Serpentina

Serpentina

Serpentina  (also called Hisss by Gamewright games in this country) is a cute little luck game that involves making sets of rainbow snakes. It's easy for children and not too mind numbing for adults either. 

Serpentina is by Amigo games and is advertised for 4 years and up. If your child understands taking turns and basic colours they can play this game. My little guy was playing this with help from 2.5 years old. I say help, but it was basically a constant reminder that he only got one turn at a time. By nearly 5 he can describe it and play with other children his age. So really this game is great for kids playing together because of the heavy luck and simplicity.

Game Play

Basic game play is draw a card and play that card.  Every player builds the rainbow snakes together on an open space so no one snake belongs to any one player. Winning means the most cards at the end of a game and you get the cards when you have completed any snake.  A completed snake is one with at least one head, one middle and one tail, however in practice usually there are lots of middle pieces. There is one rainbow head and tail that is basically a wild card and can be any head/tail colour.

It's slightly cooperative in that if you draw yellow/orange you attach it to any snake with available yellow or orange slot. However this can emotionally become challenging for little ones as sometimes they see a snake as "thier" snake and then someone else completes it and it goes away. 

This took a little time for me to explain to my son about the snakes being built together but belonging to no one.  He was little but I feel the work was worth it as he better understands cooperative play as well as loosing gracefully (although let's be realistic he's still only 4 so he cried after loosing Dobble today).

Review

As you can see I do love this game and I love that he can now play it with other kids basically without me. The cards are thicker then normal playing cards so we have played this a lot and have loaded it out to friends without it ever being damaged. 

However I do still feel I need to be there while he plays with others his age in case anyone gets upset about loosing a snake they thought was theirs. I think by about the age of 6 I wouldn't need to keep such a close eye. My kid and his best friend play this regularly with no issues as they are used to it together.  It isn't in my top 6 and that's mostly the reason why, it's not quiet cooperative and not really competitive so it isn't perfect for us- although it might be perfect for your kids!

Where to find it

You can find it in this country through the name of Hisss by Gamewright games (which is an american games company). I know that my local games shop usually stocks it when they can get a supply from the USA so it is worth calling and asking your Friendly Local Game Store first before heading online.

As of writing this in July 2019 it looked like Hisss was hard to get a hold of (maybe out of print) so before going and spending a bunch of money on this call your local shops as they might have one lying around. Or check out Board Game Geek and see what prices are roughly going for there as then if its more then about £15 or so pounds its likely its still out of print/stock. 

Cobra Paw

Cobra Paw 

Cobra Paw is a fantastic fast paced game for over 6s that plays up to six players. I mean seriously who wouldn't want to be a ninja cat in training?

The premise is simple, you want to be the fastest ninja cat by getting six tiles before any other player. Players roll dice and try and locate the tile with matching symbols faster then anyone else. I think this is suitable from six if your child can get on with other fast dexterity games like snap, Dobble or Jungle Speed for example. If not then possibly wait till they are older. I do play this game with my nearly 5 year old but as he can't keep up with my speed I don't have as much fun because I have to massively slow my speed down for him to even stand a chance.

I have played this with quick six year-olds and very nearly lost. So really it depends on your kid!

Game play

Cobra Paw is extremely simple dexterity game. While playing it is whoever last got a tile rolls the dice - which means a player might roll two or three times in a row. After the dice are rolled and showing two symbols EVERY player simultaneously looks for the tile and tries to "grab" it. First player to six tiles wins immediately (eight in a two player game).  If the tile is in someone else's collection players are allowed to steal it from them and they have the ability to defend it by grabbing it first.

I really like that grabbing isn't clawing at other players. There are a whole list of "respectful ninja" rules (see picture on the right) that need to be followed. So grabbing in this case is touching the tile with one or two fingers.

Equally there is a way of breaking any ties with multiple players- whomever has their finger closest to the center divot wins the tie. So children with little fingers if they are fast are actually more likely to win a tie.  You also cannot cover any of your tiles so all players can have a chance at seeing them.

Review

This is easily one of my favourite party, family or pub games. It's so quick and competitive you'll play it 3 or 4 times before realising. The other thing I enjoy about this game is the tiles are weighty and sort of like nice domino tiles which means they slide on the table really nicely. The dice a heavy too so overall the feel of this game is really satisfying as well. Definitely worth every cent. Did I mention there isn't any plastic inside the packaging? This feels like a forward step which makes me ecstatic. I realise that the game is still made of plastic, but one step at a time kids. 

