It’s the classic Jenga block-stacking and stack-crashing game! How will you stack up against the law of gravity? You may last a few more stacks than your opponent, but eventually, at some point, it will come tumbling down. Let’s just hope it won’t happen on your pull.
What is Jenga?
Without trying to be pedantic, Jenga is a woodblock stacking game for two or more players. This is a family game night favorite, and a Fantastic Games favorite. At first glance, Jenga seems like a simple enough game but there’s more to it than meets the eye (or the hand).
How to play Jenga?
Each player takes one turn at removing a single block from the tower and then placing it on top of the stack. Players are not allowed to move blocks around or knock over the tower during their turn. Jenga is different from other games because there can be a lot of winners. The point of the game is to not be the loser.
There are find several rules variations online. Some are stricter with the “no moving” rule than others, while some allow nudging the tower ever so slightly by straightening crooked blocks before pulling them out or putting them back on. Whatever set of rules a person plays with, though, the winner is the one who doesn’t knock the tower over.
Jega is a simple game with hours of fun in store. Don’t let this classic game come crashing down. Buy Jenga today.
Every once in a while a board game comes along that’s so twisted and so adorable that you can’t help but take notice. Kittens In A Blender puts a diabolical twist on your favorite furry friends by putting them in danger of being turned into a fluffy smoothie! You’ll have to act fast and make some hard choices if you want to save your kittens and win the game. Kittens In A Blender is a delightfully wicked board game with dynamic gameplay and buckets of laughs.
The Blender, the Box, and the Counter
Kittens In A Blender has several places for the kitties to roam in the kitchen. The first is the deadly Blender, which is represented by the game box top with an oversized Blender card inside. This is the place you want to avoid allowing your kittens to enter, as all of the kittens that are playing in the Blender when the Blend card is played will be destroyed!
The next location is the Box, which is represented by the base of the game box with an oversized Box card inside it. This space is safe for kittens to play in. Whenever a Blend card is played, all of the kittens playing inside the Box will be saved, living to meow another day. Saved kittens earn you two points each at the end of the game, so getting your kittens inside the Box is a major goal of the board game.
The last location is the Counter, which is represented by a space in between the Blender and the Box. When a Blend card is played, all of the kittens on the Counter will be moved to the Blender. There is a way for a player to stop the Blender from destroying the kittens, however. By playing a Pulse card, a player can counter a Blend card and stop the bloodshed from occurring.
Moving the Kittens Around
In Kittens In A Blender, each player is assigned a Kitten color at the beginning of the game, which is either red, green, blue, or yellow. The deck is then shuffled, and each player is dealt six cards with which to play. Players will then take turns playing two cards each round, drawing back up to six after they play. If they choose to play a Kitten card, they’ll play it directly into either the Blender, the Counter, or the Box.
Other cards will be played face up in front of the player, giving everyone a chance to see the cards being played. The non-Kitten cards will either be the deadly Blend card or cards that will move the kittens around. Kittens on the Move will move kittens around the board wherever you choose, while Kittens in the Blender will move all of the kittens from either the Counter or the Box directly to the Blender.
There’s also a fun wild card called Dog’s in the Kitchen, which forces each player to give their hand to whichever player is indicated by the direction on the card. Once all 16 of the Blend cards have been played, players tally up points to see who wins. Saved kittens earn you two points each, while blended kittens will cost you one point each.
Kittens In a Blender Expansion
Kittens In A Blender comes with an expansion pack called More Kittens In A Blender that adds 32 unique kittens to the game. These kittens come in two different colors, allowing you to play the game with up to six players. This expansion to the board game also adds Flavors such as Vanilla Extract or Strawberries to the mix that can help you make a delicious smoothie out of your blended kittens and earn extra points. How diabolical!
Kittens In a Blender: Save the Kitties!
Kittens In A Blender is playable by 2-4 players, although the expansion allows up to six. This board game is suitable for ages 8 and up, as the mechanics are easy to follow even if the humor is a little much for young children. Playing time lasts around 20-40 minutes, so it’s a great icebreaker board game.
