December 2011 New Specialty Toys — General Games

Drawing inspirations from cards illustrated with whimsical characters and situations, players weave fanciful stories ranging from the romantic to the preposterous. Whether making up their own fairy tale or creating a story together, Tell Tale Fairy Tales revs up kids' imaginations.

Search the seas for matching shrimp in this fun family game. The shrimp may share any of 4 characteristics—quantity, origin, size, and color. When players catch a matching shrimp trait between the 3 fishing zones, they squeeze the starfish to haul in their catch and collect their cards. The slickest shrimp spotter will be crowned King of the Prawns.

Armed with a stack of Ingredient Cards and a given Food Challenge, create the yummiest or yuckiest meals with Chef Cuckoo. The best—or the worst—chefs will emerge from the kitchen with the stars to prove it.

Spot It NHL edition is great for die-hard hockey fans. Hockey themed symbols give Spot It its cool edge. The logo of every NHL team appears on the cards.

What happens when America’s favorite pastime and the best-selling card game in the country collide? The official MLB™ edition of Spot It! Whether the logo of a favorite team, a bitter rival, or another baseball related image, spot it and players will be running the bases to victory.
— In a May 2012 survey about licensed products, Elmer  Carranza, manager of Doodlehopper 4 Kids in Springfield, Va., named Spot It as their best seller. They sell 24 copies each month.

Finally, a Spot It for little ones. With a scaled down card deck and 6 symbols instead of 8, Spot It Jr. Animals is accessible for kids under 6. Adorable animals appear on all the cards, with one big animal centered on each card for easier spotting.
Awards: 2014 TDmonthly Top Toy Debut Award, 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval

Everyone’s favorite travel-size game has officially hit the open road. Each colorful symbol is something one would see on a typical road trip. This edition has a new way to play: One card is turned over, and all players scan the scenery for things that match the symbols from the card. Spot it to win.
— Karl Steinbach, owner of Rainbow Toys in Falmouth, Maine, told TDmonthly in an April 2013 survey that this version of Spot It! is a best-selling travel toy.

Feed the Woozle is a cooperative game that focuses on developmental skills of children ages 3-6 in an active, fun game. The object of the game is for all players together to "feed" the Woozle 12 silly snacks. Players roll a die and then place the indicated number of snacks on a spoon. Then they spin a spinner that directs them to walk to the Woozle performing a gross motor movement like Bunny Hop or Walk Backwards. It's not so easy to keep those snacks from sliding off the spoon while hopping across the room. If everyone together can feed the Woozle 12 snacks, then everyone wins. "This game is cooperative - either the game wins or the players win. It encourages group participation and habits of cooperation. The game is leveled - meaning it focuses on specific preschool developmental skills in a fun way that is age-appropriate and grows with the child," Donna Jaffe, president of Peaceable Kingdom Press, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2012.

12 new cubes and new cards for the FauxCaublary Game. Launch date: February 2012.

216 new categories and an extra timer to add to kids' Word on the Street fun. "Word on the Street is great for spelling practice, but is also a party game," Leah Sugar, VP of marketing at Out of the Box Publishing, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 2012.

Chaotic Connections is a brand new board game that takes players on a chaotic cross-country road trip without them leaving their living room.  Each player is dealt four cities on the map and attempts to connect the roads to the cities as quickly as possible. The first player to connect all four wins. However, there will be road blocks, detours, extra cities and other obstacles along the way.  Chaotic Connections can be played with 2-6 players and will enjoyed most by players ages nine and up. Launch date: August 2011.

Slooooks! is a new game that's a cross between eye-spy and a scavenger hunt. The rules are simple and all ages can play together ... and the game board folds up like a book so it can be taken anywhere. "It's never the same game twice," Kate Patterson of Ashare Patterson Design told TDmonthly. Launch date: May 2011.

Double Double Dominoes is a new approach to Dominoes. Players score points by matching up dominoes over key areas of the game board. Play a Double Domino and players double their score. Players can grab bonus points every time someone matches their position on the score track with a domino played… including themselves. Contents: Game board, 56 dominoes,  4 score pieces, Game rules.

SOUND IT! is a hilarious new card game that offers two great ways to play: On one side of the card, guess the picture based on hearing the silly sounds other players make. On the other side, read the special clue and quickly identify the correct sound to make. Fun and challenging but simple to learn, a deck of 96 SOUND IT! cards offers unlimited possibilities. Launch date: February 2012.

