Space Planets

Space Planets

Space Planets is yet another fantastic Haba game. If you have read the rest of my blog you will know how much I love Haba games (if you haven't read it then you should).

Space Planets is a game described from 3 years plus but mostly this is due to very small pieces in it.  Also this is designed for 2-4 players and I have played it at 2,3 and 4 players and it is always fun. The 4 player game doesn't even take that long as in general the game is pretty quick if everyone is involved in playing.  The times where this game has lasted ages for us is really only when our child gets distracted and isn't actually playing.  If you are watching your child and they aren't normally a kid who puts things in their mouth you should be able to play from slightly younger.  I have played this with a 20 month old a few times as well.  I regularly played this with my 2 year old.  Please do not just take my word for it though and don't ever leave young children unattended with small game pieces.

Basic game play is a dice aim game with minor decision making so this is great for motor skills as well as a fun game for everyone to play.  While this game is small and you can travel with it you can't play it well in planes or at cafes so if you want a travel game I wouldn't pick this one (try Alana's Animals or Deduction as they travel much better).


Game Play

Basic game play is simple. Each person has a rocket colour and that is their home rocket. There is a 3x3 grid of planets set up for players to try and buy by rolling the die onto the planet card. They use the die to travel to planets (or black holes if you have an accident) and they buy those planets with the number of fuel cells indicated on the die (the little blue gems).  You start the game with a few fuel cells and any time you miss all the cards or land on a card but don't buy it you gain more fuel cells.

You land on planets by rolling the die onto the planet card, only a little bit of the die needs to actually touch the card, but even if you miss you can get fuel cells. This means that even if players aren't good at rolling the dice onto a planet they will still have end game points of fuel cells. The only disadvantage in this game is the black holes which means that player looses their turn, but then the black hole card is then replaced so potentially it doesn't happen that often.  First person to get 5 planet cards ends the game, however the winner is the person with the most stars in the corners of the planet cards. So for example you could get 5 one star planets but if another person has 3 planets that are worth 3,2,1 stars they might actually win (although fuel cells count for points at well).

This game also has the addition of special situations that are in the bottom corner of each card, which means you can start playing with young kids without these special things happening then add them in later. For example in the photo on the left you can buy a 2 star value planet for 2 fuel cells, but it allows you to get one fuel cell back right away - so in actual fact you bought it only for 1.  The special events are in the lower left corner of the picture and the value (for end game points) is in the upper left in this example.

The best part of this game is the way that you get and buy planets, it is all about the die rolling skills.  Space Planets has taught my son to roll gently as if he rolls too hard he will entirely miss all the planets.  If you space the cards closer or further apart (entirely up to you) you can also encourage more aimed rolling. Cards spaced closer together are easier to land on then ones spaced further apart.  The buying planets choices can also be a challenge for little ones as they have to make a decisions. When the die lands on a planet it has two sets of information. The first being the stars of the planet (which are the end game scoring points) and the second being the fuel cells on the dice. So for example a star value 3 planet is worth buying even if you have to pay 1-3 fuel cells for it, whereas a star value 1 planet isn't worth buying for 3 fuel cells.  When my son was little he didn't make these decisions well but as he grew he makes much more strategic ones based on what is best for him at the time. 

As time as passed we have even added our own rules of making 4x4 or 5x5 grids but this has meant the cards run out faster and so therefore really only work for the 2-3 player games.


Review

If you can't already tell I love this game. It works on decision making, motor skills, luck and the images are absolutely beautiful. We also look at the cards and explore the things that make up a planet or say an asteroid, although entirely in a pretend way as the images are in no way realistic.  If you have a space obsessed child like I do then you will love this for years to come.  I would say you could still enjoy this with a 6 year old at least and I have played it with children from 20 months to 9 years (and with adults) with everyone enjoying it.  The older kids won't enjoy this forever though but it is something that they can play once in a while with a sibling.  If there weren't little pieces I would say two kids could play this on their own alone, but as the fuel cells are really small if my son plays it with his other 4 year old friends I don't always have to participate but I do stay in the room as the pieces can get lost or eaten really easily.

