November 2008 Notable Toys — Board Games

Join the cast of NBC’s hit show “The Office” in a DVD game that features some of your favorite scenes. Answer questions about the clips to earn Schrute bucks as you move along a game board that Dwight himself created. There’s seven different kinds of questions for lots of variety.  For 2 to 6 adult players.

Zillio has 12 colorful staircases based upon multiplication tables. The visual and tactile relationships between steps enable kids to discover and master difficult math concepts as they learn and play with 10 essential math skills. Mega Zillio is the larger version of the Mini Zillio. It handles numbers up to 60, and measures 27" x 27" x 12". It does everything the Mini does but can have up to 6 players at a time and the same games included require more challenging play and problem solving to come out on top.

Zillio has 12 colorful staircases based upon multiplication tables. The visual and tactile relationships between steps enable kids to discover and master difficult math concepts as they learn and play with 10 essential math skills.  Mini Zillio handles numbers up to 36, and measures 18" x 18" x 8", compared to Mega Zillio's 27" x 27" x 12.5". For up to 4 players at a time.
Awards: 2010 Tillywig Brain Child

Mansuba: Challenge of the Pharaohs  is the second board game set in the World of Terris. In it players learn the ancient Fey game of the Imouha Pharaohs. Become the first player to move your pieces across the board, beguiling opponent’s pieces in the process. Speed and daring play will win the game, but beware lest your pieces be beguiled in turn.

Battue: Walls of Tarsos is the first expansion for Battue: Storm of the Horse Lords, a strategy board game for 2-4 players. As the battle deepens, players will find new challenges to overcome and more rewards for success. Although the goal, to loot the richest sections of town to prove your right to lead the Golden Horde, is the same, the means to that end are much different. Rivals arise and defenders band together within the city to prevent the pillage. All of Red Juggernaut’s games are set in the world of Terris, a world where everyone can perform enchantments and powerful ritualists shape society.

Rooted in the World of Terris, a brutal, dark fantasy setting envisioned by authors Robin Laws and Scott Hungerford, Battue: Storm of the Horse Lords is a strategy board game in which players take control of a horde of Horse Lords bent on looting Tarsos, the City of Brass Pillars. This strategy game is easy-to-learn, fast-playing, fun, and keeps players involved in the game even when it’s not their turn. The player who manages to control the choicest sections of the city and has the most loot at the end of the game is the winner. Further expansions will introduce new rules and options as well as allow additional players to join the game.

This two-player, strategic board game has only four rules and challenges players to out-think and out-move their opponent. Launch date: August 12, 2008.

JUMBULAYA is an award-winning, multi-faceted word strategy game in which players rearrange, add, and trade tiles on the board to build and claim longer and longer words each turn. As players build words horizontally, they also look for a Jumbulaya - a word of seven or more tiles that can be seen vertically on the game board. "Jumbulaya is a word strategy game where players need to THINK ON MULTIPLE LEVELS simultaneously," said Karl Archer, CEO and cofounder of Platypus Games. "It incorporates strategy into the game play, as players are able to add, as well as remove, tiles from the board and think many moves ahead in order to try to win." It has won a 2008 Mensa Select Gold Seal and iParenting Media Award. Launch date: 12/15/2007.

Kids can figure out how things work as they play. Based on David Macaulay's best-selling book, this game is chock full of materials for curious kids. Multiple levels of play allow for a quick game for beginners or more involved competitions — including mechanical experiments — for more advanced players. "The Way Things Work uniquely combines childhood play with real scientific learning. From fact building, to experiences, kids will learn firsthand 'the way things work' while having fun!" Nicole Tiedemann, PR coordinator for R&J Public Relations, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2007.

Based on the best-selling Great States game, this junior version is a fun way of introducing youth to the U.S. map. Kids will have a blast searching the game board as they travel along the colored game path. Even pre-readers can play by matching cards to the pictures on the board. "This game teaches children at a very young age about geography, history and state facts. Since even children who cannot read yet are able to play, this game presents a fun way for social studies facts to reach developing minds," Nicole Tiedemann, PR coordinator for R&J Public Relations, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2007.