Ribbon Ninja Details

Product: Ribbon Ninja
Company: Fat Brain Toy Stores
Website: sempersmartgames.com
Recommended Age Range: Box says 8 and up, but younger kids would enjoy as well as long as older kids went easy on them. My husband and I enjoyed it as well.
Price Range: ~$17
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Review

Probably the biggest endorsement for this game is that it has the words “Ninja” in the title which my 12 and 14 year old think makes it sound baby-ish and yet they were still intrigued enough that they wanted to play. Ordinarily they would avoid anything with Ninja in the title with a ten foot pole. The way the game work is that everyone gets two velcro wrist bands and 3 ribbons. They attach the ribbons to their wrists, reminiscent of flag football.

The players all put their front feet into a circle so they are the correct distance apart. The entire game, their back foot is supposed to stay planted. Everyone tries to rip off everyone elses ribbons until there is one person left standing. You put 2 ribbons on one wrist and 1 on the other (your choice), but once a hand loses all its ribbons, that hand has to go behind your back and can’t try to grab other people’s ribbons anymore. When you lose all your ribbons, you’re out.

The circle seemed a bit unfair given the length of my husband’s arms compared to the young kids, so after a couple minutes we changed our family rules and just specified that you had to stay in the room. This led to utter betrayal when I was going after mt 14 year old and my 8 year old snuck up behind me and grabbed my ribbons. I think it also led to a lot more laughing though.

The one downside of this game is that we have a family of 6 and the box only contains supplies for up to 4 players. I thought about buying a second box, since the color of the ribbons doesn’t really matter, but honestly, I think 6 people running around is too much for one room. We decided to go in groups of 3 and then have the winner of each group (which ended up being my husband and teenage son) go against each other. I have to say, it is fun even for spectators.

I think Ribbon Ninja will become a staple of family tournament days in the future. Normally we do minute-to-win-it games involving knocking over solo cups, trying to get cookies from our foreheads into our mouths, carrying balloons on plates carried by our mouths, that sort of thing. Those games are still a lot of fun, but Ribbon Ninja has the same silly energy, but takes it up a notch. I will definitely be hanging onto this game for awhile!

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Outfoxed Info

Product: Outfoxed
Company: Gamewright
Website: https://gamewright.com/product/Outfoxed
Recommended Age Range: 5 and up (though our newly 4 year old loves this game too)
Price Range: ~$20
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Review

I really love this game. Who doesn’t like a game in which you get to use a special decoder? It is seriously so fun. Whoever came up with the concept behind this game was extremely clever and inventive.

Outfoxed is reminiscent of Guess Who. You have to use yes or no questions (like is the thief wearing white gloves or carrying a briefcase) to eliminate suspects and ultimate figure out which fox stole the pie.

However, instead of asking questions, you move around the board collecting picture clues (like a briefcase) and then use the decoder to figure out whether the suspect has or does not have the clue included in their outfit. The concept behind this game is really pure genius.

I also appreciate that this game is a cooperative game. All the players are trying to catch the thief before he makes it to the end of the game board. Cooperative games are perfect for families with kids covering a wide age span. It is too bad that it is limited to four players, but really, there is no reason why you couldn’t add extra game pieces and have others play as well.

If you wanted to make the game easier to win, you could have the fox only move 1 or 2 spaces for unsuccessful rolls instead of 3. As is, I’d say we lose about a third of the time, which is a good amount, but for kids that are very sensitive to loss, you could make the game easier to win while you are learning the game.

This is currently my absolute favorite game to play with my preschooler and 1st grader. The fact that my third and fifth grader likes playing it as well demonstrates this game’s wide appeal.

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Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza Info

Product: Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
Company: Dolphin Hat Games
Website:  www.dolphinhat.com
Recommended Age Range: 4 and up, kids under 5 or 6 might get discouraged due to slower reflexes, fun for teenagers and adults
Price Range: ~$10
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Review

This game is reminiscent of Slap Jack. However, it is much more entertaining for people of all ages and can by played be a large group. The stack is divided evenly among the number of players. As they take turns laying down cards, the players say “taco,” “cat,” “goat,” “cheese,” “pizza.” If the word matches the picture, everyone slaps the pile. The last person to slap has to take the whole stack. Unlike Slap Jack, the object is to get rid of your cards.

There are also a few cards with special instructions that my kids think are hilarious. For example, if a Narwhal card is flipped, everyone claps above their head to make a horn, then slaps the deck.