This is easily a Haba game that I would own without owning any other games and it was one of the first ones we ever bought.  I know a few Friendly Local Game Stores that sell Haba (this being one of them) but they don't always have this particular one in stock as it is really everyone's favourite.  You can usually find it online as well.  I think our copy was around £8 in 2016 so definitely likely to be more now.  However considering how much we play it I would easily by this for more if you play games and want to have it for years.

Alana's Animals

Alana's Animals

Alana's Animals is a really simple collection game that has more "game" in it then other collection games that Orchard Toys make. I would definitely call this a game whereas some of the luck based games that Orchard Toys produce (or Hasbro) I would call toys.

The reason this is more game is because I feel it grows with the child. There are three ways to play plus an additional variation. The simplest is slightly random but the others add a lot more choice for a young child and teach game techniques like drafting (where you take one card from your hand and pass the rest along to someone else). Drafting is in lots of other games so it is great to be able to teach a child this from a younger age so they can play more games later on that are on an adult level (hopefully sooner!).

My now 4 year old still loves this game and we have been playing it since he was about 2. One week he and his dad played it 30 times over the course of 4 days - so really our copy as been well loved and worth every penny.  However this is not a game that a very young child can play totally alone, as with most kids games they need someone to play with and guide them through the steps of the game so they remember what happens on each turn.


Game Play

There are three ways to play the game depending on the age of your child, which is another reason why I love this game as it doesn't get boring playing as an adult.  Basically all three games are about collecting animals to then score with the reward cards.  We started playing the "easiest" version of the game with my then 2 year old. He struggled a little but he could recognise animal shapes and numbers 1-10 and really that is all he needed to do as we could help him with the rest.

I will write the game play for this easy version since we have played that one we play the most.


Firstly you shuffle and deal face down the animal cards (differentiated by the backs of the cards and by the fact they have animals and not apple rewards on them). Four to six reward cards are then placed out face down and the rest are put away.  After all the cards are placed out, each player takes it in turns to select a face down card.  These cards that are taken are placed face up in front of the player and that becomes their hand of cards that can score rewards. This is the most "luck" based game in this set as really there isn't information given to anyone about the animals you are selecting or the rewards you can get. However for a young child that is fine because the object of this game isn't to make decisions it is to work on number recognition, shapes and maths (and to have fun playing).

After all the animal cards are taken by the players the reward cards are turned over one at a time and scored. This happens by one person reading out each reward card and everyone trying to find out if it applies to them.  One for example is having the most brown animals - so each player would need to count all the brown animals they have and the one with the most would get the reward card.  Most reward cards have a 1 apple reward but a few have 2 apples. Most apples at the end (after all four or six reward cards are read out) wins. We have had a number of ties and that is fine as I am also teaching my son that he can't always just win every time he wants to. I like that about this games as it teaches more than just a winner or a looser - sometimes we can tie.

The other two games included have more decision making for the player. So either they can see the animal cards or rewards (or both) and they then have to make strategic decisions about which combinations would get them the most points. Obviously this isn't as easy for a 4 year old to do but after we have played this a bunch my son doesn't even realise he is doing it.  For example when we have some information (like some of the reward cards are face up) he often goes "oh to get that reward card I need another goat" which is great to see him looking at his hand and making decisions about what he might need to achieve a goal. This is super important for older strategy games later on!


Review

I love the art work and the detail included (there is even poo behind some of the animals). I love the fact that squares with dots are used for numbers as well as the number itself for different types of learners. I love the colours and the fact that there are two farmers one male and one female. There are a lot of little details in this game that make it just lovely to play with. Sometimes my son and I play the game and he end up playing I Spy instead of the game itself because he is just in that kind of mood - not may games offer that up as an option!  Also there are more reward cards (see picture below on right) than animal cards so you can play this game for a while and the rewards stay really fresh.

