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Friday, February 7, 2020

North Star Games Review

I recently discovered North Star Games.  That's one of the fabulous things about gameschooling!  You realize just how many quality board and card game companies there are that you may have not heard of yet!  So when I had the chance to review a few of their titles, I jumped at the chance!  They sent me a family/party game and 2 card games and they are pretty fun!  Let's check them out!




Dirty Pig Card Game - (Ages 6+, 2-6 Players)



This was the first game we played and I wasn't sure I would like it.  But I was wrong!  Its super cute!



Here's what I love:
1.) It's super easy to learn! - We opened the package and were playing the game within just a couple of minutes!  There aren't a lot of different cards or different rules.  Its very straight forward, but lots of fun.

2.) My entire family can play! - As I've mentioned before, we're a family of 5 and a lot of times we find games that only play 2-4 players.  But Dirty Pig can play up to 6, so no one in the family is left out!

3.) Its easy enough for my youngest to play on her own! - A lot of the time, we have to pair our just-turned-five year old with a parent in order to play a game - at least for a while - because its difficult for her to really get the strategy, etc.  But Dirty Pig is super easy to grasp!  Dirty up your own pigs and clean everyone else's using the cards in your hand.  There's strategy, but its not difficult to grasp, so she can join in the game as an independent player!

4.) Its small and portable! - We have a LOT of games!  This can make storage a bit tricky.  So finding games that everyone enjoys, but that are small, is great! Its also great to have games like this that are very portable.  You can throw it in a bag or purse and be on your way!  It also doesn't require a ton of space to play.  Depending on the number of players, you'll have 3-5 cards in front of you and a draw pile and discard pile in the middle.  This makes it a great game for restaurants, doctor's offices, airports, etc.!

Monster Match - (Ages 6+, 2-6 Players)



This is another game from North Star Games' line of cute card games - Happy Planet Games.



What I love:
1.) Again, it's easy to learn.  We went from reading instructions to playing in just a couple of minutes!

2.) It plays up to 6 players as well!

3.) It combines cards and dice! - My kids LOVE dice!  Ok, let's face it.  So do I!  I'm not sure what the appeal is, but dice are super fun!  So quick games like this that involve cute cards AND dice are always a hit!

4.) It makes you think! - The game comes with 2 dice. One die has the numbers 0-5 on it.  The other die has pictures of arms, legs, and eyes on it.  You roll both dice and whatever they land on is what you look for in the spread out monster cards.  For example, if you roll a 3 and the arms, you'll look for a monster with 3 arms.  Its fast paced and fun!

Wits and Wagers: Family Edition - (Ages 6+, Players: 3 - unlimited)



Wits and Wagers is a fun trivia game with a twist! You don't actually have to know the answer to win!  North Star Games has several different versions of the game.



1.) Again, its simple to learn! - The Question Reader reads a question.  Each player (or team) writes down what they think the answer is on their personal Answer Board and lays it face down. Flip the answers face up and put them in numerical order. (All of the questions have numbers for answers.) Each player then places their Meeples (a small one and a large one) on the answer(s) they think is closest without going over.  Then check the answer.  The person who wrote the closest answer gets 1 point, players with a large Meeple on the correct answer get 2 points, and players with a small Meeple on the correct answer get 1 point.

2.) Meeples! - I'm a sucker for Meeples!  Haha!  They make games fun!  And kids love moving them!

3.) You don't have to know the exact answer to win!  - This game is all about getting "close" without going over.  So you don't have to know the right answer in order to win.  You also get a chance to look at everyone else's answers to see if they have a better answer than you and place Meeples accordingly.  This is great!  Trivia games can often be so frustrating and stressful.  Especially, if you're like me and have a terrible memory.  And you're married to someone like my husband, who remembers EVERYTHING HE LEARNED from preschool on!  Haha!  But this game takes that stress away!

4.) It involves learning!  _ Trivia games are great because you learn things from them.  But this game adds a whole other level of learning and educational value!  The kids get to practice finding which number is closest without going over.  This is great for little minds!  They also get to practice some great decision making skills and even learn about risk taking!  Do they place their Meeples on their own answer?  Are they confident they are closest?  Will they win all 4 possible points? Or do they spread out their opportunities to earn points by placing them on other people's answers?

I received these games, free of charge from North Star Games, in exchange for my honest review.


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