Games
Board Games
Boop ($29.99) It takes a lot to innovate on the classic three-in-a-row gameplay of tic-tac-toe, but Boop injects the kinetic energy of cats and kittens to create a totally new gameplay that is challenging, strategic, and immensely fun to play. The game comes with sets of 8 kittens and 8 cats for each of the two players. You start with a library of 8 kittens. The object is to get three cats in a row. You start by taking turns placing the kittens on the quilted bedspread. Get three in a row and you take them off the board and exchange them for three cats in your library. Sounds pretty easy, except that every time you put a kitten on the bed, adjacent kittens get booped over one space (or even off the bed entirely). 8+.
Shobu ($34.99) Can you pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time? This engaging set asks you to do similar multitasking in board game form. Each player gets two nicely crafted wooden boards, one in a light color, the other dark and a set of polished stones. You take turns moving one of your stones on either of your boards. Your can move one or two spaces, but not jumping over or pushing any other stones. Then, on your board of the opposite color your move the stone in the same direction, but now you can push an opponent's stone out of the way, and even off the board. When all of a player's stones are pushed off a board they lose the game. As the name, board, and stones suggest, this game has reverberations of Go and Go-maku. It is elegant, simple, and abstract.
GiiKER Tic Tac Toe Bolt Game ($39.99) I was surprised to find that this set which has multiple variations on the classic game of tic-tac-toe could be so much challenging fun. After all, all you need for tic-tac-toe is a piece of paper and a pencil. Why would I pay nearly forty dollars for a battery powered version? Well, I was wrong; this is a winner.
This toy is one of the best electronic games we’ve tested in recent memory. The box includes a digital version of the game that has a twist. Every fourth piece you put on the board erases an earlier one. This really ramps up the thinking needed to win.
There is also a non-digital variant played with pieces that store in the same box, in which different sized pieces can “swallow up” and cover an opponent’s piece of a smaller size. It makes for an exciting new way to play. A memory sequence game rounds out the mix. Though the electronic version is suitable as a travel game, unfortunately the analog pieces are non-magnetized, lightweight, and would be prone to getting lost on a plane or at the beach. I would love a travel set of the “cover-up” game. Nevertheless, this is a top pick!
Card Games
I've played a lot of card games, from Rummy to Magic The Gathering, but somehow the emergence of the table-top card game market had escaped me. Many of the games can be played solo as puzzles, or by two (or sometimes more) players. Remarkably, some use as few as 18 cards, but come up with nearly infinite playability. Because they take up so little space they are perfect to shove in a backpack, or even your pocket. Unfortunately, most require a stable, broad surface, so I don't make ideal for long car or airplane trips.
Snowfall Over Mountains ($19.99) is a single player game that mixes elements of dominos and construction toys. You start with a single card that shows a snow covered cabin. Over the course of the game you place the other cards onto the table connecting to the cabin tile. At the end of the game you get points added and deducted based upon various criteria. For instance, are the paths in the snow connected to the cabin or will they lead to someone getting lost? There are special tool cards that also affect the scoring. Creating the winter landscape might help keep things cool on very hot summer days. Of all the card games I tested for this segment, this one had the most tiles, meaning it took up the most room. It also had the hardest rules to grasp, and was the most challenging. Though it might be playable (with help) by an eight year old, I think it is much more suited for tweens, teens, and adults.
Our testers loved the predatory (math) fun of Food Chain Island ($12). After randomly placing the animal cards face-up on the table in a four-by-four grid, the object is to be the last animal standing on the island. The basic rule is that animals can "eat" adjacent animals if they have value of up to three less than their own strength. (It reminds me of the old joke, “Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9!”). Each card has an additional, unique rule, that modifies the game play when it eats. For instance, on the next turn an animal must eat a creature no less than a single number less than its own. The mechanics keep the game fresh and constantly evolving, and it has just enough number skills to keep kids thinking.
Sprawlopolis ($12) is a cooperative game for 1 to 4 players in which gamers build a city using tiling cards. Randomly selected cards set special scoring conditions, so the game objectives change every time you play. Then, there are standing rules, like you lose a point for every road tile and you gain a point for cards that have contiguous blocks of the same color. Players take turns placing tiles working toward the common goals. The idea of cooperative gaming might be foreign to those of us raised on Monopoly and Scrabble, but it might lead to less contentious game nights.
Death Valley (12) is a travel-based card game that only uses 18 cards that fit into a neat wallet. The game mixes science and ecology facts into the mix as you try to assemble the best mix of cards into your journey and scrapbook. Not all cards have the same scoring value, and some have special abilities, so the game requires reading and strategy as well as luck.
