December 2010 Notable Toys — Board Games

It is the dawn of the "Age of Railroading" in America. You're a wealthy investor and speculator betting that the new technology will revolutionize transport. Commerce will no longer depend on rutted roads and slow canals. Instead, it will ride the rails on swift, powerful "Iron Horses." This railroad investment and building game covers the years 1830 to the present. You and your fellow players become the
stockholders of America's first railroad corporations. Since the largest shareholder becomes president, you compete for control of the strongest firms. As president, generate revenue by building track and buying and operating trains-regardless of shareholders' needs. Meanwhile, you pay heed to the volatile stock market. You strive to invest in flourishing companies in order to earn healthy dividends. You try to buy stock in corporations that are rising in value, collect strong, and sell before the stock values drop. For 3-6 players. Playing Time 180-240+ minutes.

Wi$eMoney is a fun learning game for ages 13 to adult. Two to twelve players in two to four teams follow footprints in and around the fictitious Town of Financial Literacy. The entire family learns about banking, investing, budgeting, payday, financial responsibility, financing, credit, and identity protection. Players face real world situations and challenges as they learn the secrets of money management. "We created Destina...Wi$eMoney, a team-based board game, to give families a fun, engaging way to help everyone learn and remember financial basics for a successful life," Elizabeth Treher, founder of Destina, Inc., told TDmonthly.

This game is currently licensed to Spinmaster.
Outwit your opponents by stomping their marbles before they stomp yours! Outmaneuver by leaving their Stomper trapped with no escape. For 2-6 Players.

In this creative and competitive game of Kewbz™, opposing players compete for ownership of 'tower units' by positioning the final cube on top. Each time a corner is made, a cube is stacked at the intersection. For 2 players.

The patented technology lets you use LEDs to play chess and checkers. Just stick the LED game piece into the rubber pad and watch them light up. Chess and Checkers included.

In this exciting vertical version of Mastermind designed for kids, players secretly stack their animals into a tower. Like the classic game, this new Animal Towers version is a game of logic, problem solving, and fun that challenges players to figure out their opponent's code in as few turns as possible. To play, children stack their animal tiles in a special tower. Players take alternate turns trying to guess the order of the animals in the other player’s tower by asking questions such as, “Is your giraffe below your pig?” Features three levels of game play, entertaining children as their matching and logical thinking skills progress.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

How do you feel when you ride a rollercoaster, drop your ice cream cone, hear your parents argue, see a friend left out, get sprayed with water or say goodbye? Choose from 50 situations -- and have fun sharing your reaction and seeing how others react to the same situation. Players draw their feelings using markers on a dry erase mirror and/or magnetic facial components that show surprise, confusion, boredom, happiness, anger, frustration, and more. The 50 cards show vivid photographs of the different situations -- no reading skills are needed to play and all ages will find it of
value.  This fun and interactive game helps kids understand their feelings and reactions to different situations.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Call-it! is the new fast-paced and fun word-burst game. Gather your family and friends, and give your swift thinking a whirl with this new category card game. Flip a card, match a symbol with your opponent, and be the first to call out a word from their category to win their card.  Easy to learn and can be played anywhere. Contains 80 Symbol Cards, 20 Category Cards, 1 Mini Game Board, and a Set of Rules. Good for 2 or more players of all ages.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Catan® is a modern classic. An international favorite, it has redefined social board games. Now you can create Catan out of wood and enjoy settling and building using specially tooled wooden pieces. Embark on a quest to settle the fair isle of Catan! Guide your brave settlers to victory by using clever trading and development. Use resources (grain, wool, ore, brick, and lumber) to build roads, settlements, and cities, and buy development cards. Acquire your resources through trades or the role of the dice. But beware! You never know when someone might cut off your road or if the robber will appear and steal your precious gains. Are you the best trader, builder, or settler? Will you master Catan? The strong, compartmentalized box contains: 52 thick, beautifully illustrated map hexagons, 144 specially designed playing pieces, 6 hexagonal building costs summaries and 2 special victory point markers, 1 vile robber, 2 dice, and 28 random number chits-all made from sturdy wood. The 154 cards, like the hexes, bear fine artwork from Michael Menzel. This special limited 15th Anniversary Wood Edition of The Settlers of Catan® is designed for 3-6 players.

Build your domain to best your Rivals. The Rivals for Catan puts you in charge of one of the two factions developing newly-settled Catan. Use your under card mix to create your own principality. Explore and settle new lands, acquiring resources through card play and the luck of the dice. Use gold, response combinations, and trade to develop your domaine. Expand your settlements and cities, recruit heroes, and defend your lands through politics, invention, and intrigue. Your cunning and a dash of luck decides who will be Prince of Catan. The Rivals for Catan contains 180 Cards, Production Die, Event Die, Commerce Token, Knight Token, and Rules & Card Index. For 2 players.

As the television character Dexter, players travel through the streets of Miami trying to hunt down a suspect that has slipped through the cracks of the justice system and make them their next victim. Players try to keep their day job by completing blood spatter reports to avoid any suspicion and reap the rewards of a job well done. In the meantime, they try to avoid their opponents, who will expose them, the first chance that they get. Once they have found the suspect and have collected the tools needed, players must head over to the Marina to get rid of the evidence and win the game. The game is for two to four players and contains a board, playing pawns, a six-sided die, on the job cards, on the prowl cards, calling Dexter cards, suspect tokens, tool tokens and mini garbage bags.

Monster Jam-opoly is the official licensed property trading game with a huge twist for Monster Jam® collectors and fans. Players build their own Monster Jam® fleet of monster trucks. Each monster truck title has fun facts about popular drivers and their monster trucks. Players buy toolboxes to upgrade their trucks, trade them in to build their dream garage and maximize their fleet’s value. This game is "a must have for motor sport collectors," Late for the Sky's Carla Miller told TDmonthly.

With Funshine creating a sunny day is a group effort. In this earth-friendly matching card game/puzzle, players each flip over a card that shows one piece of art taken from pictures on the board. Each player has one minute to match their piece to the correct picture on the board as they each add a piece to the sun shape. The game is printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks.

In Wacky Wacky West, players are townfolk who place track tiles, street tiles, and river tiles hoping to destroy their rivals’ buildings. Every time someone tries to build over a precious outhouse, the town votes. Players try to enlist their supporters, represented by cards, to vote with them to stop or encourage the play of certain tiles in order to save some of their buildings or take out those of their opponents. This two to four player game can be completed in about 45 minutes. The game contains a game board, four work gang figures, six goal cards, 32 vote cards, 60 tiles and rules.