Save the adorable little kitties and buy Kittens In A Blender today!
Killer Bunnies: It’s a Battle of Bunnies
What’s more cute and cuddly than an adorable little bunny? If you’re asking that question, chances are you’ve already lost the game! In Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot, you’ll learn that bunnies can be more vicious than meets the eye. This cutthroat card game forces you to collect weapons and build an army of lethal bunnies to wipe out the competition and collect the elusive Magic Carrot. Do you have what it takes to engage in bunny warfare?
Finding the Magic Carrot
The object of Killer Bunnies is to collect as many Carrots as possible in an effort to find the Magic Carrot. However, you’ll have to make sure you have at least one surviving bunny by the end of the game in order to win. You’ll have to balance collecting Carrots with fighting off the other bunnies if you want to make it through the bunny carnage alive.
Killer Bunnies uses a few decks of cards, including a large Carrot deck, a small Carrot deck, and a third deck that players will draw from throughout the game. These cards will include bunnies of different colors and types, Weapons, and draw Carrot cards. There are also cards that have special effects like Heavenly Halo or Bunny Abducting Aliens that add a nice bit of humor to the game.
There are a few ways you can earn extra moves on your turn. By playing a certain combination of bunnies or drawing certain cards, you can leap ahead of the competition and upend your opponent’s strategy.
The card game ends once the last of the large Carrot cards is picked up. Then, the Magic Carrot is determined by whichever player has the large Carrot card that matches the card on the bottom of the small Carrot deck. This means that the winner is chosen randomly, but that the more Carrots you collect, the more likely you are to win.
Defending Your Bunnies
While the overall objective of Killer Bunnies is to collect Carrot cards and find the Magic Carrot, the main gameplay involves waging war with your bunnies. You play your bunnies by placing them within the Bunny Circle, waging war against the other bunnies on the board. You’ll need to buy, trade, and negotiate with the other players if you want to make it through long enough to see the end of the game.
Most of the cards must be played in the Rabbit Run, which holds two cards at a time. This means that cards will take two turns to actually get into play, giving you a chance to plan ahead and guess which cards your opponents currently have on the docket. However, some cards are either Special or Very Special, which means you can play them right out of your hand.
Killer Bunnies Sequels
In addition to Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot, there are a few sequels and expansions that can expand the game into all-out bunny warfare. Killer Bunnies and the Conquest of the Magic Carrot can either be played on its own or integrated into the original game. It has the same goal as the first game, but it contains extra booster packs for added variety.
There’s also a non-collectible card game version of Killer Bunnies called Kinder Bunnies: Their First Adventure that is geared towards young children. This spinoff card game features more simplistic gameplay that eschews the bunny-killing in favor of teaching kids to avoid safety hazards as they collect Carrots. The bright graphics and fun activities make it a perfect card game for teaching kids about skills like reading and teamwork.
Killer Bunnies: May the Best Bunny Win
Killer Bunnies is playable by 2-8 players, so it’s a great card game for any size group. It’s suitable for ages 12 and up due to the somewhat dark humor of the bunny-killing, although the mechanics are simple enough for children as young as 8. Playing time lasts around 45 minutes, which is a decent amount of time to really get into it without growing tired of the game.
Channel your inner predator and buy Killer Bunnies today
Trouble: The Perfect Children’s Game For Troublemakers
Trouble gets a bad rap for being too simple, but the reality is that this board game is perfectly crafted to teach younger players the fun of board games. Trouble has simple enough game mechanics that players as young as four can take part in the fun without getting tripped up by complicated rules. Plus, players of all ages can agree that nothing is more satisfying than pressing the little plastic Pop-O-Matic in the center of the board and hearing it “pop!”
Pop-O-Matic
Trouble is a roll-and-move game where players are competing to be the first to move all four of their pawns to the end of a circuit. The fun centerpiece of the board game is called a Pop-O-Matic, which is a plastic bubble containing a six-sided die. Instead of manually rolling the die, players will push down on the little bubble to let the Pop-O-Matic roll it for you. This has the added advantage of not only allowing younger players to roll but also making sure you never lose the die.