Everyone in my family thinks this game is fun. Even the three year old, who frequently is last to slap and has to take the deck, loves it. Initially, my husband and I were giving him a chance to slap before us. However, despite explaining to him that he DIDN’T want to be last, he insisted he did. He really wanted all those cards.

Even though my husband and I were sort of cheating, by letting our youngest kids slap the deck before us, we could still make it challenging for our oldest kids to win. To win, you need to be out of cards AND the first person to slap the deck at the appropriate time. Even though I never got close to running out of cards, as long as I slapped before my older kids, they were still in the game.

Some other things I love about this game are that many people can play (or just 2) and it doesn’t take very long. When you have a big family with lots of different ages, being able to squeeze in 10 minutes of quality family time into a hectic day is priceless. I also appreciate that the deck of cards doesn’t take up very much space. I’m sure our Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza games will get more competitive as the kids get older, but I see this one being replayed a lot in the years to come.

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Dinosaur Escape Game Info

Product: Dinosaur Escape Game
Company: Peaceable Kingdom
Website: gamewright.com
Recommended Age Range: 3 and up
Price Range: ~$20
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Review

In my ideal reality, our family would be a table top gaming family. I envision us sitting down for a family game or pairing off to play with each other on a daily basis. However, at the moment, I am lucky to squeeze in a family game once or twice per week. Part of the reason is that life is just so darn busy sometimes. The other reason is because it can be really difficult to include the younger kids in our play.

This game is a quick and easy solution to both problems. It only takes about 10 to 15 minutes to play AND the 5 year old fully understands how to play on his own. Even the 3 year old can play with help. Another great feature of this game is that my 7 and 9 year olds WANT to play as well. It is not so easy that it is boring for them.

I love that it is cooperative. I want my kids to have practice playing competitive games and losing, but who has time for that kind of drama all the time? This way, we all win or we all lose together. The bigger kids are motivated to HELP their younger siblings so that they move their dinosaur in the right direction to maximize their chances of winning.

This game helps kids to work on their memory, concentration, focus, social skills, and even critical thinking. There is a little TINY bit of strategy involved since if you waste too much time exploring the same locations, the volcano might erupt and the game will be lost. I frequently don’t enjoy playing little kid games, but Dinosaur Escape is an exception to that rule. I am grateful for the painless family bonding it provides.

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Product: Ruckus Junior
Company: Imagination Games
Recommended Age Range: 3+
Price Range: ~$20
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Review: I homeschool my kindergartner and 2nd grader. We interact all day long. I have a 1 year old as well, so obviously he requires a fair bit of attention. Sometimes my 3 year old gets a little lost in the shuffle. Occasionally I make time to try to connect with him one on one, but a lot of the time I feel like my efforts fall flat.

Around Christmas, I was looking for games that we could play as a family without excluding the 3 year old. Ruckus Junior is absolutely perfect. It’s really fun, the rules are super easy to understand, and best of all, it is easily modified to make it based entirely on luck, so the 3 year old actually has a shot of beating his older siblings and parents.

We opened up the Ruckus Junior box and it took about 2 minutes for me to figure out how to play. Setup? Deal each person 7 cards and make a draw pile. Lay down any sets of 2 or more matching cards in front of you. Game play? If you have a card in your hand that matches a set an opponent has in front of them, you can steal their set. When no one can play, everyone gets a new card.

To make this easier for my 3 year old, we modified the game so that all the players take turns like a standard card game. On your turn, if you can steal, you do it. If you can’t, you begin your turn by drawing a card (and then seeing if you can steal or add to a set you already have). It’s not quite the same as the makers intended, but with this change, which removes the speed element, the 3 year old absolutely has a chance to win.

A couple week ago, my husband took the older kids skiing for the day. When the 1 year old went down for his nap, I really wanted to make an effort to do something fun with the 3 year old. I almost never have an opportunity to do something with him alone (especially not without constant interruptions).

The joy on my 3 year old’s face the first time he and I played this game was absolutely priceless. Each time he was able to take one of my sets, he would practically burst from happiness. In contrast, each time I stole one of his sets, he would get a sad, pouty look on his face, but he wouldn’t cry. All in all, I think it was good practice for being a good sport and learning the all important game playing concept of: “you win some, you lose some.”

Since that day, I’ve played with him alone one more time, which was just as fun, and we’ve played as a family 3 times. My family has gotten better at playing it each time. I will say that it’s one thing for a child to get their set taken by a parent, but it’s an entirely different level of agony to have a sibling steal their set. The first time we played, we had to stop so my biggest kids could have a lesson in sportsmanship. However, the more we play, the better they get at being gracious losers, and the more fun we have.

