February 2013 Notable Toys — General Games

Portal Masters, let out your battle cry! MONOPOLY®: Skylanders™ is here and the Skylanders need your help to fight the forces of darkness. Buy, sell, and trade your way to reign over all of Skylands and protect the elements from evil. Then battle your opponents to be the true ruler of it all! Available to retailers: Summer 2013. SRP $39.95 ©2013 USAOPOLY. ©1935, 2013 HASBRO. ©2013 Activision Publishing, Inc. SKYLANDERS is a trademark and ACTIVISION is a registered trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc.

Rainbows and Storms lets kids create their own unique board game with hundreds of stickers and many creative chance cards. Everything you need is included to have a great time. In this twist of a snakes and ladders style game, players will find themselves moving along the multi-colored tiles attempting to be the first to the finish but watch out for the Rainbows and Storms. Write your own chance cards each time you play.

ifs & Butts is the hilarious party game where you find out your friends are nuts. During each round, players write crazy responses to an if scenario and perform silly activities called Butts.

The Vampires of the Night are in trouble. Can you help them against the wicked vampire hunter, who has managed to empty an entire sack of garlic throughout the old, abandoned castle. With the help of the little bat, you can magically move the vampires and get rid of the smelly garlic. But, be careful - if the garlic falls into the dungeon, it will spread its nasty smell to the rest of the vampires. With glow-in-the-dark pieces this exciting game can be played all day or from dusk until dawn.

Perfect for role-play, school projects, and more. Wiz Dice are top-of-the-line dice in a variety of colors and styles. With clear, easy to read numbers, these dice will transform game play into something magical.

Smart Toys and Games, Inc. has launched its first brain-building game for kids as young as two years old with Bunny Peek a Boo.  Sturdy wooden blocks and fun rabbit characters allow children to develop spatial perception skills and "pull a rabbit out of the box" with this 3D puzzle. Sixty challenges prepare children ages 2-5 for more difficult single player logic games. The four large bunny blocks can be combined in many different ways for endless fun. Launch date: 2013.

Angry Birds On Top challenges players ages 6 and up to move five transparent sliding pieces until pigs are covered with angry birds, while trying not to trap the birds in the cage. This multi-level puzzle comes with 24 challenge cards and a total of 48 challenges. Launch date: 2013.

Based on an award-winning SmartGames design, Angry Birds Under Construction challenges players ages 8 and up to solve 48 puzzles by using four playing pieces to cover the correct number and type of pigs and angry birds to match the challenge in the included booklet. Launch date: 2013.

Designed specifically for preschoolers, Tangoes Jr. includes seven large magnetic pieces, 12 double-sided puzzle cards offering two levels of play, and a large playing surface to help young children learn visual perception, problem solving and teamwork skills. Newly designed for 2013, Tangoes Jr. now includes a booklet with 100 extra puzzles to challenge children who master the puzzle cards. Launch date: 2013.

For players who love Tangoes, Smart Toys and Games, Inc. has launched the more challenging Tangoes Brainiac Edition. This game includes two sets of playing pieces in green and red providing dozens of new puzzles and solutions. Players ages 7 and up can challenge friends or play alone to test their visual perception skills as they match the puzzle pieces to images on the cards. Launch date: 2013.

The new Back 2 Back single player logic game takes puzzle building vertical with a unique grid-shaped vertical game board. Players ages 7 and up must attempt to fill both sides of the grid with the 11 colorful and varied puzzle pieces. The game features a handy travel case and a booklet with 60 challenges for testing even the sharpest mind. Launch date: 2013.

In the single player logic game Vikings, players ages 6 and up rotate a variety of puzzle pieces built into the board to navigate ships out of the storm. Contents include the game board, four Viking ships, nine rotating puzzle pieces, and a booklet with 48 challenges. Launch date: 2013.

The newest edition to SmartGames hit IQ series, IQ Link draws players 8 and up into its mesmerizing challenges as they work to fit 36 colorful and fun-shaped puzzle parts into the 24 free spaces on the game board. This compact game is perfect for traveling and comes with 120 challenges for hours of brain-building fun.Launch date: 2013.

The EAMES MEMORY GAME features the iconic designs of Charles and Ray Eames. From their furniture design, graphics, textiles, toy design, architecture, exhibit design, and film, these modern masters are considered the pre-eminent pioneers of mid-century design. Most recently, their story is told in the 2011 documentary, Eames: The Architect and The Painter, and their living room, and all its contents, have been rebuilt and installed at Los Angeles County Museum of Art as part of the Pacific Standard Time Show. Launch date: January 2013.

