Games to Improve Brains

This is an all-new game with a great twist on an old favorite. It features a solid wood playing board and 81 marbles in two colors, taking tic-tac-toe to a new level of fun, skill and strategy. Played on a nine-square board, your play dictates where your opponent(s) can play. It is for two or four players, and the person or team that captures five ( or the majority) of squares wins.

Kids construct a 2D robot, piece by piece, according to the where the arrow on the spinner lands. The spinner game features colorful illustrations by Saxton Freymann. Launch date: January 1, 2008.

In this game, players must think up questions according to a selected theme, such as “North America,” “At my wizard's school” and “What men want.” Each player’s goal is to score as many points as possible by creating a question that elicits one of the answers listed on the theme card. Each game set includes 97 Good Question cards, 40 Good Question – Beginner cards, 20 Theme cards, 90 tokens and one bell. Launch date: November 2007.

The game sharpens abstract thinking and spatial-relations skills by asking players to place magnetic tiles on a board, matching as many color edges as possible. As the game progresses, the board becomes a colorful mosaic and scoring points becomes more challenging. The game includes 80 magnetic tiles. The game is “fully magnetic, including the scoring markers - no paper or pencil needed,” Andy Daniel, president of Enginuity Games LLC, told TDmonthly. This product is a 2007 Parent’s Choice Award winner. Launch date: September 15, 2007.

Up to six players deploy spaceships from the space station and send them out into the galaxy, waiting for permission to colonize various star systems. The first to colonize four star systems wins. Players can learn names and characteristics of stars, and the rule book teaches principles of astronomy and astrophysics. Young children able to take direction and match colors and numbers can easily play along. “A colorful board and card deck and easy rules make this an easy buy with parents and teachers, whether they want to spark an interest in the universe or just want to create imaginative fun,” CEO Mark Salzwedel of Strategic Space told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2009.

This is a fun and portable tile game in which players simultaneously build an inner maze and an outer wall. Players try to position themselves to be the first to exit the maze once the exit tile has been played. A round can be played in 15 minutes, or players can decrease the influence of lucky maze-tile drawing by playing multiple rounds. The rules can be learned in two minutes, but there are lots of strategies. The “compact box size is great for portability and can easily challenge a variety of ages for any time, up to two hours,” CEO Mark Salzwedel of Strategic Space told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 2007.

Family Stories and Sterling Publishing introduce this “playbook” for busy families. The book includes games for every developmental stage, along with stories from families who know how to plan game nights, get a game going and lure reluctant players. “Family Night! is more than just a book. It contains great materials to engage family hearts, minds and spirits in the memorable fun of playing games together,” Lisa Hamm of FamilyStories told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 1, 2007.

Cuentamelo offers the same family fun for everyone that Baffle Gab™ offers. It just does it in Spanish. Everyone’s got a story to tell, and players can earn Bone Bucks telling theirs. A player gets five words and writes a sentence or story that includes them. Using the words correctly earns a player huesitos. And the player with the most huesitos wins. “This is built on the overwhelmingly popular Baffle Gab to bring the same storytelling fun to the Spanish-speaking or learning market. It has already won several awards in its own right,” Carol Simon of Discovery Bay Games told TDmonthly. This product is a 2007 iParenting Media Award winner. Launch date: September 2007.

For thousands of years, Senet was the most popular game in the ancient world ― until the rule book was lost. This game of Senet introduces a modern rule book, a colorful game board and 10 beautiful playing pieces. Easier than chess and more complicated than checkers, this two-player game is a combination of strategy and luck. It's simple enough for a 5-year-old to learn, yet interesting enough for adults. The hand-painted playing pieces are phthalate- and lead-free.
Awards: 2015 TDmonthly Magazine Top Toy Award

For one or more players, the Word Cube offers six different games: Crosswords, Challenge, Anagrams, Scramble, Word Master and Color Cube. Comes with a timer and a 80 page booklet. Launch date: 9/22/2008.

In this premiere edition of What’s a Dame to do?!, designed for two to eight female players, the answer is in the cards. Each player gets a turn in the spotlight, and participants try to earn points by correctly guessing players’ reactions to Dame Dilemmas. “What's a Dame to do?! is aimed at fun-loving, sassy adult women of all ages and lifestyles. This includes co-eds, 20- and 30-somethings taking it out for girls' night, at-home moms having a girls’ night in, and female family members playing together even with hip grandma. It's not a 'talk about your feelings and experiences' game like others out there,” Co-inventor Kerri Neubek of Sisters 2 Inc. told TDmonthly.

The side of the board features different-sized peg holes for different-sized pegs. Players alternate moves until one player has arranged all of his or her game pieces in their respective positions. Players must plan every move strategically in order to arrange their game pieces in the least amount of moves.
— “This two player game involves memory, luck and strategy,” elogIQ Educational Marketing Manager Ayala Rom told TDmonthly.

