May 2011 New Specialty Toys — Board Games

In Ponder, players must race to get their frog to the other side of the pond. It’s the annual Frog Race and the distance is one English pond; the aim is to get one''s team over to the other side of the pond before everyone else does. However, the frogs are not very fit, so they need the lily leafs to step on to cross the pond. The pond is crowded and one may only move as the cards dictate. Ponder is a fast and strategic race game for the whole family. Set in a beautiful pond with floating lily leaves, sun shining and a summer breeze; lazy frogs included. Launch date: February 2011.
Awards: 2010 Golden Dice Family Game of the Year, Sweden.

Repello is a game of grasped opportunities. The aim is to push as many Repellers and opponents as possible off the board. Objects pushed off the board are worth points and the player with the finest collection at the end of the game is the winner. There is one basic rule in Repello: All objects repel each other, and players decide which object pushes which. In a single move one may set off a chain reaction that will spread over the entire board, sending valuable Repellers, or opponents, over the edge. Master the pushes and bounces; see the possibilities in each moment and one stands a very good chance of winning. Launch date: February 2011.
Awards: 2010 Golden Dice Game of the Year, Sweden.

Skateboard Madness is a board game of skateboarding. The object of the game is to win the X Games Championship in skateboarding while meeting the four Madness professional skateboarders; Andy Macdonald, Corey Duffel, Tony Mag, and Ron Allen. Along the way, players must collect sponsorship cards from the official Madness sponsors.The game includes an extensive trivia section and random action for skateboard enthusiasts. "There is nothing on the market like it," Monica Lucas, VP of Operations at Mindtwister USA, told TDmonthly.

Maple Landmark Woodcraft has had animal and vehicle dominoes for years, and now they have developed a colorful set of standard dominoes. This 28-piece, double six set is made from locally harvested hardwood maple. Each domino measures about 1 1/4" wide X 2 1/2" long and about 3/8" thick. The colorful dots are done in a very durable non-toxic ink. Each number is in a different color. The set comes with a drawstring cloth bag and a playing instructions and suggestions. "The dominoes are made in the USA," Barbara Rainville, marketing manager at Maple Landmark Woodcraft, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 2011.

Experience Perfect Stride, the exciting horse-themed card game for 2-4 players ages 8 and up using our Junior/Basic rules. Players are riders who partner up with a horse of their choosing for a high-speed race across the countryside over a hidden course of jumps. Riders collect ribbons with each successful jump as they race toward the finish line. The rider with the most ribbon points wins the game. Launch date: September 2010.

GALLOP! The Game includes a game board with a magical Scanimation door, two dice (colors and numbers, depending on the age and ability level of the players), five animal movers (horse, cat, turtle, butterfly, and rooster), and four guess tokens. Players take turns opening the Scanimation door to see which animal will move around the track on each round. The first player or players to strut, gallop or flutter their way around the track wins. It is the "Only board game to feature the magic of Scanimation from Rufus Butler Seder’s popular book, GALLOP!," Natalie Dent, director of PR at Discovery Bay Games, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2011.

Goggle Eyes is the hilarious family game that challenges players' vision and balance. To win, players must be the first to get to the finish point by winning challenges such as writing their name backwards, drawing, or performing actions - while wearing wacky glasses provided by the game that alters players' vision. "The glasses that the game comes with alter your perception and has three settings that makes the actions performed harder than they would normally be, and also adds a funny twist to the game," Jennifer Robinson, manager of public relations for Goliath Games, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2011.

Players race against each other or work together against the clock to find the patterns hidden in the grid. Each time a tile is turned over, the pattern on that tile may be created by combining two or four of the tiles in the playing grid. Features 70 durable and vibrantly mind-bending pattern tiles, Acuity reinforces the importance of visual spatial skills and pattern recognition.
Awards: Parents' Choice Gold Award, 2010

Combination of game play, brainteaser, optical illusion.

The cooperative board games collection includes Count Your Chickens, Hoot Owl Hoot, Lost Puppies, Mermaid Island, and Stone Soup. Ideal for children two years of age and up, the games focus on socialization skills in a cooperative, group play setting. "Unlike traditional games where there is one winner and one (or many) losers, with cooperative games the players work together against a common obstacle in the game, not against each other. If the game is lost, the defeat is shared equally among the players. And, if the game is won, everyone is a winner," Donna Modrell, marketing & operations manager at Peaceable Kingdom Press, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2011.
Awards: Hoot Owl Hoot! - 2011 Dr. Toy Best Green Product

Color Fever is a family game for players 8 and up. It is a tile placement point scoring game that plays well for 2, 3 or 4 players. Each player has his/her own board to build points from tiles selected. This game is a combination of strategy and luck. "The best part about Color Fever is that it doesn't matter whether there are 2, 3 or 4 players. Everyone plays on the same dice roll so there is no waiting around for your turn. This keeps the game moving and each player can root every time the dice is rolled," Derek Chinn, owner of LMD Enterprises, told TDmonthly.

Recall is an educational memory game. People will be surprised on how much they will remember when playing this game. RECALL teaches people how to retain information for a period of time instead of just short term. This product is good for kids, teens, adults and seniors. Recall will remove the intimidating factor in terms of memory. "There are some memory games out there where you practice memory but you don't really learn from it. RECALL is an educational game where your ability to recall will be taken to another level. Good practice for one player, great for cooperative play," Derek Chinn, owner of LMD Enterprises, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2011.