This is definitely a game I’ll keep in my game closet for a long, long time. I assume one day we’ll graduate to the non-junior version of Ruckus, but I may even still save this version with the friendly cartoon animals for my grandkids. It takes up barely any space and it’s so much fun!

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Product: Enchanted Forest
Company: Ravensburger
Website: www.ravensburger.com
Recommended Age Range: 4+
Price Range: ~$25
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Comments: My kids received this game for Christmas over a month ago. I’m a huge fan of board games, but our game closet is already pretty packed, so I have to be selective. We almost didn’t get this one, because the price is a little higher than I’m used to paying. However, I’m extremely glad that we did. It is a great game to play with all ages, because it’s fun for adults, but even the littlest kids can understand the concept. My 7 year old son loves it so much, he’s even played it on his own with his friends a few times. (I love when I don’t have to participate!) On his birthday recently, his dad was going to take him skiing, but he wanted to play Enchanted Forest instead.

The main concept behind this game is that all the players are on a search for a specific treasure (like Jack’s beans or Cinderella’s glass slipper). You move around the board looking under trees for that specific treasure. After a treasure is located and earned, another card is flipped over with a different treasure to search for. The first person to earn 3 treasures is the winner. Here’s the trick: If you remember what is underneath ALL the trees as you hunt for a treasure, you might already know where the next treasure is when the card is flipped over. Therefore, even if someone is losing, it’s possible for that person to earn 3 treasures in a row if they just remember where everything is. I think that makes this game fun.

I think one of the reasons why I most like this game is because after reading the book Moonwalking with Einstein a couple years ago, I like to practice memory tricks. One trick is that it’s easier to remember things in pairs. For example, you can remember that the trees with Little Red Riding Hood’s cape and Hansel and Gretel’s Lollipop are next to each other. It is even easier to remember when you make a mental image (like Little Red Riding Hood eating the lollipop). The crazier the image, the easier it is to remember. Another trick is to picture yourself going on a walk seeing these images in order. You can picture yourself walking through the Enchanted Forest and first you come across Little Red Riding Hood eating the lollipop, then the 3 Little Pigs climbing Rapunzel’s castle, etc.

Kids are pretty good at just remembering where stuff is. I need my memory tricks. All of us have fun. Well, except the 4 year old who doesn’t like to lose. However, sometimes we only play a quick game to see who can find the first treasure. She has just as good odds as everyone else when we play this way. When we play a full game for 3 treasures, I usually win. (I’m competitive like that.) As my kids get older, I’ll teach them my secrets. Ancient memory tricks or not, this game is definitely a keeper.

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Product: Set Junior
Company: SET Enterprises
Website: www.setgame.com
Recommended Age Range: 3+
Price Range: ~$10
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: You know how some games just seem “smart” (like chess)? To me, Set is one of those games. I first learned about Set when I saw my incredibly brilliant and amazing college roommate playing by herself in our dorm room freshman year. We played together for awhile (I lost badly) and I fell in love. I ended up buying my own set so I could practice on my own. While multiple people can play each other by racing to find sets, it’s also a fun game to play on your own, kind of like Solitaire, but more satisfying.

I loved Set so much that when my oldest was about 4, I bought him this Set Junior game that claims to be for kids 3 and up. The adult Set game is just a deck of Set cards. The junior version has a double-sided board. On one side, all kids have to do is match the Set cards to images on the board. Theoretically, it teaches kids HOW to make sets, but that understanding is not really necessary. On the other side of the board, the child can advance to a real Set game. The board is not really needed at all, but the fact that it shows the 12 blank spots to lay out your cards helps the players remember to turn over new cards.

When my son was 4, he had fun playing the beginner/matching side of the board a few times. However, it wasn’t very fun for me (unlike the real Set game) and he lost interest quickly. I was pretty disappointed. We ended up putting it in the closet for a couple years. Now that he’s almost 7, we just brought it out again a week ago. We played the beginner side of the board a couple times and it helped him really understand how to make sets. Then we flipped the board over and tried playing a few real games. He’s not super fast, but he gets it. Instead of racing, we’ve been playing by taking turns finding sets (as the junior version instructions suggest).