For me it's like Dobble with stealing and really how is that not fun?! It's super easy to find online and around although as always I recommend finding it at friendly your local game store. If you can't find it there its also sold at John Lewis, Waterstones and other shops especially around Christmas.

Qwirkle

 Qwirkle

Qwirkle is a really simple game of matching either shapes or colours but with the massive benefit of being a really hard game to master.  You can play easily by not affecting other people or screwing them over, or you can intentionally steal qwirkles (worth lots of points) that people have left wide open.

There is a lot of strategy and flexibility in this game for adults and the simplicity of shapes and colours means that is is fantastic for kids.  Players score points by building lines of shapes or colours and the points are tracked through the round, highest points at the end wins.  The first few times I played this with my young son who was 2 at the time we often just did matching and built a grid without concern for points, but as time went on I slowly introduced the points to him and we have played properly ever since.

The only thing I dislike about this game is if you are colour blind (which I don't actually know anyone who is but there are a lot of people in the world) this game doesn't really have a great way of telling between the colours, so I assume you would need some sort of help if this was the case.


Game Play

Each player is dealt six tiles that they keep hidden from the other players. When I play with my 4 year old (and when he was younger) I allowed our personal tiles to remain face up.  This helped me as I could see what he might do and so left qwirkles open for him until he began to understand the game better, but it is not necessary for learning the game.  I did not give him advice about what/how to play as I wanted him to learn that, but I didn't want to wipe the floor with him in terms of points as I had a massive advantage.  In all the games we play both of us win sometimes and not others and I never allow him to just win all the time, as that isn't fair and it doesn't teach good gaming, he will learn nothing in terms of how to strategize, manage resources, concentration etc if all I ever do is allow him to win.

Alright back to explaining the game play.  After everyone has six tiles the player that can put the longest run of tiles down goes first, sometimes this is two tiles and sometimes it is three or more.  The major rules about placing tiles are 1)place all different shapes of one colour together, or 2)play all different colours of one shape together 3) no doubling up of shapes or colour in one row or column created.
In the picture to the left I could not add a blue circle to either the circle row or to the blue column, however I could add a blue circle to the very bottom right of the yellow column and make a new circle row there.  You are allowed to play as many tiles as fit in a row/column that makes sense.  So you could add 5 different coloured circles to a new row entirely or you could add 1 tile each time.

Any time you spend tiles you take more blind out of a bag of tons, when there are no tiles left play continues but you don't get to replenish your stash, and play continues until someone uses all their tiles.  If you finish all your tiles first you get an additional end game bonus of 6 points.  I often get left with a few tiles that I just can't play before someone else finishes theirs.

Each tile placed gets you one point per tile in your placement. For example in the picture above left if I added a blue diamond to the diamond row I would get 4 points.  If the tiles you place get your a qwirkle (all 6 colours or all 6 shapes) you get the points for your placement as well as a "qwirkle" bonus of 6 points (so usually minimum of 12 points for a qwirkle.  In the photo above left the yellow row is one tile away from a qwirkle, that means if anyone has that one tile and plays it they would very quickly get 12 points.  You do not want to leave "open" qwirkles - ones that are easy to finish up if you can avoid it.  This is a big part of learning the strategy of this game.

Review

I adore this game, it is really simple and enjoyable for adults and children.  It is very easy for a child to just play one or two tiles per turn or as they get better many more.  There is a lot of strategy in this game which means it can advance as your child gets better at noticing what has been placed around his/her tiles.  My son often just shape matches because he finds that easier.  I am usually kind and don't take every qwirkle from him but I do finish a few of them so that he learns what he should be trying to get.  Over time he has really begun to understand the game and now holds off on just putting one shape out at a time, more often looking for twos and threes that match to try and get more points.

At home with adults we play two or three rounds of this all the way to the end and then the scores are all added together for the "ultimate" winner.  This especially helps when you have people learning as they can do badly for their first game then be able to pick themselves up later.

Generally this game is for sale at your Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS) but it can be found easily online. I would be amazed if you couldn't find this in most game shops (even ones like toyrus) as it is hugely popular and a long time classic!

