This game of laundry madness involves an electronic burping plastic laundry hamper that periodically ejects all of a players' dirty laundry! Oh dear! The two to four players strive to be the first to place all of their dirty clothes in the hamper as they move around the playing board. The game was recently introduced but already is selling at 30 retailers and received an award for 2006. The bright, playful box design was created by a pro at Hasbro to help guarantee the product's success. Launch date: February 2006.
— “The game is a fresh, humorous look at laundry that will appeal to boys and girls aged 5 to 9,” Julie and Scott Kuehn of Bluebonnet explained to TDmonthly. “Since the game isn't in the big box retailers, independent retailers can make good margins and offer something unique.”

In Marvel Heroes, players play one of their favorite heroes: Spider-Man, Hulk, Mr. Fantastic, or many others. At the same time, each player plays an evil mastermind, such as Dr. Doom or Magneto, planning the apocalypse! Will the heroes foil the plans of these diabolical villains? Marvel Heroes includes high-quality 40mm plastic figures of many of the major Marvel Super Heroes, including Wolverine, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, as well as an array of super villains.

Pickel the Pirate, A Treasure Map to Knowledge is a board game that teaches while it entertains. With each roll of the die, kids will make their way through the treasure map, where they can win or lose a treasure, or just have fun learning. Categories include math, spelling rhymes, time, the alphabet and things about your friends. The game has been endorsed by schools, teachers, daycare providers and parents.

Bonkers is a quick-thinking party game that has players racing against time to hit Bull's-eye answers. While the guess might be right, is it on target to win scoring chips? There are four different card types: Figure out what goes in the blank in "What the (Blank)"?, form words in "Add Ons", use letter hints to search for things in "Letter Perfect", and find rhymes in "Rhyme Time". Works with teams, too.

Sixty-four double-sided wood tiles make every game a brand new set-up. Keesdrow Deluxe (“word seek” spelled backwards) is the Ultimate Word Seek Game! Compete for high score by identifying words within a maze of letters, and score points based on the letters you use. Adjoining letters may be up, down, left, right or diagonal. The letters must be joined in sequence, and may be used more than once within the same word. Letters have varying point values and may be used a maximum of three times during the game. The first time a letter is used, it counts as a single point value, and a green peg is inserted in the hole of the letter. Use a letter a second time and replace the green peg with a yellow peg for double the value. Use it a third and final time and replace the yellow peg with a red peg for triple the value. There are two primary strategies – Build on other player’s words, using their letters for the second and third time to score extra points OR spell words with multiples of the same letter, such as “bubble” and score extra points. The game ends after either playing a set number of rounds after which high score wins, or play to a pre-determined point value. Play time 30-60 minutes. Winner of Mensa Select, GAMES100, Canadian Toy Testing Council Children’s Choice Award, Canadian Toy Testing Council 3-Star Award, National Association of Gifted Children Recommended Toy, Major Fun Thinking Award, Dr. Toy Smart Play / Smart Toy Award, Creative Child Preferred Choice Award, Parents’ Choice Recommended Award.

One to six players can travel through the map of the USA and all 50 states. The objective is to travel along a route and pick up all 50 stars of the US flag. The game comes with a playing board, six flag baseboards, 54 star cards 4 pieces and a booklet containing the stories of each flag.

Balloon Lagoon brings home all the fun of a day at the carnival, with colorful illustrations and festive games in an immersive 3-D environment. More fun than a ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl, Balloon Lagoon allows children to show off their talents as they compete in four activities while the merry-go-round music plays. This fantastically fun game gets kids thinking, matching, flipping and fishing as they collect balloons to win.
— “I have this set up in my shop,” explained Vincent Spiropoulos, owner of Spiro-Gyro Toys in Walla Walla, Wash., “and kids can’t stop playing with it, so parents have to buy it. Sneaky, but it works.”
— “One of my top sellers,” said Denise Kahn, co-owner of Toy Town in Athens, Ga.
— Alisa Feinstein of Cranium Games told TDmonthly that "the game's exciting sights and  sounds make spelling, matching, and counting fun …so kids learn as they  play."

Available in 2006 will be a bookshelf edition of Front Porch Classics award winning Raceway ’57 game. Featuring all the exiting elements of the statement level game, Bookshelf Edition Raceway ’57 lets you experience the full throttle excitement of America’s fastest sport. Players roll dice or play a card to move their classic cars around the track, all the while managing valuable resources such as fuel, tires and suspension. Raceway ‘57 is a game for two to five players, ages eight and up. Estimated retail price is between $45.00 and $50.00.