Trouble uses a board game with a circuit of tracks weaved around the board. Each space has a little peg hole for you to insert your pawn into each time you move forward. Players will begin with each of their pawns at their own unique start space. They’re then given the goal to move all four of their pawns to their own individual finish space located at the corner of the board.
Each turn, a different player will roll the die and move their pawn the number of spaces shown by the die. To start the game and move one of your pawns out of the home space, you’ll need to roll a 6, which then allows you to roll again. When sliding into the finish space, you must roll the exact number of spaces between your pawn and the endzone, which can make it tricky to get all the way there.
Bumped Back To Home
One thing that can throw a wrench in your plans really quickly is when another player lands on your space. When this happens, your pawn gets bumped all the way back to the start. This can make for some bruised feelings among more competitive players, but that’s the risk you take when you’re playing Trouble!
Trouble is best suited for younger players, as there is not much strategy involved in rolling the die. However, you can choose which of your pawns to move forward with each roll, so there is some measure of tactic involved beyond just sheer luck. Still, Trouble is an excellent game to teach younger players about the rules of board games. You can easily use it to work your way up to more complex games as time goes on.
Trouble Sequels
Trouble has a few sequel board games that give the original game a new twist or theme. Trouble: Netflix Super Monsters edition is inspired by the popular Netflix program called “Super Monsters”. Instead of nameless pawns, players can choose to play as their favorite characters from the show such as Katya or Frankie as they make their way across the board.
There’s also a Harry Potter version of Trouble called Harry Potter: Triwizard Maze Game. This version of Trouble adds new Maze cards that make the game a bit more complex. Whenever you land on one of the 10 Draw spaces on the board, you have to draw a card that can either help or hurt you. You may be in luck in that you get to go again, or it may hurt you in that you lose your next turn. Anything’s possible!
Stay Out of Trouble!
Trouble is playable by 2-4 players. It’s a good game for parents to play with their kids or for siblings to play together. It’s suitable for ages 4 and up, so this may be the perfect starter board game to teach little kids about rule-following in board games. Playing time lasts around 45 minutes, which is usually the perfect amount of time to capture kids’ attention without boring them.
Buy Trouble today and enjoy how good it feels to bounce your opponents back to the start!
Sorry!: It’s Parchisi with a Wicked Twist
Sorry! is one of those board games we all grew up playing as little kids. But like most classic board games, its popularity has endured because of its ability to be played over and over again without losing its shine. Sorry! is a primarily luck-based game that is simple enough for the youngest of kids to understand and enjoy. However, there are several ways to make the game more complex for adults to enjoy it even more with or without the kids.
Following the Path
The goal of the game Sorry! is to move the four pieces of your color from their starting circle to the end of their path along the board. Each player starts with four pieces of a certain color on their starting space. To get one of your tokens out of your home space, you have to draw a card with either a 1 or a 2 on it. Players will go in turns drawing cards and moving their tokens.
One of the twists of Sorry! is that many of these cards allow you to do more than just mindlessly move your token forward. You can often move your piece either forwards or backwards when you pull the “backward 4” card, which gives you greater control over making use of those helpful slides.
Certain areas of the board contain slides, which allow you to skip past many spaces and jettison your token closer to the end. If your token lands on one of these slides at the end of your movement, then you can travel down the slide to the next available spot. You can only travel down slides that aren’t of the same color as your token, however. And if there’s another player sitting on one of those slides when you take your ride, you get to boot them back to the start.
Say You’re Sorry
The most diabolical part of the game Sorry! is also where it gets its namesake from. While you’re not allowed to block other players’ pieces from passing yours, you are allowed to interfere with them on certain occasions. If you end your turn on the same space as another player, you can say “Sorry!” and send their piece all the way back to the start space.
You can also do the same when you pull the special Sorry! card, which allows you to jump your piece to the spot of one of your opponents and kick them back to the start. This makes the game much more competitive while also giving players who are falling behind the opportunity to get ahead.
