August 2009 New Specialty Toys — Board Games

The Ticket to Ride Europa 1912 expansion for the Ticket to Ride series includes 101 Destination Tickets — the 46 original tickets, plus 55 new ones that enable three new variants to the Ticket to Ride Europe map. This expansion also introduces Warehouses & Depots — new game rules and pieces that create an additional strategic layer and can be played with any of the Ticket to Ride maps. "Wooden Train Depots are placed on cities selected by each player. Throughout the game, each player's Warehouse will accumulate Train cards and those who have the foresight, clever timing, or just plain good fortune to build a route to a Depot can make off with a fistful of Train cards. Depot placement and skillful Warehouse tactics become a key part of a winning Ticket to Ride strategy!" Elizabeth Case, marketing assistant for Days of Wonder, told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 6, 2009.

In Small World, players vie for conquest and control of a world that is simply too small to accommodate them all. Picking the right combination from the 14 different fantasy races and 20 unique special powers, players rush to expand their empires — often at the expense of weaker neighbors. Yet they must also know when to push their own over-extended civilization into decline and ride a new one to victory. "Designer Philip Keyaerts has expertly interwoven the fantasy worlds with competitive game play to create a game that appeals to casual players of all ages and experience while simultaneously maintaining a complexity that draws in the more serious crowd," Elizabeth Case, marketing assistant for Days of Wonder, told TDmonthly. The game has received the following awards: 2009 Bruno Faidutti's Game of the Year; 2009 Finalist for the International Gamer's Award; and 2009 Spiele Hit (Vienna Game Academy). Launch date: January 26, 2009.

In this game, players are Gypsies trying to earn as much gold as they can and bring it to the Big Gypsy Gathering. They need to finance the various festivities of weddings, baptisms, meetings, feasts and entertainment before border checkpoints are closed, preventing them from traveling and earning a living. Players have only two rounds of events to accomplish their goal of raising money for the Gathering. The game includes a 17" x 22" board, four movers and matching caravan cards, 26 colored wagons, 24 trades, 24 gold payments for trades, 56 events, and rules for regular and advanced games. In this cooperative game, individuals play together, not against one another. Launch date: August 2009.

Players take on the role of lively goblin bodgers as they race around grabbing the parts they need to finish their outrageous contraptions. Getting that perfect part isn’t easy, though, as the conveyor belt is constantly moving valuable parts out of reach. And if that’s not enough to keep the goblins on their toes, they also have to deal with rivals scheming and tussling for parts. Players may be the first bodger to complete their contraption — or fuel the frenzy trying. This family board game is for two to four players. "Scrappers uniquely appeals to any specialty market customer with characters and themes that they recognize and love, while offering game play [that] can be brought home and played with anyone who loves to have a good time," Brent Waldher, licensing and contract manager for Privateer Press, told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 14, 2009.

That Way is a game designed for children to learn the concept of North, South, East, and West.  The game features a colorful car that you move (by rolling the dice) through the wacky city where you encounter detours that tells you what direction you must travel. You may want to travel north to accomplish your goal of reaching downtown first, but the directional card says you must go in a different direction. This creates chaos and fun for the players as they are never sure where they’ll travel next.

After rolling the special dice and flipping the timer, players race to list words containing the three letters shown on the dice. Only words listed by a single player score points, so players are rewarded for their speed and creative thinking. This game is adjustable for different skill levels and ideal for varied group sizes. Launch date: April 2009.

Pack & Stack is designed to be a fast and funny, wild and crazy game about moving stuff on all sorts of odd trucks. Every interactive turn is a new adventure, where all the players discover new loads, grab new trucks, and then gamble on their planning and packing skills. Launch date: June 4, 2009.

MathMosis Mania provides children with a visual and kinesthetic approach to learning while having fun, offering practice in counting, multiplication and division. MathMosis Mania is designed to grow with children as they learn through multiple games. "[It] teaches number sense, multiplication and division through a variety of learning modalities, including visual, analytical and kinesthetic," Jennifer Tuttle, CEO of Brain Party, told TDmonthly. Launch date: June 2008.

MathMosis® Mania provides children with a visual and kinesthetic approach to learning while having fun. The game gives children practice in counting, multiplication and division, and is designed to grow with children as they learn. Children will learn to play four different MathMosis Mania games, "which [help] children learn through many learning modalities including visual, analytical and movement," Jennifer Tuttle, CEO of Brain Party, told TDmonthly.
Awards: Dr. Toy's 100 Best Children's Products 2009

CrossCribb® is the award winning, exciting strategy game that takes the traditional favorite, cribbage, and multiplies the fun times five. CrossCribb uses conventional cribbage scoring rules as you try to build five high scoring cribbage hands while simultaneously sabotaging your opponents' hands. It's easy to learn, but difficult to master.