The peasants have spent a hard week scything hay in the fields, but tonight the festivities begin, starting with a sumptuous banquet of roast hay. Then, the annual nose-stealing competition. Then you have two jesters, one who always lies, one who always tells the truth, both hilariously. This celebration will truly have something for everyone.This is the 5th addition to the game of Dominion. It adds 13 new Kingdom cards to Dominion, plus 5 unique cards. The central theme is variety; there are cards that reward you for having a variety of cards in your deck, in your hand, and in play, as well cards that help you get that variety.

The first of Mayfair’s expansions to Steam, this set offers three tracks in the same pack. One side has a map of the Mid-Atlantic United States. The other side has two maps: Belgium & Luxembourg and the Brussels Metro. These boards are sure to challenge Steams players with their region-specific rules and challenging topography. Details on the three maps included — Belgium & Luxembourg: An Expansion for 2 Players, Build an Importing Empire. Brussels Metro: An Expansion for 3 Players, Develop Intercity Transit. Mid-Atlantic US: An Expansion for 3-7 Players, Railroad Empires in the Civil War Era. Also Included: An Extra Steam Tile Sheet. NOTE: Requires ownership of MFG4551 Steam™ to play.

Some people don’t realize that the dragonfly is a friend. It eats up a lot of mosquitoes in the summer. In this cooperative board game, one to four players maneuver the dragonflies to catch as many mosquitoes as they can. Cooperative games teach kids to work together to achieve a goal.

This game is easy enough for first time game players and the game can be made infinitely more challenging simply by adding more owl tokens into the game. This allows the game to age with the child or for older kids (or even adults) to play with younger kids. Like in Candyland, kids practice color recognition and moving tokens. Unlike Candyland, Hoot Owl Hoot is a cooperative game, meaning all players are playing for the same outcome together. A cooperative game eliminates stress, builds self-esteem, and teaches kids that playing together can be fun. Kids learn to work together, they share in the game play, and they practice cooperation. The object of the game is move all the owls from start to the nest before the sun rises. Players take turns, but work together. Launch date: May 2011.
Awards: A Dr. Toy Best Green Product for 2011; 2011 Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award; 2011 Parents’ Choice Major Fun Award; 2011 Disney FamilyFun magazine Toy of the Year (T.O.Y) Award.
— As of 05/23/2011 this product had 4.8 out of 5 stars from 10 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Teaches kids to work together; difficulty can be increased as players get better; eco-friendly.

Dragon Face is perfect for the chess and checker enthusiast and ideal for those with a penchant for fantasy and strategy games. Each side has an Emperor, 6 Ambassadors and 7 Governors. Each piece can move in different ways. Players capture an opponent's piece by jumping over it; that piece is then turned upside down and becomes the players own. The end goal is to capture the Emperor by locking it in. "Dragon Face is a great strategy game and a perfect way to develop critical thinking skills and concentration," Nicole Britton at Blue Orange Games told TDmonthly. Launch date: June 2011.

Kids spin the spinner, squeeze the matching colored acorn with their Squirrel Squeezers, and place it in their log. The first to fill their log with delicious acorns wins. But players need to look out - they could spin "steal an acorn" or "lose an acorn."

The path is filled with excitement and danger: will players master the four constructs that they need to defeat Parallax? Once players have the constructs- and the Green Lantern ring- go to the lantern and see if the ring comes up lit. If it does, players light up their ring and win. "Based on the upcoming Warner Brothers feature film, Green Lantern, this game includes an exclusive Green Lantern light-up ring," Jim Pressman, President of Pressman Toy Corp, told TDmonthly. Launch date: March 2011.

Say Anything Family has 350 family oriented questions that allows families to enjoy the laughter and fun of the original party game. Ask a fun opinion question, everyone else comes up with an answer, secretly pick which one you like the most, everyone bets on what they think you just picked. Reveal the answer and score. "This game is fun for both parents and kids, while helping kids develop social interaction skills," Luke Warren, a rep for North Star Games, told TDmonthly. Launch date: March 2011.

The Laser Game Khet 2.0 has arrived. The completely redesigned game for 2011 combines lasers with classic strategy for an experience enjoyed by players ages 9-99. Players alternate turns moving Egyptian themed mirrored pieces, after which they fire their real, eye-safe laser with the goal of illuminating their opponents' pieces and winning the game.

Exercise your mind and outwit your opponents with Mosaic 4, the new fast paced 4 in a row abstract strategy game! Mosaic 4 is set up on a board of movable squares. Two to four players compete to be the first to get 4 tokens in a row. On their turn, each player can either place a token on the board, or shift an entire row or column of movable squares over by one space. The rules are simple but the game gets increasingly challenging. Mosaic 4 comes with instructions in English, Spanish, German and French. "The movable board squares add an extra challenge," Mary Lin from Gridly Games told TDmonthly. Launch date: April 2011.

Zelosport has transformed the age-old pastime of paper football into a series of Finger Sports games for all ages. Now sports fans can enjoy football, baseball, golf, and soccer on the kitchen table. "There is nothing like it on the market," Sara Eddy, project marketing manager at SCI, told TDmonthly.

Fur-Ever Home, the Animal Rescue Game is a family friendly board game of chance and skill where players take in dogs and cats, care for them, and adopt them out to loving “Fur-Ever Homes”. The game ends when all players have worked together and there are no more pets in Straytown. The player with the most points from placing dogs and cats in Fur-Ever Homes wins. But, players have to make decisions about money to stay in the game. "It is the first board game on the market where players get to test their skill at running their very own animal rescue, and adopting out animals to Fur-Ever Homes," Carianne Burnley, CEO of Petsapalooza LLC, told TDmonthly.