Apples to Apples

OVERVIEW

What it is

This is a card game for a large group of people, though game play could commence with as few as 4. Players lay cards and get points for guessing correctly which card from their hand the dealer is most likely to pick. 

Quick start rules

Players take turns as the dealer and lay a green card with an adjective. All other players anonymously submit red cards (mainly nouns) from their hand. The dealer chooses the one that s/he feels best fits the adjective provided. The player whose card is chosen gets that card (and corresponding point). The next player becomes the dealer and so on until someone gathers enough cards/points to win (number of points to achieve a win is set based on number of players in the game). 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

We first played this as part of a board game night and somewhat reluctantly, as we liked the strategy games at this particular night the best. Were we ever wrong! The game could be as hilarious or as serious as we liked, and we learned a lot about the gamers with whom we played in quick order. Having knowledge of the dealer previously gave some advantage in some cases, but not always, and this game seems to have a fair amount of "beginner's luck" associated with it.

WHAT WE THINK NOW

 If we have a large group of people and need a game that requires little skill to play and a lot of appeal for a wide range of individuals, Apples to Apples is our go-to game. We have yet to play this with a group that didn't like it. 

Our 7 year old has played this successfully, but it is a game much more geared towards adults. Many of the cards are not people/things that a younger child would know.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Suggested ages

Box:

12+

Developmental Skills Actually Necessary:

The ability to read the cards and understand the instructions of the game

Rating and Maturity:

Depends (a LOT!) on the group playing, but is not overtly anything other than family friendly

Play Time

30 minutes

Space Necessary

Space for as many individuals as are playing, plus a central location to place cards (does not need to be large)

Would You Rather?

OVERVIEW

What it is

This is basically a version of Truth or Dare in board game form. 

Quick start rules

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

There are very few games that we own that I really don't like. This is probably top on that list. Although the game is entitled "Would You Rather?" and the instructions imply that it is about asking questions and finding out about the people in your group, the only way to win is by doing the dares, many of which are gross or obnoxious. 

WHAT WE THINK NOW

We have only played this one once. Although it's still in our closet, we're seriously considering giving it away because we didn't like it that much. We may give it one more chance, but I don't think it's something that our group is particularly interested in.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Suggested ages

Box:

Developmental Skills Actually Necessary:

Rating and Maturity:

Our Final Assessment:

Play Time

Space Necessary

Stay Alive

OVERVIEW

What it is

This is a basic puzzle game with an overly exciting name. Players move rows to drop opponents marbles down. Last man standing wins. This is an older game and may no longer be available except as a collectible. 

Quick start rules

Rows are arbitrarily and randomly pulled out via levers on all four sides of the board. Players place their marbles on the playing board. Taking turns, players pull the levers one "click" to make opponent's marbles fall. When only one color remains on the board, that player wins. 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Frankly, I didn't know what to expect of a game entitled "Stay Alive" and was a little disappointed that it had to do mainly with marbles falling. I played first with my 3 year old and my 7 year old and they found it quite engaging and continued playing after I grew bored. 

WHAT WE THINK NOW

I'm still not that interested in this game. There doesn't appear to be a lot of skill involved (it was pretty easy to determine how to make opponents' marbles drop). My children really enjoyed it, though, and there aren't many games that a 3 year old and 7 year old can play together on fairly equal footing. 

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Suggested ages

Box: 

8+

Developmental Skills Actually Necessary:

The ability to move the levers appropriately and not eat the marbles.

Rating and Maturity:

Suitable for all ages

Our Final Assessment:

Play Time

10-20 minutes

Space Necessary

Very little

Mastermind

OVERVIEW

What it is

Mastermind is a simple two player puzzle game similar to Pico Fermi Bagels. One player sets a secret code. The other player tries to guess it. Then you switch roles. Players get points based on how many tries it takes the codebreaker to get the secret code correct. 

Quick start rules

The Codesetter puts four colored pegs in any order they choose into the secret location. The Codebreaker places four colored pegs in the first row of the board. Then the setter places small pegs, either white (right color, wrong location) or red (right color, right location) into holes beside the colored pegs. The Codebreaker doesn't know which pegs these correspond to, and play continues as the Codebreaker guesses until s/he gets the right combination. The Codesetter receives as many points as tries that the Codebreaker needed to get the secret code and the two switch roles. Play continues until someone receives the predetermined number of points. 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

This is a very simple game to learn. There's quite a bit of luck that goes into the first couple of tries, but skill is needed as the Codebreaker continues through the tries. The game could be over relatively quickly if one player is vastly underskilled, though. 

WHAT WE THINK NOW

Younger children may be easily frustrated by this game, but my 7 year old found it not particularly challenging on her first try. This is a very fun, fast game.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Suggested ages

Box: 

8+

Developmental Skills Actually Necessary:

Strategic thought, dexterity to place pegs (or have help placing pegs)

Rating and Maturity:

Suitable for all ages

Our Final Assessment:

Play Time

Depends on number of points you have determined, but could be over in as short as 20 minutes. 

