The wonderful folks that created Santa's Sleigh Ride board game were kind enough to send me a copy for review and I'm so glad they did! First, let me give you a little info about my family. We have 3 little ones under 10 years old. We, sadly, haven't played tons of games up until this point. (It's hard to play a game with toddlers running around.) But now that our youngest is finally getting old enough to play games, we've been working on adding more of them into our days. It's really been incredible for our homeschooling and for our family togetherness! It's also been fantastic for getting ALL OF US off of electronics! We love all types of games, but it's hard to find a game that's simple enough for the youngest to play. Enter Santa's Sleigh Ride! Our youngest can play it! - And even win it! There's really no strategy in this game. It's pretty much all luck of the draw. But that's kind of what I was looking for. And even though it's pretty much a game of luck, it's still fun to play! Even mommy and daddy had fun! So let me give you what I think are the pros and cons of the game:
Pros -
1.) As I mentioned, it's easy enough for our not-quite-five year old to play!
2.) It's beautiful! - This game board is so colorful and pretty!
3.) It's a fun way to review the Continents! - As we move along the board, I'll say, "What continent did you just leave? What continent are you on now?" It's a great way to get them familiar with the continents if they're younger - or talk about major cities, etc if they're older!
4.) It's literally anybody's game! During one of our games, our middle child was WAY behind. She had difficulty moving simply because of luck of the draw. She was seriously still at the beginning of the game and we were all near the end. But because of the action cards, she ended up overtaking us all and winning the game!
5.) Because it's anybody's game (see #4), it teaches some perseverance. My husband pointed this out at the end of the game. Our middle was - rightfully - a little frustrated as the game moved on and she fell further and further behind. It was a great opportunity to practice patience and good attitudes during a game. But because of some timely action cards (one that allowed her to switch places with the person in the lead) she ended up winning! Daddy was able to point out the importance of never giving up - even when it looks like you've already lost. It was a great little life lesson!
Cons -
1.) The only con I can think of is that it sometimes difficult to get off of start. You have to pick a #1 card to move off of start, so sometimes you can take a few turns before that happens. But it hasn't really affected us much. You usually get that - or an action card that allows you to move pretty quickly. If it becomes an issue, you can always alter the starting rules by letting everyone roll the die in order to move off of start.
*Note: If you're looking for a strategy-heavy game, this isn't it. But seriously, I don't really consider that a "con" because this game is meant to be family friendly for even little ones.
I received a copy of this game, free of charge, from the creator, in exchange for my honest review. All the opinions are mine. I was not required to post a positive review.
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