Welcome to Ankh-Morpork - the oldest, greatest, and most odorous city on Terry Pratchett's Discworld, a place where trouble is always in the cards. Players are one of seven personalities vying for ultimate control of this proud and pestilent city, using their cunning and guile they'll encounter wizards, assassins, watchmen and thieves, all of whom will affect their fortunes. A finely detailed map and over one hundred individually illustrated cards depicting the city's most beloved and infamous characters, locations, and organizations immerse the player in Discworld's most unruly city. Discworld Ankh-Morpork blends the distinctive humor of Terry Pratchett's best-selling novels with strategic challenge and a dose of mayhem into one devilishly addictive Discworld adventure for two to four players.
— As of 11/23/2011 this product had 7.06 out of 10 stars from 835 ratings on BoardGameGeek.com.

In this multiplayer game, players must unearth dinosaur bones by excavating the mountain. But watch out- If more than one boulder tumbles off, if Tim is hit, or the big dinosaur topples over the turn is over.

A cleverly cunning cubical conundrum. Individual cubes attached by twisting, turning joints. Flexible tetris-shapes are satisfying to flip and spin. Attempt to recreate the cubical configurations of emerald, ivory & black shown in the Tridio Puzzle Book. Scan the two-dimensional designs pictured, and set kids' minds & hands in motion. Modify the three tetris-shapes. Consider the color placement. Stack the Tetris pieces. Bring images to life in three-dimensional structures. 48 visual challenge puzzles.

Gary Gouda is cheese hunting again and no piece is safe. But with every piece of cheese the risk of becoming stuck in the mouse holes increases. Only the one who can remember the sizes of the different holes and doesn't get caught by quick pet cat Kiki will reach the target. Who can help Gary memorize the best way and collect the most pieces of cheese? A light-fingered memory game for 2-4 players.

The Xiliens have pitted Godzilla, Rodan, Gigan and King Ghidorah against each other in a catastrophic battle and only one monster will emerge victorious. In Godzilla: Kaiju World Wars, players pick a monster and a scenario, stomping over terrain and destroying buildings on their warpath - all while fending off aggressive military attacks, bombs, traps and, of course, other KAIJU. Special abilities are used to eliminate the competition or to tuck their tail between their legs and run away before they are taken out.  The game is jam-packed with pieces sure to please any gamer. Along with the four fully painted 2 3/8 inch plastic Kaiju figurines, the game also includes 90 stackable plastic tiles for building skyscrapers, four individual monster playmats, 86 terrain and power tokens, and much more. Launch date: May 2011.

The finish line of the city stage is fast approaching and the red team holds a slight lead. To take the lead, the green team Formula One racer fires its missiles, but can the driver avoid the red team's spikes and stay in the race long enough to win? Includes 4 minifigures: 2 Backyard Blasters: Bart Blaster and Billy Bob Blaster; 2 X-treme Daredevils: MAX-treme and REX-treme.

In this game, only one player will ultimately become the LEGO Champion and win the trophy. Find out who will win the many challenges, claim the trophy. A multi-challenge family game for 3–8 players. Contents: 1 buildable LEGO dice, 9 LEGO microfigures, 206 LEGO pieces, rules booklet, building instructions.

This is a "Twist on the Classic Four-in-a-Row Game." It's full of secret colors, sneaky moves and wacky wild tokens that make players Swivel. Just when one player is about to get four in a row, another player may have to twist a level of the 3-D board and change everything. Launch date: 2011.

Kids can bring classic tales such as Mother Goose, The Little Engine That Could, The Berenstain Bears and Where the Wild Things Are to life with colorful game boards, including three-dimensional accessories and pawns. Each game is an adventure, much like the ones children read about in books. "No other game brings to life cherished childhood stories in the form of a board game that children will love to play over and over," Mary Dolan, public relations coordinator at Patch Products, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2011.
Awards: 2011 Dr. Toy Best Picks Children’s Products; 2011 Creative Child Game of the Year, in the Kids Games, Learning to Share category; 2011 Parents’ Choice Foundation Parent’s Choice Recommended Product Award.

In 100 Wacky Things, players will do some ridiculous things while laughing uncontrollably at each other. The game has two types of cards: Always and Whenever. If you draw an Always Card, you will do the wacky thing on your card every time it's your turn. A Whenever Card directs you to do what the card says whenever another player does something specific. And we can't forget the silly props: the elephant nose, feathered boa, funny glasses and echo microphone. Launch date: 2009.
Awards: 2010 FamilyFun 8 Best Family Board Games; 2009 Creative Child-Preferred choice award; 2009 iParenting Media Awards-Outstanding products; 2009 The National Parenting Center-Seal of Approval; 2009 Winner of the Washington Post’s KidsPost best toys