The game is played by matching colors on all sides of the cube. Along the way, players must determine how many and which color squares each face must have alone and in common with adjacent faces.
— “This puzzle enhances logic and mathematical thinking,” elogIQ Educational Marketing Manager Ayala Rom told TDmonthly.

Comet® The Fast Path to Learning, is Active Minds' premier product. Comet® is an enjoyable and engaging way to learn and spell, having fun based on world facts, legends, geography, science, history, health, nature, animals and dictionary meanings. The game has several game editions such as Bible and Family, with a Children's card expansion deck. Launch date: June 2008.
— "'Comet, The Fast Past to Learning' is being played in schools across America and has been praised in South Africa for helping patients suffering from brain injuries develop their learning skills," Sandy Evans, creator of Comet® at Active Minds, told TDmonthly.
Awards: 2008-2010 Preferred Choice Award; 2008-2010 Editors Choice Award; 2008-2010 Toyman Seal of Approval

The game gets kids moving, thinking, listening and learning. Designed for preschoolers, the game promotes positive social and developmental skills in addition to physical activity. The game features an electronic hand-held tagger named Gerry Giraffe and his four fist-sized friends (a monkey, parrot, tiger and elephant). The giraffe calls out which animals kids should run to and tag and tracks the amount of time taken to complete each course. In team mode, kids work cooperatively to achieve their fastest time. Launch date: Fall 2008.
— “Animal Scramble requires physical exertion through running, bending, reaching and tagging movements that aid in the development of large and small muscle groups while improving coordination and motor skills,” Kim Bratcher of Wild Planet Toys told TDmonthly. “The sharing, listening and turn-taking aspects of the game practice positive social behaviors.”

The Puzzle Frame-It is a quick and easy solution to framing completed puzzles. The set includes 108 inches of flexible framing solutions — enough materials to frame two 300- or 500-piece puzzles or one 1,000-piece puzzle. Launch date: January 1, 2008.
— “The one quality that sets this product apart from all others is the ease and convenience of use,” Christopher Thorpe, manager of product marketing and public relations at Buffalo Games Inc., told TDmonthly. “The frame material clamps onto the puzzle holding it firmly in place and only requires scissors for a fine mitered edge.”

The new Ball of Whacks features six brilliantly contrasting colors, creating 30 magnetic pyramids that can be arranged into a multitude of shapes and mosaics. Additionally, the pieces can be configured according to the included color-design challenges for even more brain-teasing fun. Launch date: February 2008.
— “Unlike most brain-teasers or puzzles, there are no wrong ways to play with the Ball of Whacks,” Creative Whack Company Communications Director Lynn Araujo told TDmonthly. “Every time you pick it up, you'll be inspired to find new ways to play with it.”
— The Ball of Whacks is a best seller at Kazoodles in Vancouver, Wash., Co-owner Mary Sisson told TDmonthly in early 2008.

Past Videos:
ASTRA 2008

Join Pop Fox and the rest of the Hooked On Phonics characters as they visit Pop's Shop, the park, Cat's Kitchen and the Ratini Brothers' house. This fun and educational DVD game reinforces letter names, letter sounds, number recognition, colors, shapes and more. A variety of challenges are available for each educational goal, along with two different levels of play. Launch date: August 15, 2008.

This twist on charades has players create the shapes' names on the cards provided, using any of the differently sized and differently colored pipe-cleaners. Try making a bowtie, a palm tree and even a coffee mug under time pressure. Launch date: August 15, 2008.

Reinforce understanding of essential math terms and applications with this multi-purpose 179 double-sided card deck. Students can practice with math terms and true/false statements of increasing difficulty relevant to key math words. Great for cumulative review and test ready practice. The 6-1/4” x 3-3/4” cards can be used at three levels of play and relate to geometry, probability, fractions, decimals, measurement, algebra and more. Launch date: January 1, 2008.
— “Math Vocabulary Flash Cards allows students to participate in test practice in a fun and engaging alternative to basic paper pencil drills,” World Class Learning Materials Inc. Product Development Manager Alyssa S. Brown told TDmonthly. “Cards allow students to work independently, with partners, or in fun whole class game like activities.”

This game will help students develop and improve their skills in dealing with money, estimation, coin recognition, rounding and more. It is intended for 2 to 20 players. Launch date: January 1, 2008.
— “Making Change Quizmo® helps students build on basic money identification and spending skills by incorporating many higher-level concepts such as rounding, regrouping and upper-level subtraction,” World Class Learning Materials Product Development Manager Alyssa S. Brown told TDmonthly.