Best Treehouse Ever: 2-4 Players - Ages 8+ - 20 mins.

Game Play: Give each player a base to their tree house place one of their colored tokens in the middle space of the tree house and the other on the scoring track. The deal 6 cards to each player. Players then choose one card from their hand and place it face down in front of them and all players then reveal their choice at the same time and place it on the tree house. Players then pass their remaining hand clockwise and play continues until one card is left that is then discarded allowing five rooms played per round. Three rounds are one game.

The first time a color is played it may be played anywhere. The first level of the tree house supports two rooms, the second three rooms, etc, on up to six levels. The outside rooms can be played on only one supporting card of the lower level but interior rooms must be supported by two cards of a lower level. Any colored cards after the first must touch the same color or it cannot be played. Each time a room is played to the left or right of the center-line, the balance marker is moved to that side. If the balance marker is to one side or the other, you cannot play on that same side.

After the first round, you then randomly draw a "no score" card or a "double score" card. From last place to first, you play your card on a corresponding color scoring card to either double or cancel points. each player then scores their tree at one point for each color unless a modifier is on that card. On the last round you only score if you have the most of a certain color and you score as many points as you have rooms of that color. 

For the kid version, you do not play the score modifier cards and just select a color you want to score and all players score for every color selected by a player.

Review: This game is fast and fun. The simplicity of matching colors and balancing the tree house is great for younger children and fun for adults as well. My daughter and I played this several times and I do not get bored of it. My daughter is almost four and gets the basic concept of the game. Strategy will come with time but after about five plays, my almost four year old can get through a game with the only real help needed when she blocks herself out of a color. Strategy will come with time and the kid rules reduces the strategy and raises the luck but still makes it fun.

The older version adds a level of complexity that is great for older children and adults alike. Memory is needed to remember what color is in each hand and anticipating the next player's moves is exciting as you try and make sure you get the most of a certain color. But if you obviously are winning with a color, other players will just cancel all your points with the "no score" modifier. The game then becomes subtle strategy of trying to anticipate other player's moves, the colors still in each hand, and making sure you don't block yourself out of certain colors while trying to it all.

Since the game is only 20 minutes long, you can play more games and keep the score card running through each one. I supported this game on Kickstarter and when I get the published edition we will revisit the game.

Shopping Cart Dash

Shopping Cart Dash: 2 - 4 Players - Ages 3 plus - 10 minutes

Game Play: Get your shopping list and your coins, roll the die and move your cart along the path. Look at what color you land on and search your shopping list for the item that corresponds to that color and place it in your cart. Then place one coin for the item in the slot on the produce stand. Two spaces are "spills" and you have to put an item back and two spaces are BOGO and you get to pick two items on your shopping list for the price of one. The first player to collect all of the items on their shopping list and make it back to where they started wins.

My daughter explains how to play the game...

Disney Matching Game

Disney Matching Game: 1 - 4 players - Ages 3 plus - 5 minutes

Game Play: Take 36 matching tiles (or less), place them face down, flip them over two at a time trying to create a matching pair.

Review: I played this game with my three year old daughter and it is amazing the kind of memory a three year old has! She surprised my Mom enough to post about it.

The tricky part was keeping her attention when it was my turn so that she remembered what I had flipped over. There are so many characters in this game that you you have to have almost every Disney movie for your child to know every character. The game is simple, teaches memory skills, and is a great laugh when your child makes up names for characters. Mine started calling Dopey from Snow White, "Backwash".

The only issue is in packaging and we had to find some rubber bands to group the tiles together as it takes a while to start because you have to collect and match all the tiles before setting up the game.

All the tiles on display

Overall: You can get this on your iPad or phone but this is a cheap and easy way to get the kid's eyes off a screen for a while. Plus it is easy to pack up and play anywhere. You can make it as easy or as hard as you want by controlling the number of matches you play at a time. My three year old can do 16 tiles well and begins to struggle when I increase it to more than 20. After about three rounds the attention span begins to waver.

I recommend this game for it's high educational value, ease of use and adaptability to various skill levels.

Monkeying Around

 Monkeying Around: 2 - 4 Players - Ages 4 and up - 5 minutes

Game Play: You set up a tree that is attached to a base with a spinner. Three leafy parts are added to the top of the tree and one has a magnet inside. You then hang the main playing piece which is a large circular part of the tree with a magnet at the center to the other magnet and you are ready to play.

Playing the winning monkey and beating Dad (legitimately!)

Each player gets 9 monkeys of their color but one of the monkeys is larger than the others. You take turns spinning the spinner on the base which tells you how many monkeys you need to place on the tree. If the spinner lands on the monkey face, you have to place your big monkey piece. The first player to place all of their monkeys on the tree without causing it to fall, wins.

Review: First, you can buy this game for a child before they are four years old. I got this game for my daughter right after her third birthday. The first few times we played it, she had trouble dealing with the balancing aspect of the game and we never actually finished because she kept stacking all of her pieces on the same spot causing the tree to fall. She also had trouble with the concept of hanging the monkeys on each other and just wanted to hang each one from her side of tree.

By the time she was three and half and we had tried playing a dozen times or so, we finally finished a game as she began to grasp the concept of balance. She still does not hang monkeys from other monkeys but she has won a few times (legitimately).



Overall: I would recommend this game for young children if you have patience to teach them before they are four years old. Lots of little pieces and set up will make things difficult before age three. Three rounds of this game and you will be ready for something else.