Like I said above our copy has been played tons and really its worth every penny.  As it comes in a normal card box we take it travelling with us. We have played this on bus seats, airplane tables and in cafes around the world (furthest so far has been Tokyo) and so far my son doesn't tire of it.  We haven't even made it to the most complicated version of the game that is included (the drafting one) as mostly my son is still happy with the simpler versions still.

You can buy Alana's Animals at most Friendly Local Game Stores (I know this linked one sells it in store but not always online) or direct from the guy who made them here.  The same company (ThinkNoodle) has made another game that will show up in this blog called City of Zombies which is for slightly older kids but still a fantastic game!

Here is the Facebook page if you want to follow Alana's Animals. Seriously I just love everything about this game!

Monster Match

Monster Match

Monster Match is by North Star Games and looks like just a simple matching game, but it is soo much more.  Everyone is trying to match information on the dice with the pictures in front of them and the speed of that adds a lovely element to this game. My 4 year old plays this with me and I think younger than that would either need patience from parents or help.

The game says it age 6 or up but again there are small pieces and if you are playing with and watching your child you could probably play this younger.  Though like I said younger than 4 might struggle with the speed of this game.  This game plays 2-6 players although you could probably play it more than that but you would run out of cards very fast.


Game Play

In Monster Match you are trying to get the most donuts to win. The way you get them is by collecting monster cards. Game set up is simple, ten cards are placed face up and the Zilch button is placed where everyone can reach it. On your turn you roll two dice, one has a number and the other has a body party. Everyone (at the same time) looks for a monster with the corresponding number of body parts (for example in the one on the left is zero legs).

If you find a match you put one finger on the monster that matches.  This continues until everyone that can get a match has a match (all people have their finger on a monster) or there are no matches left.  When there are no matches left everyone collects their monster and the next player rolls the dice and the game continues.

Using the picture on the left again there are two monsters that have zero legs which means that two people will get monsters that turn.  If there was only 1 or if there was 3 then more or less people would get a monster.

If, after the dice are rolled, there are absolutely no matches (not even 1) then the first player to put their finger on the Zilch button gets the top card (blind draw) from the pile of extra cards.  This means the fastest player gets a reward for noticing first.  Anytime the Zlich button is used correctly then 10 more cards come onto the table.  There is no other way to add cards in the game except for with the Zlich button. This means that sometimes players are fighting over 4 cards, but other times there might be 20 or more to pick from.



When the Zilch button is pressed and there are no more cards to add to the game the game is over and everyone counts how many donuts they have won (lower right of each monster picture).  Most donuts overall wins the game.


Review

I love this game because not only is it fast and fun and the art is beautiful but it also works on shape/pattern recognition and counting with my little monster. One time when we played this game we added a colour by number sheet in the mix and while playing anytime he got a number that was on his sheet he then took a break to colour.  Another time we played my son practiced his number writing for each number that showed up on the dice. Obviously this is only the numbers 0-5 but really any writing practice is winning at his age!  It worked really well for us and was a fun way to extend playing the game as usually he just wants to play three or four times in a row - which is a lot really.  I love that this game not only provided us with a game but a lot of additional inspiration from my son for learning related games as well (although this won't happen with everyone for sure!)

The regular rules version of this game is fantastic and really you don't have to change anything about it.  The bag it comes in has a sturdy zip and the cards are very thick and well made so that you can shuffle them or abuse them within normal playing and they will probably turn out just fine. Because there are sometimes more than one monster per dice roll (though not always) even kids that are a little slower at this game will still get points. I have played this with a group of 4-6 year old and while the 6 year old was definitely faster and won the 4 year old loved playing, got a fair number of donuts and really enjoyed themselves as well.

I'd say you could get this at your Friendly Local Game Store but you can also find it at Coiledspring Games - which is the company that distributes this game in the UK (I am pretty sure).  I played this game at their demo table at Table Top Live and then immediately left with a copy because I knew my son would love it.  It is priced at £18.99 and worth every penny.  In the 3 months we have owned this we have played it at least 20 times (possibly more) - so for us each game so far is 95pence (£19/20 games = 0.95p).