I still have the adult version which has more cards in it (80 vs. 27), but I think we’ll stick with the junior version for awhile longer. Why? 1) Having the board to help you lay out the cards really does help us remember to always have 12 cards showing. 2) Having less cards makes the game take less time, which is still a plus at his age. 3) If his 4 year old sister decides she wants to play with us, we can just flip over the board and play an easier game. I’m pretty sure even his 2 year old brother could match the cards to the board.

For all those reasons, Set Junior really is more family friendly for families with young kids. However, it’s never going to be my preschoolers’ top choice. If a family doesn’t have young kids, the adult version of Set would definitely be more than sufficient. There is absolutely no reason why my 6 year old couldn’t be playing the adult version if we made the same modifications (fewer cards and taking turns instead of racing). However, if you have 4 or 5 year olds in your family who might want to play with the bigger kids, this Set Junior game might be right for you.

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Product: Color Code
Company: Smart Games
Website: www.smartgames.eu
Recommended Age Range: 4 and up
Price Range: ~$20
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: Our family loves all the Smart Games puzzles. The only problem is that many of them are pretty similar (Bunny Peek-a-Boo, Camelot Jr., Castle Logix, Trucky 3, Smart Car, etc.) in that the child is manipulating 3 dimensional shapes to solve a puzzle. We like those games too, but sometimes I wonder if it was worth buying so many or if they all require and refine the same set of skills. Color Code is not really THAT different. The child still has to use spatial reasoning and visualize what happens when one shape is placed in front of another shape. However, the game feels different, because the shapes are flat, not 3 dimensional.

Also, my 5 year old is fairly good at the 3 dimensional puzzles, while my 3 year old struggles with them. Oddly, my 5 year old seems to struggle more with Color Code, while it is one of the few puzzles that seems to come easily to my 3 year old. (To be fair, I do give the 5 year old harder challenges than I give the 3 year old.) It just goes to show how kids have different natural strengths and weaknesses (though I do believe that it’s possible for weaknesses to be improved to eventually become strengths given time and motivation). The box says that Color Code is meant for kids who are 5 and up. My 3 year old does not seem to struggle at all with the easiest “Starter” puzzles that require only 2 pieces to be layered. My 5 year old can do the “Junior” level puzzles that require at least 3 pieces to be layered, but since they are fairly difficult for him, it will probably be a while before he gets to the “Expert” or “Master” levels.

What I think is most interesting is that the child can instantly narrow down which cards will be used for the solution based on the colors in the picture they need to match. For example, a picture might be made of purple and green shapes, so the child will start by finding the purple and green cards. However, if my 5 year old struggles long enough to make the available purple and green pieces form the specified shape, he will eventually resort to bringing in other color cards, like red or blue. As an adult, I know this will never work, but I think it’s so interesting that he tries anyway. At first, I tried to help him see his mistake, but I’ve come to realize that there’s no harm in letting him try. He eventually realizes on his own that his technique is not going to work and goes back to manipulating the right colors.

I won’t deny that Color Code has resulted in a bit of frustration in my house at times, but I think a little frustration is good for kids, and my son feels so proud when he finally solves the challenge on his own. This is one of the games that we’ve purchased that I’ve never questioned was worth the cost.

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Product: Zoologic
Company: FoxMind
Website: www.foxmind.com
Recommended Age Range: 5 to 10 years
Price Range: $20-$25
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: I love puzzle games. I’ve loved them my entire life. Multiplayer games are fun too, but they are mostly fun for the interaction. Puzzle games are fun all on their own, simply for the pleasure that comes with solving a challenging problem. I want my kids to become familiar with this sense of satisfaction. I want them to know the joy that is possible when we work hard on something difficult and finally figure it out.

When I was a kid, I used to always love doing logic puzzles. The kind with little boxes that you “X” out to say that Suzy won’t sit next to Timmy or that Fred likes to play soccer. When my kids are a little older, I definitely need to find one of those books. However, really, this game is even better. It poses similar sorts of problems requiring you to organize all the information and figure out where everyone goes, but you get to solve the problem in a hands on way with real pieces that you move around.

Basically, there are 4 animals (mouse, cat, dog, and angry dog) and 3 foods (cheese, fish, and bone) and rules about who can’t be next to what. Each animal can’t be placed next to a food that they will eat (such as a mouse next to cheese) and each animal can’t be placed next to their enemy (like a cat and mouse). Basically, you have to place all the animals on the board to maintain a very careful balance where everyone is happy. This is really easy to teach to kids, because if my 5 year old accidentally placed a mouse next to cheese, I would pick up the mouse tile and move it over to the cheese saying “om nom nom…yummy yummy”. If he put a dog next to the cat, I would pick up the dog and say “woof woof woof” in a gruff voice to the cat. He got it. This is the sort of thing kids are great at understanding.