From the world of Dread Pirate - Front Porch Classics’ highly successful and award wining Coffee Table Game - comes League of Pirates, a fast paced game of cut throat action. In this game players compete to place the best pirates onto their respective ships. Players can “recruit”, “press gang” or even “raid” for the pirates they need. Game comes with over 40 unique and beautifully illustrated pirate coins suitable for collecting. A two player game for ages eight and up. Estimated retail price is $20.00 to $25.00.

Letterpress craftsmen of centuries past used to hide words within a block of text as a challenge to their peers. They called this past time vedere parola.

Said to have been passed down by the ancient Incas, Liars dice is a game of bluffing and chance. Each player attempts to outbid, out bluff and outlast their opponent by issuing bids or challenges. Liars Dice comes with four shakers and four sets of five dice. A game for two to four players, ages eight and up, Liars Dice comes in a decorative wooden box design for display. Estimated retail price is between $24.00 - $29.00.

InStructures is a family/party game in which two teams race to build a structure with building blocks. However, only their "Foremen" get to see the blueprints. Good verbal communication is the key to winning.
— This game turns block-building into a competitive sport.
— The high-quality wooden building pieces make the game aesthetically pleasing, too.
— MarBan took “tons” of pre-orders for InStructures at Toy Fair, said vice-president Jenna Banks. The game will be available in June 2006.

Friendo is a new board game that matches up players who know how each other think. Played among friends, it tests their knowledge of each other. Played among strangers, it quickly finds their soul mate. Each game is played based on a story (Case 'N Questions) that asks five questions. The players' answers reflect their personality, likes and dislikes, preferences, etc. During the game, players try to find "their Friendo", defined as the person in the playing group whose answers you can guess no matter which Case 'N Questions is in play. Likewise, your Friendo is just as able to guess your answers. In other words, the two of you understand each other perfectly.

This is an outrageous party game where the object is to ultimately reveal what you really have or have not done. This game will keep players on their toes (and in their cups) as they land on the various drinking activities across the board. A player may have to take drinks, give drinks, dance, sing, spin in a circle, etc. The player who gets to the finish first wins the game (but win or lose, it's about the journey). The game comes with game board, rules, dice, eight playing pieces and 100 I've Never ... ? questions, including 10 blank Make Up Your Own questions. It takes maybe an hour or two to play. BYOB. “The 'I’ve Never Game' offers adults something that is lacking in so many games today,” Jay Vohra of Ini LLC told TDmonthly. “Adults need to have fun and laugh again … In addition, the I've Never Game was played on the hit TV Shows ‘The Family Guy,’ ‘LOST’ and ‘The Bachelor’.”

Take two old favorites — Go Fish and rummy — add the special deck of Cardformers cards, and you've got a fun and educational game for children ages 4 to 12. The Cardformers deck is made up of 52 cards that form 13 different 4-card pictures. First, cards are matched by colors and shapes of "picture frames." Then, they're pieced together to create images of recognizable things. While kids learn and enjoy two great games, they practice some important skills: Color-matching, shape recognition, and word picture association are an integral part of the fun. Cardformers ... it's a picture-perfect way to learn at play. It's for 2 to 6 players, ages 4 to 12. READ MOM REVIEW

Collect Swipe and Trade until a word is made!

Take A Letter is a light and lively word game for two to four players, ages 10 and up. The game features a good balance of luck and skill, so that the serious word player finds an enjoyable challenge and the novice word player has a real chance of winning. Take a Letter offers a different approach to word gaming. You must strive to make words of certain lengths, or containing specific letters, as designated by your WORD PLAY cards. Scoring is simple--when you make a WORD PLAY, you score the points from your corresponding WORD PLAY card or cards. Another unusual feature in the game is the letter track. You will strategically race around the board, gathering the letters you need to make your WORD PLAYS.

Appeal to Specialty Store:
This game has very attractive packaging, plays extremely well, and children can play with adults, and non-word players can play with word players.