Suspend

Suspend

Suspend is possibly the only thing I like from Melissa and Doug as it is a fantastic game. It is basically a dexterity game, but this also includes an element of 3D or mobile building.

My son and I have been playing this game for a little over a year and I think we have many more years left in this. I would say with help definitely a 3 year old could play it.  However there are aspects are are difficult for them so if you have an easily frustrated child, don't get this one.  There is a "junior" version of this game where the pieces are made out of plastic instead of metal - DON'T get that one.  In the main version of the game the metal pieces are hard to balance and therefore stuff does fall, as well as the metal on metal is slippery so again stuff falls.  In the junior plastic version, nothing falls because the plastic just sort of sticks to itself.  So really instead of balance building like you should be in this game you are just stacking.  If you just want a stacking game read my review about Animal upon Animal and get that one, you will regret it less than the junior Suspend!

Suspend is a game for 2-4 players, although you could probably play it alone as well.  Officially it says to play from the age of 8 but like I said if you just watch your child and are careful then you can play this with younger children.  These are metal pieces though so I can't stress enough to be careful with them as they would easily take someone's eye out (Wow flashback to childhood when I promised I would never say that!).  If you or your kids tends to throw stuff around during a game, don't get this one as it would be too dangerous.


Game Play

Suspend, like most of the other building/stacking and dexterity games that exist is very simple.  Players are trying to be the first person to get rid of all their pieces. There is a set up of a base and a hook which everyone collectively builds from.  Everyone gets one of each colour metal rod. Any additional rods are kept out as well as they are used as well.

On your turn you roll the die and it comes up with a colour on it, you must place your corresponding stick onto the structure.  Rules of placing are simple: you must place an empty loop on your stick onto at least (although more is allowed) one empty loop already on the structure and the metal rod must not touch the table/ground.

If you roll a colour you don't have you must take that colour from either the extras available (first option) or the player to your left (second option), if they don't have it, then move left (third option) and so on.  Unless there are actually none of that colour left then you are allowed to roll again.  This means the game stays very balanced and the winner doesn't tend to win by just lucky rolling.  The first player must place the first piece onto the empty hook, and after that nothing else can go directly onto the hook.  The most painful rod to place is the yellow one - just warning you!


What happens if something falls:
The original game dictates that on a player's turn if anything falls all the rods go to that player to have, so you could end up with quite a lot in this game. I have a huge problem with this and playing with children as it seems really unfair since their dexterity just isn't as good. My solution is to do follow an adaption of the rules in Animal upon Animal about things falling, namely that the player's whose turn it was that had the fall gets two rods (and only two) and the others get set aside to be used as people roll colours they don't have.  I believe this is sufficient punishment for little kids and if you are playing with only adults you can add in the original rules if you want but I honestly don't think it's necessary to have fun!


Review

I love this game as it is really portable coming in a tube but you do need space to play it.  We often play this game when I am ill and need rest as our coffee table is big enough for it and it doesn't require concentration from me and at this point my son knows how to play. Sometimes he just builds 3D sculptures with the pieces and then tells me about them, and really I love any game that a child can play on their own if you are ill.  This one comes out regularly and costs around £15-17 from online retailers. I haven't seen this in a Friendly Local Game Store in a while but you might be able to find it anywhere that sells Melissa and Doug things.

In addition to playing this game as stated above you can play it without the die all together and just putting one rod on each turn, which makes this even easier in those early years when kids die rolling is unpredictable and could upset the whole game.  As simple as this game is, it feels versatile and I have played it with as young as 3 and as old as 70 before - with everyone enjoying themselves!

Animal upon Animal

Animal upon Animal

Animal upon Animal is another HABA game (see told you I loved them we own at least 8, and all will be in this blog).  This one is a great game all by itself but also if you aren't too worried about loosing the pieces you can just play games with the beautiful wooden animals. There are a few types of this game (one where the base actually turns!) but this original one is my personal favorite as the animals have lovely details that I think make them really special to play with.

