight and creative imagination. 48 multi-level challenges of increasing difficulty.
Contains: game rules, booklet with 48 challenges and solutions, hardwood game tray, 4 wooden towers, 3 wooden stairways, 1 bridge and 2 figurines.
$38.50



Hot Cocot (from Biovia) Ages 6+

Cluck... Cluck... Quick! There are six hard boiled eggs to eat but only 5 cups on the table! Anything goes - well almost. The aim is to get your egg into the cup using chop sticks. No easy task. Who will be quick with their hands and not left holding the last egg and which of you will be the most skillful?

With the aid of two sticks try to quickly position your eggs in one egg cup. At each turn a player is eliminated because it lacks a egg cup at the center of the table.
Be quick at the end, there will be more than one!
For 2 to 6 players. All wooden from plantation timber.




Sleeping Queens Ages 8+

Imagine a place where there's a queen of all pancakes, a king of cookies and a pack of over-protective dragons. If this sounds like something out of a dream, it actually is! Sleeping Queens was invented by 6-year-old Miranda Evarts, who thought up the game one night when she couldn't fall asleep. She awoke the next morning and with help from her older sister, Madeleine and her parents, Denise and Max created this wonderfully whimsical world of napping nobles. As you immerse yourself in the Evarts' fantasyland, you will find a game that helps develop memory, strategy, and elementary arithmetic skills. Just be careful when playing potion cards or you could wind up putting all the players to sleep!
Rise and Shine! The Pancake Queen, the Ladybug Queen and ten of their closest friends have fallen under a sleeping spell and it's your job to wake them up. Use strategy, quick thinking and a little luck to rouse these napping nobles from their royal slumbers. Play a knight to steal a queen or take a chance on a juggling jester. But watch out for wicked potions and dastardly dragons! The player who wakes the most queens wins. This is one of our best sellers.
$24.95



Link Mind Challenge Series (Dr Wood) Age 8+

Simply place all 8 tiles on the playing board so that all sides link with each other in a perfect colour match. Can you solve the puzzle in under 20 minutes? Single Player Game.
The Mind Challenge series of game is a line of fun, devious, intriguing and compelling puzzles from simple games that can be solved in 10 minutes or fiendishly difficult ones that will take a lifetime to master.
Mind Challenge Ltd is an award winning Australian company based on the work of Psychologist Dr Mark Wood and Mathmetician Frank Dyksterhuis
$19.95




Outburst Ages 12+

Bring Outburst to your next party -- your friends will never stop talking about it! Outburst is the uproariously funny adult game of common knowledge that people have been shouting about for years! And since one good Outburst deserves another, we've updated the topics and answers -- for hours of non-stop fun. Quick! You've got 60 seconds to shout out "Parts of the Body that Come in Pairs". What do you think are the answers listed on the card? No matter how numerous or humorous your choices are, you only get credit for the words that appear on the card. So spout off everything you can think of as you try to score all 10. Can you name "10 Slang Terms for Money"... or... "10 Movie Studios"? Pick from hundreds of topics, for thousands of verbal explosions -- and hours of fun! Aren't you ready for a really good outburst!
$24.95

Board Games - Part 2

Here are some more games that we have tucked away:

Apples to Apples Ages 12+
This is a multi award winning game (including ‘game of the year’) and recently listed as number 8 on the ’15 greatest board games of all time’ by the people at Brainz.org. It’s the perfect game for a board game night with friends and family. It is quick to set up, easy to learn, challenging, and a whole lot of fun. It can be hard to find a game that a large number of people can play, can be a great equaliser of abilities, yet is always fun to play – but Apples to Apples is all that and more.

The game is about making comparisons between different things. General game play is as follows: players are dealt red cards which have a noun printed on them, and the judge (a different player in each turn) draws a green card on which an adjective is printed and places it for all players to see. Each player then chooses a red card they are holding that they think best describes the green card. The judge then decides which adjective she likes best.
The fun is in the variety of unexpected comparisons people make, sometimes apt, funny, creative, or simply absurd. For example: people might match "Awkward" with "Oil Spills," "My First Kiss," "Dandruff," and "Gold Chains. " Or: "Painful" with "High School Reunions" and "Julia Gillard. " Strategy comes into play since, because each player takes turns being the judge, you begin to pick up on the preferences of each player and tailor your choices accordingly.
Players can also try variations on the basic game play. For example, instead of choosing the most apt comparison, players might try choosing the red card that is least like the green one. These variations keep the game fresh and interesting every time.

Part of the fun is in standing up for your choices. For instance, you might discuss why you think "Justin Bieber" is painful, or segue into a discussion of the embarrassing situations you got into on your first day of school, or your first kiss. Apples to Apples excels as an ice breaker and promotes a good amount of social interaction, as many conversations will be kick started thanks to these little cards.


Safari Rush Hour Ages 6+
This is a strategy game with a twist-if you lose, you're lunch. You've taken your trusty Safari Rover deep into the bush; now maneuver it through the maze of hungry animals and get back to camp in one piece. An 8-by-7.25-inch plastic game tray forms a kind of grid for your vehicle and the 3-D plastic animal pieces (including elephants, rhinos, and a termite mound). Draw one of 50 cards (10 of which are extra-easy, for younger players) to determine the initial board setup. Then move pieces, according to strict rules, to make your escape through the only exit. A cloth bag for all the game pieces is included.