It's a Busy Busy Day at the Airport. Set up destination game boards around the room. Load the plane with Busytown characters and wait for the all clear for take-off. Then fly to faraway places - the beach, mountains, the city, and more. Collect souvenirs wherever you go. The player with the most wins. It's out-of-your-seat role play fun. Learning Fun includes picture identification and matching, physical movement and imaginative play, as well as strategic thinking. Product Contents include: 4 Airplanes, 1 Airport Box, 1 Dice Tower, 16 Passenger Tiles, 16 Souvenir Cards, 4 Destination Pads, 2 Dice, and 1 Game Rules Manual.

SUPER ANIMAL GENIUS features nine highly replayable minigames that introduce young learners to hundreds of fascinating facts about 12 different animal habitats and 40 different reptiles, birds, amphibians, and mammals. By playing the minigames and completing Animal Challenge quizzes, players can earn animals for each habitat while learning about the animals’ physical attributes, eating habits, predators, and more. Available for LeapFrog’s learning tablets, LeapPad1™ and LeapPad2™, and learning video game systems, Leapster Explorer™ and LeapsterGS™. Launch date: 2013.

SUSHI STAX™ is the new fast-paced game that combines the fun of stacking with the unique challenge of using chopsticks!   Incorporating the trendiness of sushi into a fun and challenging game, SUSHI STAX has players racing to build and balance a variety of sushi towers using only chopsticks or tongs to lift each piece!  With various configurations on different cards, players must carefully balance the need for speed with precision and accuracy so that their pieces don’t come tumbling down. Launch date: May 2013.

Learn Spanish with Spot it! Basic Spanish! This educational game features universal images and Spanish words. There is always one, and only one, matching symbol between any two cards. Spot it to win. Players search for matches between a word and its corresponding picture, between two pictures, or between two words. While the repetition solidifies word recognition, the pictures support reading comprehension. Spot it! Basic Spanish aids learning for Spanish speaking emergent readers and second language learners of all ages.

Learn French with Spot it! Basic French! This educational game features universal images and French words. There is always one, and only one, matching symbol between any two cards. Spot it to win. Players search for matches between a word and its corresponding picture, between two pictures, or between two words. While the repetition solidifies word recognition, the pictures support reading comprehension. Spot it! Basic French aids learning for French speaking emergent readers and second language learners of all ages.

This golf card game features more than 50 different images of things one would see on the course. One, and only one, matching symbol exists between any two cards. Spot it to win. Spot it! Golf can be played five ways. For newcomers to the sport, this card game is a great way to become familiar with golf terms and lingo.

Smarty Pants Third Grade cards let kids test their smarts and load up on new facts and funny trivia. Designed for independent use (so a child can play alone or with a parent or friend), the cards are colorful, creative and packed with illustrated activities, including trivia quizzes, problem-solving puzzles, rebus puzzles, fun facts, creative story-building games and much more. Each educational card set is thoughtfully developed to suit the learning style and curriculum standards of each age range...then spiced up with fresh, lively design and an infusion of humor (including a whimsical pants-shaped case!) to keep kids giggling, engaged and excited about learning.

Connect 4 Launchers is a fast-flying checkers game that gives players three different checker challenges to prove they can connect em up and win. Includes 21 red checkers, 21 yellow checkers, 4 pillar pieces, 2 clear grid trays, 1 red checker launcher, 1 yellow checker launcher and instructions. For 2 or more players. Ages 5 and up.

Challenge kids' powers of deduction and their ability to think on their feet with this giant box of brainteasers. Made to be played at home, on the road, or on a family vacation, this set-up-free game is chock-full of cards that each contain 5 tantalizing clues that lead the player to just one correct answer. The opposing team or player draws a card and reads the 5 clues one at a time (starting at the fifth one), giving the guesser just 10 seconds to answer before reading the next fact. Clues progress in order of difficulty, where each factoid is easier to decipher than the previous one read. Sure to challenge your pint-sized competitor, this fast-paced game puts the pressure on the guesser since the number of points received for a correct answer decreases as he or she progresses through the clues. The player or team with the most points wins.

Kwizniac 2 is a trivia countdown game designed to test knowledge under pressure. The object of the game it for players to accumulate as many points as possible by correctly answering as many trivia questions as possible. To help players correctly identify the answer to each question, a set of 10 clues is provided in decreasing order of difficulty, where each clue is easier to decipher than the previous clue in sequence. The number of points a player receives for a correct answer decreases as he or she progresses through the sequence of clues. The player with the highest score wins the game.