Darkness Falls on Sevinpold is a revolutionary new board game that's fun for the entire family. Sevinpold is a world where every castle is filled with secrets, perils, powers and magical creatures; where the heroes, known as the Valiant, must play as a team against the menacing Darkness in order to win; where victory cannot be declared until the very last roll of the dice when the Scepter is reunited with the Living Throne. With excitement at every turn, Sevinpold is a game that never plays the same twice. It challenges players every step of the way and maintains their interest so they want to play again and again. With two patents pending for its distinctive movement and innovative "team play" concepts, Sevinpold has changed the way board games are played.
— “Sevinpold hits that demographic of 8 to 14,” said Darren Turbeville, owner of Toy Chest in Healdsburg, Calif. “We average a piece every 10 to 14 days.”
— Sevinpold does “very well” at Thinker Toys in Carmel, Calif., said owner Mark Phillips. “I’ve sold through two or three re-orders. It’s selling without even being demonstrated. Knights and dragons and pirates are the biggest category in the world.”
— “I love it!” enthused 11-year-old Sara Seagle. “I think it has beautiful illustrations on it.” TDmonthly's Homeschooling Roundtables families played with Sevinpold an average of seven times each from January to July 2006. VIEW ARTICLE, VIEW CHART

Can a game change a life? If it’s about love, fear and you, it just might. Shift is an empowering board game for two to six players. Shift is a celebration of life in a box. Combining universal principles from great minds such as Buddha, Gandhi and our very own stand-up comedian, Shift shows us why we do what we do. Shift lets us look at ourselves through laughter and see that our thoughts create our reality and that one small shift in thought can shift your life. As a personality x-ray, Shift elicits amazing conversation and plays in 45 minutes to an hour. Shift is currenly carried by over 150 retail outlets across the country and over 140 wellness center affiliates including psychiatrists, therapists and life coaches.

One of two Perpetual Commotion Expansion Packs, this set allows players of Perptetual Commotion to make room for four more players. If players thought Perpetual Commotion was total chaos with six players, they'll need to brace themselves to now be able to include up to 10. Not for use with 2-Player Perpetual Commotion®.

Chutes and Ladders is the game of rewards and consequences. As kids travel along the game path, they encounter situations that reward them for good deeds by letting them climb the ladders or punish them for misbehaving by sending them down chutes. All the while, they are learning to recognize numbers and count to 100. Included are a game board, spinner with arrow, four pawns and instructions in English and Spanish.

There are 140 picture tiles that show segments of rivers, roads and rails. Players put all of the picture tiles face down in the box or on the playing surface. Each player draws two picture tiles from the box and puts them face up. The players then take turns adding their picture tiles on to an expanding network of rivers, roads and rails. But there’s a catch! Some tiles may have rivers and some may just have roads and rails, so players may not always be able to make a match. If this is the case, another picture tile is drawn from the box and the player waits for the next turn. Once the picture tiles from the box are gone, the first player to get rid of all of his or her tiles wins. For one to eight players.
— “Children can pick it up,” retailer Frances Frinfrock told TDmonthly, “but it’s good for adults, as well.” The owner of Aunt Franny’s Toys has had wonderful success with Rivers, Roads and Rails.

To set up the game, kids snap one treasure into the bottom of each tree and place the trees where indicated on the game board. Playing pieces are placed near the village on the game board, which serves as the starting area. The king’s castle reveals the treasures kids must search for throughout the forest. Once the treasure’s been found, it must be announced to the king. The first player to correctly announce the location of three treasures wins. For two to six players.
— ”We believe that games unite a family and keep kids off television and electronic games,” Kathleen Tutone, owner of Treehouse Toys in Portsmouth, N.H., told TDmonthly.

The world's a stage, especially when kids are playing the Kids on Stage Game. Perfect for even young kids because no reading is required, Kids on Stage Game gives kids the chance to act out items in this charades-type game meant to put every young player in the spotlight. Every player gets to act and move and have fun, and they can do it on their own since an adult doesn't have to read for them. The Kids on Stage Game is the creative game that encourages activity and helps develop communication skills — plus it is fun to see what each player is going to do next.
— “We sell a lot of games called Kids on Stage, said Christine Hildebrand of Alphabet Toys in Davis, Calif. She claims to have had such great success because of the wide age range the game appeals to, and “probably because we kind of like it,” she told TDmonthly.

In Travel Mania, players travel around the board and must collect five visas and passport stamps — one from each of five continent groups — to win the game. Travel Mania is unique in that as few as two players to as many as 20 can play (in teams, of course). The game can be finished in about an hour, or play can be extended if desired. Luck, smarts and random chance all meet to create a Travel Mania winner. Travel Mania is the winner of a 2007 Dr. Toy Best Product Award.