The very basics of this game is stacking but with the added element of a die roll that decides what you are allowed to put on the main crocodile when. Generally I don't love random games but I like the die in this game because it teaches another element of gaming - namely that an adult or child can't always do exactly what you want to do whenever you want to do it, they need to follow the rules of the game/what the dice are telling you to be able to win. This is hard for some people, adult or child, so I think learning and guiding children through this game is important.

Also some of the pieces are quite small.  HABA says this game can be played 2-4 people from the age of 4, however I have been playing this with my son since he was two at least. Again with such small pieces please make sure children are always monitored!  We often use this game as just a fun stacking practice to work on fine motor skills too, so really you get a lot out of just one game.


Game Play

Game play is simple.  Every person playing gets one of each type of animal in a pile in front of them.  The crocodile is placed in the centre where everyone can reach.  First person rolls the red die and does one of 4 things depending on what shows up.

The object of the game is to be the first player who gets rid of all your animals.  You do not have to win by getting all your animals onto the crocodiles back as if any fall off you don't get massively punished. (See below about what happens if any fall off during a turn).

 1) if pips (little dots) show up on the die you place that number of your animals on top of the crocodile, the die only has 1 and 2 pips available so the maximum you will put on in one turn is 2 animals.

2) if a picture of a crocodile shows up you place the animal next to the crocodile - on either end not the sides, if there are already animals there place it next to those animals.  See the picture to the right with the sheep, monkey and hedgehog at the head of the crocodile.

3) if a picture of a hand show up, you give one of your animals to another player and they must place it onto the crocodile, if anything falls while they do this they get punished not the player who originally rolled the die. Simple see!

4) last available die option is a question mark in a little talking bubble.  This means that every other player collectively agrees which animal you need to place. With a two player game its just the other person deciding. With a 4 player game usually someone suggests something and most others agree or they suggest something else - it really isn't rocket science!


What happens if anything falls off:
On your turn if you are placing an animal and there is a topple you do get punished slightly. However this is a kids game so it isn't life altering.  You must take two animals from the ones that have fallen (any two you want) and put all the rest in the box. If two or less have fallen then you take those and you don't get a choice.  So really you can win by just knocking stuff off all the time and getting it back into the box, although this is rarer my son has won this way when he was littler.


Review

Big surprise I love this game. It is fun for adults and children and really should be everyone's after dinner game because it is just light and lovely.  The wooden pieces are amazing quality with cute decoration and the simplicity of it always makes me happy.  There are a lot of tense moments for everyone when the towers just look too tall, but then someone places an animal and all is okay for another person's turn. 

It isn't a massive game and I have been known to take this in a little bag out and about with us and play it on cafe tables. You must be careful not to loose pieces but usually a sheep lying on a cafe floor is easy enough to find.

You can usually find this at your Friendly Local Games Store - I know my local tries to have it in stock whenever possible.  It sells for around £19-20.  If you buy nothing else that I have recommended you seriously should get this. Like I said adults and children alike enjoy this game.

Orchard

Orchard (memory game)


Orchard memory game is by HABA and this company has a fair few games on my list - so really you can't go wrong with them.  They also have a few with the same theme though specifically this one is a memory game.  I have a few friends that have the variations of this game (larger and smaller versions with large wooden pieces or smaller tokens) and everyone loves this game in any form or setting really.

The game is simple and light and teaches children from a very young age about cooperative games.  In this game you are all working together to pick all the fruit in the orchard before the crow can get in and take it from you.  It is gentle in it's evil character of the crow as you fairly often win against it.  When my son was two I think we lost a few times as he just couldn't remember where any of the tiles were, whereas now he is four we nearly always win together.  It plays 2-4 players and the box states it can be played from the age of 3.  However like I said we played it from two but the pieces are very small so please don't let a three year old play it alone or without supervision. 