• Four levels of play, beginner to expert
• Fifty mind challenge cards with solutions
• Eighteen safari game pieces and one safari rover
• One safari game grid board
You can see a clip on you tube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMNgdXVmG3w

Price $42.95



We also have an 'Alcatraz' version for $32.95 and the Classic car-based version for $29.95

Gordion’s Knot Ages 8+
An ancient mystery is reinvented for mind-bending, modern-day fun. Gordian's Knot Brainteaser Challenge from ThinkFun is based on the Gordian knot tied by Midas. The Great Oracles proclaimed that the person who solved the puzzle would rule the world. This colorful knot features six interlocking pieces, but it takes a whopping 69 different moves to take the knot apart. By sliding the six pieces past each other, the Gordian's Knot will come apart. Some pieces will easily move throughout the process, but beware -- that doesn't mean you made the right move. Game comes with a 40-page, step-by-step solution book in case you get stumped, and helps you put the knot back together once the puzzle is solved. For one player.
• Six colourful interlocking puzzle pieces
• Forty-page step-by-step solution book
• Easy-to-follow reassembly instructions
• Teaches deductive reasoning and problem-solving
Price $22.95


Zingo Ages 4-8
In this fast-paced, energetic variant of Bingo, kids get a kick out of pulling the Zinger forward to reveal two mystery tiles, and then try to be the first to call out the tiles that match the images on their cards. The first player to fill his or her card wins by yelling “Zingo.”

• Two levels of play
• Seventy-two picture tiles
• Eight double-sided Zingo cards
• Teaches image and vocabulary recognition, matching, memory, concentration, and social interaction
Price $35









Pirates Hide & Seek Ages 5+
The object of this multi award-winning game is to cover a board with puzzle tile cutouts, so that some areas of the board remain visible. The puzzle tiles always fit, but they show or hide different artwork depending on how the cutouts are positioned.
A unique game for all the family testing logical thinking and problem solving skills to play at home or on the move ... once a challenge is completed you'll want to race to do the next one!
Interestingly, the inspiration for this game comes from a code-writing technique called Grille-Cypher that has been used for hundreds of years.

• 4 puzzle pieces with 3072 possible combinations,
• a challenge book with 48 different challenges of varying difficulty (from very easy to extremely difficult ),
• a pull out drawer easy to use storage compartment that is big enough for all puzzle pieces,
• game rules,
• challenges and solutions
Price $32.95





Loustigri Chase the Wolf (Janod) Ages 4+

A twist on the traditional chase the ace card game. Match the pairs but beware, the one left with wolf card loses. The game comes with 33 cards each with delightful designs. All Janod toys and games are made in the Jura region of France to strict quality and European safety standards.
Price $14.95



I hope this is helpful; I'll post up some more games soon.

Board Games - Part 1

I was having a look at our games section today and realised that we have a really good collection. Unfortunately, games are the sort of things you really need to do some research about before you buy to make sure you are getting something age appropriate. So I thought I'd do a post about some of the games we have. In the end, because we've got so many, I decided to make this a series of posts.
First off, games make great Christmas presents as the whole family can get together and have fun. They are also really good developmentally, here are a couple of good reads about the vaue of board games:
http://www.helium.com/items/789213-do-board-games-give-educational-value-as-well-as-family-entertainment
http://www.bluepage.org/childs-creativity/board-games.html

So here are a few ideas across the age groups:

Day and Night Ages 2-5

Not strictly a board game but a multi-award winning stacking game where you must construct an image as shown in the challenge by placing blocks in the right order onto the sticks. Half the challenges only show the contours of the blocks, similar to seeing just the silhouette of something at night. In this way it becomes something like a very simple 3D tangram.
The yellow block looks square from the front view, but is in fact cylindrical. Something like this can be obvious to adults, but not to children. The left and right sticks are different heights. Young children often muddle up left and right. If they do this when solving a challenge, one of the constructions will fall down. Also, most blocks fit very precisely on top of other blocks, making it possible for several blocks to look like one solid shape in the night challenges.
$38.50

Mystery Garden Ages 4-12

One player takes a card on which a picture is displayed which is also on the game board. The next player may ask one question which can only be answered with yes or no. In clockwise order the next player may ask a question and so on... Solving the mystery supports deductive reasoning and the process of articulating questions.
29.95







Chocolate Fix ages 8+

Similar to Sudoku, players examine all the clues on the cards before making a move. Once they discover where to put a chocolate piece, they combine this knowledge with the clues to learn more information. Some clues give exact or possible locations, while others just give you the token color or shape. Your confidence builds as you narrow down the possibilities to fill each candy assortment. Challenges ranging from beginner to expert will feed your chocolate cravings for hours.

• Features forty mind challenges with solutions
• Four levels of play; from beginner to expert
• Nine chocolate pieces, one assortment game tray and a game-go bag
• Players examine all the clues on the cards before making a move
$38.95







Celebrity Head 8+

All you need to do is place a celebrity name card into your headband. Then put the headband on your head and reveal your celebrity name to your friends and family. Now everyone knows your secret identity - except you! To find out your celebrity name you need to ask questions about your celebrity such as "Am I Female?", "Am I on TV?", "Am I alive?", "Am I Famous?" or "Am I Short?" And to win the game, just be the first player to guess your secret identity.
It's hilarious and silly. Fun for families and very popular at parties.
$44.95

I hope this is helpful. If you've played any of these games, please let us know what you think in the comments section below.

As we get closer to Christmas, I'll post up some more