Sorry Spinoffs
Sorry! has released many spinoff games throughout the years to make the original game a bit more challenging. Simon Sorry! combines Sorry! with the beloved game Simon Says to create one unique board game. Players will use an electronic game unit that lights up in a specific pattern, which they will then try to repeat. If they get it correct, then the unit will tell them how many spaces they can move across the board.
Sorry! Not Sorry! is an adult party version of the original board game that allows you more opportunity to sabotage your friends. Not only can you steal their pawns, but you can also use the “Not Sorry!” cards to force them to expose their wildest secrets.
Sorry! It’s All In Good Fun
Sorry! is playable by 2-4 players, so it’s definitely better for smaller families. It’s also suitable for ages 6 and up thanks to its simple gameplay and easy setup. Playing time lasts around 30 minutes, which is short enough to hold younger players’ attention. Sorry! is the perfect game for introducing young kids to board games.
Sorry! can also be made more complex for older players by adding a bit of strategy to the game. While pulling one card at a time means you’re depending on luck to help you win, pulling five cards at a time gives you more control over fate. Adults who want to make the game a little harder can make this change to incorporate strategy into the game by deciding which card to play.
If you grew up playing only one board game as a child, chances are it was Candy Land. Who doesn’t remember the sweetness of Gramma Nutt or wanting to take a bite out of the Candycane Forest? One thing that sets Candy Land apart from other board games is its beautiful simplicity. You don’t need to remember complex sets of rules or even devise a winning strategy to play the game. All you need to do is pick a card and let the chocolate chips fall where they may. After over 70 years on the market, Candy Land’s sweetness has endured, teaching millions of children the joy of board games at a young age.
The History of Candy Land
Although countless families have their own personal history growing up playing Candy Land, the history of the game is quite a tale in and of itself. It was first created by a woman named Eleanor Abbott in the early 1940’s while she was recovering from polio. She made it to entertain other kids who were also recovering from polio in the same ward that she was. Once the game was created, the children suggested that she submit it to the Milton Bradley Company (which was later purchased by Hasbro). Candy Land became their best selling game, and the rest is history.
The Path to King Kandy
The gameplay of Candy Land is deliciously simple enough for even the smallest of kids to follow. Players race each other down a rainbow-colored path to see who will be the first to arrive at Candy Castle and locate the missing King Kandy. The path to the castle is strewn with sweet and scrumptious locations, from the sticky Molasses Swamp to the icy Peppermint Forest. Just make sure to avoid that villainous Lord Licorice, who rules the Licorice Castle and lords over Candy Land with his sickly sweet power!
Candy Land is played in turns, where each player gets to draw a card with one of six colors on it. These colors represent spaces on the board, and each time you draw a card with a specific color on it, you move to the next space of that color. Players get to handle little character markers like the Gingerbread Man that they navigate around the board on their quest to the finish line.
Some cards will have the name of a specific location on the board, in which case the player who drew that card will have to move their piece to that location. This can cost you the game if you’re within a stone’s throw of the castle and you get sent back to the Gingerbread Plum Trees! The 2006 version of the game created licorice spaces that cause you to lose your turn, while the 2013 version swapped the cards for a spinner that decides which space you move to.
Future Versions of Candy Land
Candy Land has released countless later editions in the last 70 years that make the game slightly more complex or give the board game some of your favorite fictional characters. Candy Land: Fun on the Run turns the board game into a travel board game, allowing kids to play it in the car or on vacation. There are also editions such as Candy Land: Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory or Candy Land: Dora the Explorer that replace characters and locations with elements from other stories.
Take a Ride Down Candy Road with Candy Land
Candy Land is playable by 2-4 players, so it’s easy for parents to play with their kids or for kids to play together. It’s also suitable for ages 3 and up, which is perfect for teaching younger kids the rules of board games. In fact, Candy Land is often used as a tool to help younger players learn things like following rules, socializing, recognizing colors, and using patience.
Candy Land has a playing time of around 30 minutes, which is just enough time to keep kids’ interest without boring them. With bright colors, inventive characters, and simplistic gameplay, Candy Land is the quintessential board game for youngsters. Buy this game today and enjoy the sweetness of Candy Land!