Deducktion

Deducktion

Deducktion is a really simple puzzle by Smart Games which is an educational game company. I like most of the puzzle/games this company produces (not the toys as much) as even though they are educational they are still fun and I think fun is more important than educational.

I haven't said this much in this blog but personally I HATE "educational" labeled games as usually they are bad. They are trying to achieve something parents want without considering that the game needs to be engaging and fun as well.  Also all games are educational you can learn so much from just being in the world around, playing with other people, learning how to take turns etc so why are there specific games centred around education. This is mostly because we want our children having good test scores or going into STEM programs (I realise this isn't always true it just bugs me that it is true sometimes).  Okay off my soapbox.

I always pick games based on whether or not they look fun for me to play, have nice art, are suitable or can be suitable for my child, can travel if that is what I need, and are made of pieces that I can replace if my little one looses them. Most parents don't consider this last one and you should note that Orchard Toys replaces missing pieces for free - so their preschool games can be a really good value for money.

Right, back to Deducktion.  This is a one player magnetic puzzle game that has rules about where/how ducks can be placed on a grid.  It advertises a 6 or up age group but we have been playing it since my son was 3.  The player is trying to solve each of the 48 puzzles included in the game (there is only one way) but they must stay inside the rules created about placing the ducks.  There are small pieces and they are magnetic so please be careful with this game and note that it is not suitable for young children without being monitored.


Game Play

Game play for Deducktion is very simple. There are a few rules about placement (included on the back page of the puzzle) and each puzzle has a solution included.  As my son was a little young for this when we started we have done the Starter puzzles a number of times and have yet to get a Master level one done without significant parent assistance. 

The object of the game is to get all the ducks onto the grid with each colour being adjacent to at least one duck of its colour and the ducks being in rough number order.  I.e. a yellow 1 duck needs to have a yellow 2 duck on a square adjacent to it and a yellow 2 ducks needs a yellow 3 duck adjacent to that and so on.  There are 3 duck colours with 3 different numbers of ducks (yellow has 5, green has 3, and red has 4) which is how each puzzle is able to be solved.  The easier puzzles have a colour and number and a few ducks that "start" the game, where as the more advanced puzzles have a grey duck number and you need to figure out which colour would be able to complete the puzzle with only the number as information. 

The way we play this as a game is one of us takes a turn at a time trying to place the duck in the correct location on the grid.  Playing like this has been important because as we play we remind our son of the rules so that over the course of a year he knows them really well now.  He, after a year of on and off playing, has now do most of the Starter puzzles on his own.  This one to one interaction has been great for travelling as it is magnetic and small so we can play it on our laps while flying or driving.


Review

I really like this puzzle because it is so compact, easy to play and enjoyable for both my son and I. The magnets are good and they come off easily enough for a child but when the game is snapped shut they all stay inside and we haven't lost any despite taking it travelling lots with us.  I also like that now he is able to do some of the puzzles on his own but we haven't gotten to the Master level ones yet so we still will get a few years out of this.  The only negative things I will say is that if you are playing with very young kids the game really has to be one to one and that isn't possible for every parent.  However if you have a 6 year old and you explain the rules I bet they could do it on their own. 

Smart Games have a bunch of other themed puzzles like this as well as a bunch of IQ type puzzles for older kids and adults that are also really fun.  The different themed magnetic ones are different enough that you could own two without crossing over too much.  Eventually we plan on getting the Magic Forest one once we are sick of this duck one as it uses squares with lines and you are trying to make pathways - so slightly different but still enjoyable. Also there is one called Penguin Parade that is labelled at 5 years plus so if you are starting with a young preschooler you might find that one easier, though we have never played that one.

The only thing I dislike about this game is that we have played it so much some of the puzzles pages that are attached through the rings have slightly fallen out, but the price was so cheap (less than £10 I believe) I don't think Smart Games could make it better quality paper without increasing the price a lot.

If you are interested in buying these ask at your Friendly Local Game Store if they sell Smart Games, or check out Smart Games online and they have a search function for the closest retailers.  Before you buy from an online shop check with Smart Games online as they sell them cheaply and might be the best place to get them from.