Joel Harden's Mogul is a breakthrough - the first board game that is not only fun to play, it actually teaches real world skills that are valuable whether one chooses a career in real estate or not. Mogul is an open-ended game. The goal is to get to a pre-determined net worth first, but there are numerous ways to reach that goal. You'll find that in Mogul, a winning player combines solid strategy, good instinct and a bit of luck.

Tic-Attack-Toe adds a battling twist to the classic game of tic-tac-toe. Kids can challenge friends and family to claim three-in-a-row using numbered X and O cards. Players knock-out their opponent's spot with a higher value card or use their "Wild" card to take any spot. The goal is to be the first to get three-in-a-row five times. As an added bonus, the playing board doubles as a carrying case. "Tic-Attack-Toe takes the simple premise of a game everyone knows and gives it a twist to provide a game that is easy to learn and provides multi-generational fun," Nathan Jones, president of PB&J Toy Company, told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 2009.

The mail must go through!

The whole family will have fun trying to overcome the hurdles of your local letter carrier! Enjoy this hilarious race full of suspense, unexpected twists and turns, and be the first to deliver all your mail to the neighbourhood.

Reeves International announced its exclusive U.S. distributorship for WWF® - Games by Terra™ in 2009. Under the license of the largest multinational conservation organization in the world, the World Wildlife Fund, Terra Toys introduces the Wildlife Conservation Collection. These classic, timeless, family-friendly games and puzzles are made from sustainable materials, incorporating 19 endangered species and their habitats that are currently under protection. In Amur Chinese Checkers, players choose their favorite feline and walk, run or leap to find out the fastest route through the wilderness of the Amu-Heilong region. It includes 60 wooden playing pieces (six colors), an Amur-Heilong themed wooden playing board and playing instructions. Launch date: September 2009.

This hands-on way to help students identify beginning, middle and ending sounds in words can be played with an entire class, an individual student or a small group of students. The set includes six double-sided boards, six race cars and an activity guide. Launch date: 2009.

Packaged in a hexagonal shaped box, these award-winning illustrations by Melissa Sweet are designed to help kids learn about phylum in the world that surrounds us. With the names indicated on the inside of the lid, Life On Earth Bingo offers a way for children to identify plants and animals. This game is made using 90-percent recycled grey board and non-toxic inks. Launch date: June 20, 2009.

The Alphabet Race Track offers a hands-on way to help students learn to recognize the letters of the alphabet. It can be played by the whole class, in small groups, or by individuals who need help identifying upper and lower case letters. The set includes six double-sided boards, six wooden race cars and an activity guide. Launch date: 2009.

This game asks the question, "Can you keep your dinosaur alive into the 21st century?" It's a board game full of pitfalls and promotions as each player's dino works its way from the Jurassic to modern times, trying to avoid terrifying predators and extraordinary earth events in order to survive and be the winner. It comes with six free dinosaur replicas and is made in the USA. This game received an Oppenheim Gold Award. Launch date: March 31, 2008.

This is a fast-paced, fun Spelling Board Game that teaches spelling, vocabulary and reading as it's played using spelling words taken directly from any child's grade-appropriate spelling list. Also available in challenging Adult level for those who think they can spell but might find out otherwise.The fast-paced game teaches spelling, reading and vocabulary. "There are no other board games on the market which allow each player to spell words selected from their own grade level and which combine elements of chance, strategy and spelling knowledge in a way that makes learning to spell fun and easy," Richard J. Sullivan, president of The Spelling Bee Game, Inc., told TDmonthly. Launch date: July, 2009.
Awards: 2010 Creative Child Magazine Game of the Year, Children's Educational Board Game Category; 2011 Creative Child Magazine, Game of the Year, Children's Educational Board Game Category.

This addictive puzzle is currently available on all major mobile phone cariers in the USA and on Iphone Worldwide. It is also available daily in the USA TODAY newspaper in a daily puzzle. Txtpert the card game works exactly the same way as all the other brands. Launch date: June 2009.

2-Player Perpetual Commotion is the original Perpetual Commotion specially designed for two-player speed and excitement. Play as many cards as you can into a center Arena to earn points. Gain extra points by being the first to empty your Feeders pile—but watch out! A single roll of the eight-sided die can change your score.

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.

Spell words, build bridges, and block your way to the Treasure, matey! Arrgh! Players make their way towards the treasure by creating paths of words and bridges across the shark infested waters.  Cunning pirates make good use of rock walls to block their enemies from reaching the pirate loot first. Now more game play! Enjoy endless play with a two-sided dry erase game board.  Pick the original game board or the new updated shark attack mode.  For 2-4 players.