Space Necessary

Very little

Adult Game Closet

Whoonu
The Game of Life
Sorry
Mastermind
Hungry Hungry Hippos
Monopoly
Electronic Life
Go
Creationary
Pirates of the Carribean DVD Game
Battleship
Stay Alive
Lost: The Game
The Da Vinci Code Board Game
Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts
Clue Tin
Disney Monopoly Tin
Would You Rather?
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader
Apples to Apples
Merv Griffin's Crosswords
Trivial Pursuit
Disney Trivial Pursuit
Cranium
The Game of Scattergories
The Game of Sniglets
Taboo
Picitonary
Amoeba
Catch Phrase
Othello
Balderdash
UpWords
Blokus
Planet Hollywood The Game
Pass the Popcorn
Rack-O
MindTrap
Big Brain Academy
Sequence
Lost Cities
Dominion
Munchkin Deluxe (with Dungeons Expansion)
Guesstures
Power Grid
Settlers of Catan
Stratego
Ricochet Robots
Smash Up (with Cthulhu expansion)
Carcassone Big Box 2
Carcassone The Castle
Axis and Allies
Risk
Risk 2210
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Hero Quest Game System
Key to the Kingdom
Deluxe Turntable Scrabble
Boggle
Twilight Struggle
Scrabble en Espanol
Malarky
Where In the World
Probe
Like Minds
Therapy The Game
Puerto Rico
Dirty Minds
Dark Tower
Mad Gab
ImaginIff
Sleuth
Blink
Top Spin
Miles Bourne
Spicy Farkle
Cuponk
Logic Links
Bunco
Phase 10
Yahtzee Hands Down
Scrabble Slam
Fluxx
Giraffalaff Limbo
Lord of the Rings Risk

Don't Break the Ice

OVERVIEW

What it is

Don't Break the Ice is a kinetic game ideal for the preschool and early elementary crowd. You 

Quick start rules

Place the ice into the blue holder. Place the guy into his designated spot. Each player takes turns knocking out one piece of ice using their hammer. The player who knocks the guy into the ice loses. 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

We were in search of kinetic games for our then-2 year old. She really enjoyed this one, though she regularly lost. We liked that "losing" often involved a lot of laughter (The guy fell down! It was absolutely hilarious, no matter whose fault it was.). And game play was really quick, so you could either fit in a bunch of sessions or you could play in just a couple of minutes when you didn't have a lot of time but just needed a board game fix. 

WHAT WE THINK NOW

This is a cute but really fast game, given the amount of set up. While there's some strategy involved, it's definitely preschool-oriented, so strategy basically consists of "don't rip the ice out from right next to the guy." 

My three year old says this is a fun game and it is easy.

My seven year old said it was okay. 

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Suggested ages

Box: 4-6 years old

Developmental Skills Actually Necessary:

Players need the ability to take turns and strike hard enough to knock the ice out. While this isn't particularly hard, if you're looking at playing with a 1-2 year old, it might be just a bit too much to handle. Additional skills are needed if the child intends to win: the ability to realize that knocking out the last piece of ice holding "the guy" in will make him fall. 

Rating and Maturity:

Totally family friendly. If you think about it too hard, as our seven year old tends to, you may get a little upset about the notion of the guy falling through the ice, "potentially to his death." But you have to be a little bit dark to think of it that way, and most kids aren't going to worry too much about that! 

Play Time

Maybe 5-10 minutes, depending on how careful everybody is being. Set up takes longer. 

Space Necessary

About 2 feet. Very little space required, unless you have a child who tends to jump around a lot, and then you just need whatever space that child requires.

Sofia the First Royal Prep Academy

OVERVIEW

What it is

Sophia the First is the newest princess from Disney. She appeals to the preschool crowd and her TV show is shown on Disney Jr. With the intention to teach "princess morals" (like sharing and being graceful), the game, like the TV show, focuses on important skills for young children to have. However, actual game play means that these morals can be quickly ignored if you just want to play the game. It is, at base, a two player "find and seek" game, best for a parent, guardian or caretaker to play with a single preschool aged child. 

Quick start rules

This game is very simple to learn and very simple to play. It is usually best to start with a Princess Sofia preschooler and an adult hider. The adult hider draws cards and hides charms. The Princess Sofia player, wearing the pink bracelet, spins the spinner (to determine how many windows to open) and tries to find the hidden charms. If s/he finds one, s/he hangs it on his/her bracelet. If the hider draws a prince/princess helper card, use that token to show "Princess Sofia" where a charm is. Game play stops when you run out of cards or Princess Sofia finds all of the charms. 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

This is a really cute game with the most difficult initial set up we've had to deal with for a preschool game. Don't do what we did and hang all of the windows backwards. It's hard to undo and you may break the board in trying to fix it. However, game play itself is really cute and easy. It readily appealed at first blush to our 3 year old. 

WHAT WE THINK NOW

This is still a really cute game. You can mix up game play by introducing the princess morals or house rules. 

Our preschooler likes the game and will play it a couple of times through, but noted that she likes it a little less than she likes her pink sparkly Megablocks with the unicorn.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Suggested ages

Box: 3+

Developmental Skills Actually Necessary:
I probably wouldn't go much below 3 here, as there are a number of small parts. Although an adult should be right with the child at all times, the pieces would be very easy to swallow. Adults could help a child easily with any of the additional tasks, but a slightly older child could be challenged to read the numbers (to 4) and count out how many windows s/he opened. 

Rating and Maturity:

You do not need to be mature at all to play this game. This is solidly G!

Our Final Assessment:

Play Time

Space Necessary