Dragons Breath

Dragon's Breath

Surprise surprise another game on my list of favourites is a game by Haba! (For those of you already reading this blog you will not be surprised by this) Dragon's Breath is a great little dexterity game where each player gets to be a dragon that is trying to melt a large ice block full of gems. As the ice block melts the gems fall out and then are collected by players. However the best part of this game is the gem collection involves choices from the players, so it is great at teaching children to look at the pile of gems at the top of the ice block and try to guess what might fall in the next round.

I bought this game for my 3.5 year old and we will play it for years definitely. It is a 2-4 players game and nice at all those numbers.  The age says 5 but I mostly thing this is due to it being slightly more complex than say Space Planets and involving lots of small pieces.  As always do not leave children unattended to play games with small pieces - it is just too dangerous.  But I imagine you aren't looking at this blog for only games that kids play alone, Dragon's Breath is a great game that adults will enjoy too.

Game Play

Game set up is pretty easy (see photo above) and within a few months of owning this game my now 4 year old can set it up himself mostly.  He does struggle to pour the gems into the ice pillar but that works on his motor skills so I let him go to it, sometimes he makes a mess and other times it is perfect.

Starting with a player, usually we pick youngest but it doesn't matter, each person takes it in turns to be the red dragon. They do two things on their turn 1) pick a cardboard gem representation the pile of 5, this picking then goes round clockwise until all players have one gem colour in front of them then the start player does 2) blow dragon's breath onto the ice pillar and remove a ring of ice which usually drops some gems *although gems do not have to drop every time.  Then each player takes it in turns to collect the gems that have dropped of the colour they have chosen.  Any colours not chosen go into the holes in the middle of the board, and any that accidentally go into those holes get lost as well.  Players then take any gems they have gained and put them in a little hole behind their player dragon and this becomes their collection hoard. Finally the red dragon passes clockwise to the next player and the round start again. The gem picking then dragon breath happens over and over until all ice rings have been removed.

On the last round any gems left on the centre ice block (see photo on right) do not get collected by players, any other gems are collected as normal.  The board is then lifted to reveal a hidden compartment with the gems each player has collected (see photo on left) and each players gems are counted. Player with the most gems wins.

This is a really simple game with a few choices that the players can make. However if the kids aren't up to making great choices even random selection of coloured gems on their turn will yield some points at the end so it remains easy to play for over 3s. In a two player game each player selects two gem colours instead of one so that you collect more of the gems that fall, but this isn't necessary just more fun as you get higher numbers at the end.


Review

This one has to be one of my all time favourite Haba games for over 3s as it is such a good game.  I have played this with 4 adults and we all enjoyed ourselves nearly as much as a little kid would. I really like this game when I am playing with young and old children as it can be enjoyable and simple for everyone without too much complexity as to confuse the youngest players.

I love this game because it is so simple but really fun for kids. My son loves blowing the dragons breath to melt the ice and this has lead us to a lot of home science experiments about what actually does melt ice (p.s. breath melts it but it takes ages!).  He also loves slotting the little gems into the various holes either for the players or for the centre holes when gems are lost. Even when he is making random choices he gets gems and has even won (though rarely) when playing randomly.  He has learned a lot about looking at the gem pile before making decisions and while he still struggles with this I think by the time he was at the age the game recommends (5 years) he would do much better than he does now.  He even works on his counting as he likes counting all his gems himself. Additionally when we group the gems he has together we can work on other types of counting, for example counting by 2s or 5s etc.

The artwork on this game is lovely as with all the Haba stuff and the pieces are just beautiful as well. The red dragon has amazing detail for a wooden piece and my son has used it in play for attacking things like the car park he owns (as he was pretending it was a castle).  Even the inside of the box, which could have been left blank, has been decorated like a dragon's cave so that the gems actually feel like you are hoarding them. If you can't tell I am a huge dragon nerd and love details like this!  Definitely be aware this has very little pieces so is not suitable for the very young at all.

Anywhere that sells Haba stuff should have this game as it is relatively new (I think it came out in the UK in 2018).  I know this Friendly Local Game Store usually has it but ask if they don't have it online as they might be able to get it as well.  I think this game was in the £16-20 price range but I bought it at a convention where it was priced cheaper than normal, either way it would easily be worth every penny of £20 if you find it for that.  We have owned this since June 2018 and have easily played it over 30 times in those 6 months.

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!