Game Play

Game play is extremely simple. You use the green tiles to create a small grid of fruit all face down. Then every turn you roll the dice.  If the dice is a colour you have to find the corresponding fruit but you are only allowed to turn over one tile each turn.  If you do find it then you take that fruit into your basket.  If you cannot find it then you turn back over whatever tile you exposed remembering it for next time in case you roll that next time.  If you roll a basket on the dice you must first state which fruit you want to find (for example - apple) then only find that fruit.  If you can't then same as before you just put it back.  If the crow is rolled on the dice then you move the crow one space on it's mini board and take no other action on your turn.

Winning is collecting all the fruit into your collective baskets before the crow gets to the picture of the gate on it's board.  See simple :-)


Review

I have basically already said this and will continue to say it - I love HABA games. There is nothing bad about them.  There is always a real game inside and hardly ever do I find something as trivial as a roll and move type game where my brain just dies of being board.  This specific game is usually priced around £8.

If you want to buy this one check our your Friendly Local Games Store (FLGS) and ask if they sell HABA games, a few are sold easily in the UK through a games distributor, but mostly they are imported direct from Germany.  I know for a fact that this FLGS store sells lots of HABA stuff but whether or not they have Orchard in stock is really depending on the time of year.  Though you could always ask if they can add it to their next order.

My First Stone Age 

This game is by ZMAN games and is a refined/diluted worker placement game from the original Stone Age.  This game occasionally is called Stone Age Junior.  The game is basic in that you are children who are settling in the stone age, but the principle of the game is to give young children a better idea of how to play a worker placement type of game. (For those who don't know a worker placement game is where you have a number of workers and you place them on resources/tiles/slots on a board and have them get you those items, you then use those items to build/collect things that usually give you points or help you win the game - examples of this type of game are Lords of Waterdeep, Stone Age, and Caverna)  My First Stone Age also adds a memory element that I find really lovely as a way of diluting the game so it isn't ask complex as the original Stone Age.

The box says you can play this from 5 years old, which is why this is in my top 5 for over 7s, however my 4 year old plays it with some parental help. My son doesn't win every game (although he won today as I went to take some photos of this game!) as he doesn't understand the choices that he has to make strategically to win, hence why I have kept this in the older age bracket.  I do think that children will enjoy playing this game until about 11-13 when they will find the memory component too easy or they will have moved onto the original Stone Age.

Game Play

Set up takes a few minutes as you put resources into each space as indicated in the rules. Then each players takes a colour and a person who represents that colour (their worker).  Then all the memory tiles that represent resources, and images of dice with different numbers, go face down around the board and the first player starts.

Each turn is very simple and fast as all you do it turn over one of the green tiles and move to either the location indicated on the tile or the number of spaces indicated on the dice images. The purpose of the game is to build three huts.  Each hut requires two to three resources to build it.  My son loves that some only need two resources as the two required are usually two of the same resources (for example two fish or two jugs) so he always goes for these when he sees them.  When you have gathered the resources required to build the hut you have to find the "home" tile, or a number tile that moves you to the home tile.  This tile is the only one where you can build a hut.  After turning in your resources all the memory tiles get turned over and two tiles swap location (this swap is up to the person who just built the hut).  This pushes the memory element a little as to be able to build a hut again after the home tile has been moved you have to remember to where it was moved.

Winning the game is as simple as the first person who builds three huts.  I personally finish the round so occasionally there are ties as two people can finish building in one turn, however this rarely happens.


Review

I love this game and it is hard for my 4 year old to win every time, so we will be able to play it a while still. I also have friend's kids who have played it and one of them was 9 years old and also enjoys playing it with their sibling. It is simple enough for kids to play on their own as they get older.  This game won't last you forever though as it is so simple you or your kids will grow out of it eventually.

This one ranges in price between £21-30 depending on if you buy it in a real shop or online discounter.  Here is another Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS) if you want to buy it from a brick and mortar shop.  It is relatively new so if you have a FLGS near you - you should be able to find it there or order it from them.