Grandpa Beck's Games = Perfect Gifts!

I'm always looking for games that make great gifts - either for my own kids or for their friends.  But I have some rules for gifting games to others:

1.) The game must be simple to learn. - I've made the mistake of giving complicated games as gifts before.  If I'm giving them to a fellow game-obsessed family, its ok. But if I give it to a family that isn't familiar with modern board games, the instructions can often seem overwhelming. So my current rule is that if I don't know their board game preferences, I stick with games that don't have instructions that may freak them out. 

2.) The game must be visually appealing. - The first thing most people do is look at components.  If they don't look interesting, most people won't invest the time in reading the instructions or playing the games.

3.) The game must be something we enjoy. - I only gift games that we've played and enjoyed.

Thankfully, Grandpa Beck's Games has some fantastic titles that check all these boxes!

Let's take a look at a few, shall we?

1.) Cover Your Assets - 

Plays: 2-6 players, Ages: 7+, Play Time: 20-40 minutes

In Cover Your Assets, you're acquiring assets by pairs of cards and stacking them in your asset pile.  But if you have a particularly valuable asset, you'd better cover it with another one quickly or it may get stolen! 

My girls loved this game! I even found them playing without me!  Haha! And I love the mental math practice they get with larger numbers!

2.) Bears and Bees -

Plays: 2-5 Players, Ages 7+, Play Time: 20-40 minutes

In Bears and Bees, race to be the first to play all of your cards by matching their colors to cards in the hive. Use the special actions on bears, flowers, and bees to keep other players from going out before you do!

We loved the cute illustrations on these little "tiles." So adorable and friendly.  But we also love the "take-that" element in the special cards.  This combo of cuteness and take-that gives the game both an adorable and a vicious feel.  Kinda like bees! Haha!  We also love that it can play our whole family, as it plays up to 5 people!

3.) Nuts about Mutts - 

Plays: 3-8 Players, Ages 7+, Play Time: 15-30 minutes

It’s the end of a long day of dog walking and you need to get all your puppers home to their owners.  Be the first dog walker to get all your dogs home (by laying all of your cards down first) and you'll be crowned "The Most Paw-some Dog Walker!

This game has an UNO-type feel and my kids really enjoy that! But it's different enough to justify owning both!  Plus, the mutts are ADORABLE! And I love that the action cards give my kids more reading practice than the action cards in a game of UNO would! The dog bone trophies are an excellent and adorable finishing touch!

4.) Toil & Troublez - 

Plays: 2-6 Players, Ages 7+, Play Time: 20-30 minutes

In Toil & Troublez, you're trying to collect the most magic talismans by laying cards down in the enchanted forest and picking up cards you want. But be careful!  Your talisman cards can be stolen or poisoned! 

We enjoy games with a take-that element to them, and this game definitely fits that bill! The cards are also super cute and make me think of a fairy garden. Even though the game has a "magic" theme, it's not scary at all. 

5.) Gnoming A Round - 

Plays: 3-7 Players, Ages 7+, Play Time: 15-30 minutes

Golfing gnomes? What's not to love!?! Gnoming A Round is Grandpa Beck's twist on the card game Golf.  And it’s an adorable twist! 

We love love love golf games in our house!  And we own several! But I love the negative numbers in this game and how they help reinforce positive and negative integers! I also love the extra rules that make it more fun than the average golf card game. These rules give the game a little more strategy than Skyjo or Rat-A-Tat Cat (two other golf-type games that we own and love).

6.) Antiquity Quest - 

Plays: 2-8 Players, Ages 10+, Play Time: 30-45 minutes

In Antiquity Quest, you're collecting valuable antiquities and treasures.  End the game with the most valuable collection to win!

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (meaning: before the hubby and I had kids) we had friends visiting from out of town who taught us how to play a card game called Hand and Foot.  That was our first foray into card games and we LOVED it! I was thrilled to find out that Grandpa Beck's has come up with a reinvention of that game - and with such a great theme! I love that the game plays single players or pairs and can play up to 8 people (in pairs). This makes it great for both smaller AND larger groups! They also have basic and advanced rules, meaning you can choose a difficulty level! I love games that have this added challenge! 

Final Thoughts:

Grandpa Beck's has some WONDERFUL games to choose from!  They're all small, which means they're fabulous for travel, and they all have cute themes that work well with kids AND adults!  All the games are simple to learn (and Grandpa Beck has how-to-play videos if you're having any difficulties)! And to put it over the top, each game comes with a recipe card including one of Grandma Beck's recipes! How adorable is that!?! 

I received several of these games, free of charge from Grandpa Beck's Games, in exchange for my honest review.