So let's actually start with the game that I was the least interested in. When the box arrived, I thought they all looked great. But L.L.A.M.A. Card Game was probably the game I overlooked. I was focused on the beauty of Escape from the Hidden Castle, the educational appeal of Code Stack, the intrigue of Saboteur, and the wacky fun of Fruit Punch. L.L.A.M.A. kind of escaped my notice. Boy was I wrong about this one! Haha! I pulled it out over the weekend because it looked to be easy to teach to the family. And it was! And the whole family LOVED IT! They beg to play it now!
So let me tell you what I like:
1.) It's easy enough for my 4 year old to play! - That's HUGE for me! Our little one often feels left out because she can't play the games. We try to include her by letting her "team up" with mom or dad, but she was absolutely thrilled to play on her own. And she just needed some basic reminders on what cards she could play. Plus, because you can lay down the same number or 1 more (so you can put a 5 down on top of a 5, or you can put a 6 down on top of a 5), it's a great beginning addition practice for small kids. It helps them learn to add 1!
2.) Mom and Dad enjoy playing! Again, this is HUGE for me! There's nothing worse that your kids loving a game and you'd rather get a tooth pulled than play it. Haha! But we really enjoyed this one! In fact, Daddy asked to play it specifically!
3.) The chips for counting your score throughout the rounds are great too. Great counting practice for the littles. And even a little bit of money practice (exchanging 10 white chips that are worth 1 point each for 1 black chip worth 10 points). And I love that you don't have to look for paper and a pen to keep score. The chips are included in the game!
4.) Its a quick game. This is great because we can play it even if we don't have tons of time. Its also because someone can go out for a hand or two (like a mom dealing with laundry - or a 4 year old who wants to play with blocks for a while - haha). Everybody else doesn't have to stop the fun because one person needs to stop for a while.
5.) Its portable. It fits easily in a purse, so its great for travel!
I was excited by the educational possibilities of this game. But honestly, I wasn't sure my kids would like it. I was wrong! They beg to play! (The colorful pieces may have something to do with that! Haha!) So here's what I like:
1.) It's great spelling help. - Your child has to create a word using the stacking pieces for you to try and figure out. (Every piece has several letters on it.) This causes them to have to think about how words are spelled. To help my daughter, I let her use a beginner's children's dictionary to find words. This also helped her familiarity with the dictionary, so win-win!
2.) Many different ages can play! Spelling/word games can be tricky to play as a family. If it's easy enough for a young player, then it's too easy for older ones. But Code Stack has solved that problem! Younger kids make up larger words for older kids/adults to figure out (letting them use a dictionary really helps) and older kids/adults make up smaller words (3-4 letters) for younger kids.
3.) It really is challenging. I thought this game would be so simple. I had my daughter give me a 5 letter word to figure out. It was REALLY HARD! Haha! It was definitely a great brain challenge! Something Mom and Dad could even play without the kids!
This is another one that is great for little kids to play along with the big ones! I love games where the whole family can have fun! You're flipping over cards and trying to be the first to find the group of 5 of the same fruit. If you're the first, you punch the squeaky banana! Its a barrel of laughs and fun for up to 6 players!
So what do I like?
1.) Up to 6 people can play! That means all 5 of us can play! Some card games are only good for 2-4 players - and that's fine, but I love when we can all play as a family!
2.) It keeps the family engaged. Its amazing how much a little, squeaky banana can keep the fun rolling! Haha!
4.) It's simple enough for little ones to play. Although this game can be played with the whole family, it's also simple enough for my kids to play on their own! That's always amazing because sometimes mom is busy. (Remember that laundry I spoke about? Yeh, it's pretty much NEVER ENDING!) So it's great to have a game that's simple enough for them to enjoy on their own!
5.) Its another great basic addition practice (adding up to 5)!
Another great card game! In this game of 3-10 players, some people are miners and some are saboteurs. The miners are trying to get to the gold and the saboteurs are trying to keep that from happening. And nobody knows who is on which team!
What I like:
1.) It can be played with up to 10 people! This is a great party game! Great for get togethers! Christmas Eve with family comes to mind! Its a bummer that it can't be played with only 2 players (although I believe there are online instructions to turn it into a two player game). But there's also a 2 player Saboteur Duel game, so you can get them both! And truly, while I'm attracted to games that can be played as 2 player, it's always awesome to have some fun games that be played by larger numbers of people!
2.) The cards are so fun! - Basically you're laying tunnel in an effort to get to the gold. The tunnel cards and dwarf cards are so cute and well done!
3.) The box is really well made! - OK, I know this may seem ridiculous. But I've bought so many card games with cheap, thin boxes with the flip top that ends up tearing when you try to open it because everything is so stuffed inside. The Saboteur box (along with the L.L.A.M.A. Card Game box) are 2 pieces. No ripping to open the box! And they're super sturdy! As the mom of kids who have ripped many card game boxes in their enthusiasm to get the game started, I appreciate a well-made box!
This is a beautiful redesign of a previous game called "Midnight Party." Basically, you're moving your party guests around the gameboard and trying to avoid getting by the Phantom! How fun!
What I liked:
1.) The beauty of the game! - I'm gonna be honest. I have a LOT of games. (And a LOT more on my wishlist! Haha!) But I have rarely seen a game that was so esthetically pleasing! I'm not sure what it was, but I fell in love with the box design! The blues and yellows on the cover art just incredible. And the inside is so colorful and fun! As soon as my daughter saw the game out, she said, Mom! That is so pretty! Can we play that castle game?"
2.) The board is two sided! - As I mentioned, this is a redesign of an older game called "Midnight Party." I've never played Midnight Party, so I didn't know that until I got the game and read the instructions. Most companies that redesign a game, just redesign and go from there. If you're a lover of the original, well, you're out of luck! You'll have to search thrift stores or ebay and just pray you're lucky. But the folks at AMIGO were awesome enough to make the gameboard TWO SIDED! One side is the redesign and the other side is the original! And they've included instructions for both! I love that! It's like have 2 games in one!!!
3.) The pieces are sturdy! The pieces are thick and sturdy and come with plastic stands! This is amazing! I recently pulled out an old game we had that we'd never played. It had stand up people as well, but the stand were just flimsy thick paper. They didn't stay up and it made the game a nightmare to play! SO I was thrilled to see that Escape from the Hidden Castle had such well-made pieces!!!
So what are my overall impressions? AMIGO Games produces fun, well thought out, well made games for all ages! I'll definitely be back to check out more of their games!
*I received these games, free of charge, from AMIGO Games, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine. I was not under any obligation to post a positive review.
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