However, while he was able to do the first several puzzles (out of 60), he’s not that good yet at thinking logically and sequentially. He’s still in more of a trial-and-error stage, but that’s perfectly okay. He’ll get there.

However, the main reason why I think this game is amazing is that my husband and I (both with PhDs in engineering), had a blast trying to solve the last puzzle. One night, after the kids went to bed, I decided to try it just to see how hard it was. I’d been working on it for about 5 minutes when my husband came over to see what I was doing. He immediately started to “help” which is really hard in a one player game, so I just let him have a turn first since I had other things to do anyway. Over the next several minutes he said about 3 times, “I think I got it!…No, wait.” Finally, about 20 or 30 minutes later, he finally said, “I did it!” I said, “Great! Now take all the pieces off. I don’t want to see the answer.” Another 20 or 30 minutes later, I finally got it too…WAY past my bedtime.

So basically, given that even my 3 year old can do the first puzzle and the last puzzle is fun for the nerdiest of adults, I have to assume that this puzzle game is great for everyone. I highly recommend it.

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Product: Three Little Piggies
Company: SmartGames
Website: www.smartgames.eu
Recommended Age Range: 3-4 years
Price Range: ~$25
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: I bought this game for my daughter who is a couple months shy of 3 and a half. She also has Castle Logix made by the same company for the same age range and Bunny Peek-a-Boo, meant for kids 2 and up by the same company. She was not able to do Bunny Peek-a-Boo at all until she was over 3 and even now, she’s only able to do the starter puzzles. She’s beginning to be able to do Castle Logix, but even the easiest puzzles take her a while to figure out.

This Three Little Piggies game was appealing when I discovered it, because the other games she has feature no story or plotline. She loves the story of the three little pigs, so I thought this game might be easier for her to understand than the others. Maybe she doesn’t understand why I’m asking her to spend time replicating the picture in the other games she has, but she instinctually knows that those little piggies need protecting from that big bad wolf.

We just got the puzzle in the mail today and I think the age range of 3-6 is appropriate on the low end and too high on the upper end. My 3 year old understands what needs to be done and was able to do the first two puzzles by herself (her attention span doesn’t last longer than that). However, they were challenging for her. They each took her between 5 and 10 minutes. After she did two puzzles, we gave her 5 and a half year old brother a turn. This puzzle was way too easy for him. We eventually skipped to the hardest puzzle and he was still able to do it in under 2 minutes.

There are a few things I really liked about this game. First, it comes with a wordless picture book telling the story of the 3 little pigs. Both of my kids really liked the pictures and I was not expecting to find a book in the game, so that was a pleasant surprise. I “read” the book to them by describing what was happening in each picture and they loved it. One of the pictures in particular of the wolf yelling in pain after he kicks the brick house made my kids laugh out loud.

Another thing I like about this game is that after my 3 and 5 year olds were done with their challenges, they spent about 15 minutes playing together with the pieces, essentially acting out the story of the 3 pigs. That was super cute. Another happy surprise was that unlike the other games we have, there are actually 2 different types of challenges. Today we tried the challenge where you have to hide the pigs in their house from the wolf, but there are also puzzles where the goal is to fit the houses on the playing board with the pigs outside their houses. I’m not sure there is as much of a story behind that secondary goal, but it’s nice to have a whole other set of challenges.

I do have one complaint regarding this game. I think it would have been better if they had made the 3 pigs and the wolf just a tiny bit bigger so that they would fit more snugly in the board. They have a rubbery feel, so I think it would have been possible to make it so you had to shove them into their holes, but as it is, they are pretty easy to knock over. This is not a problem at all for my 5 year old. However, my 3 year old seems to solve these puzzles more by trial and error than envisioning where each piece should go. Since I was right next to her to help her, I could fix the pieces every time she knocked them over, but she would not be able to play this game entirely by herself as the pieces needs to be fixed every 20 seconds or so. As she gets older, this will be less of an issue.

Overall, I think this is a great puzzle game for a mid to late 3 or early 4 year old. It gets the child thinking critically and using their spatial reasoning skills. It’s also self-motivating since it’s based on a popular fairy tale so it’s great for encouraging the child to not give up in the face of difficulty. The story book and the little toy pieces which are fun for fantasy play are a nice added bonus.

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