July 2011 Notable Toys — Board Games

Combination of game play, brainteaser, optical illusion.

The cooperative board games collection includes Count Your Chickens, Hoot Owl Hoot, Lost Puppies, Mermaid Island, and Stone Soup. Ideal for children two years of age and up, the games focus on socialization skills in a cooperative, group play setting. "Unlike traditional games where there is one winner and one (or many) losers, with cooperative games the players work together against a common obstacle in the game, not against each other. If the game is lost, the defeat is shared equally among the players. And, if the game is won, everyone is a winner," Donna Modrell, marketing & operations manager at Peaceable Kingdom Press, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2011.
Awards: Hoot Owl Hoot! - 2011 Dr. Toy Best Green Product

Color Fever is a family game for players 8 and up. It is a tile placement point scoring game that plays well for 2, 3 or 4 players. Each player has his/her own board to build points from tiles selected. This game is a combination of strategy and luck. "The best part about Color Fever is that it doesn't matter whether there are 2, 3 or 4 players. Everyone plays on the same dice roll so there is no waiting around for your turn. This keeps the game moving and each player can root every time the dice is rolled," Derek Chinn, owner of LMD Enterprises, told TDmonthly.

Recall is an educational memory game. People will be surprised on how much they will remember when playing this game. RECALL teaches people how to retain information for a period of time instead of just short term. This product is good for kids, teens, adults and seniors. Recall will remove the intimidating factor in terms of memory. "There are some memory games out there where you practice memory but you don't really learn from it. RECALL is an educational game where your ability to recall will be taken to another level. Good practice for one player, great for cooperative play," Derek Chinn, owner of LMD Enterprises, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2011.

The peasants have spent a hard week scything hay in the fields, but tonight the festivities begin, starting with a sumptuous banquet of roast hay. Then, the annual nose-stealing competition. Then you have two jesters, one who always lies, one who always tells the truth, both hilariously. This celebration will truly have something for everyone.This is the 5th addition to the game of Dominion. It adds 13 new Kingdom cards to Dominion, plus 5 unique cards. The central theme is variety; there are cards that reward you for having a variety of cards in your deck, in your hand, and in play, as well cards that help you get that variety.

Based on the popular comic book, The Walking Dead Board Game gives fans the opportunity to play Rick, Shane, Andrea, and other "The Walking Dead" characters as they deal with zombies, collect supplies and pick up the pieces of their lives. For 1-6 players. Launch date: Summer 2011.

The first of Mayfair’s expansions to Steam, this set offers three tracks in the same pack. One side has a map of the Mid-Atlantic United States. The other side has two maps: Belgium & Luxembourg and the Brussels Metro. These boards are sure to challenge Steams players with their region-specific rules and challenging topography. Details on the three maps included — Belgium & Luxembourg: An Expansion for 2 Players, Build an Importing Empire. Brussels Metro: An Expansion for 3 Players, Develop Intercity Transit. Mid-Atlantic US: An Expansion for 3-7 Players, Railroad Empires in the Civil War Era. Also Included: An Extra Steam Tile Sheet. NOTE: Requires ownership of MFG4551 Steam™ to play.

It's the compact version of the classic naval combat game for plenty of fun on the run. Players keep track of hits and misses, and sink all of their enemy's ships to win the game. All of the pieces fit inside the case, making it easy to travel with.
— Mike DiAndrea, manager of Hardware Center Toys in Paoli, Pa., told TDmonthly in an April 2012 survey about travel toys that their best seller is Fun on the Run Battleship. They sold "18 this month," he said.

Some people don’t realize that the dragonfly is a friend. It eats up a lot of mosquitoes in the summer. In this cooperative board game, one to four players maneuver the dragonflies to catch as many mosquitoes as they can. Cooperative games teach kids to work together to achieve a goal.

This game is easy enough for first time game players and the game can be made infinitely more challenging simply by adding more owl tokens into the game. This allows the game to age with the child or for older kids (or even adults) to play with younger kids. Like in Candyland, kids practice color recognition and moving tokens. Unlike Candyland, Hoot Owl Hoot is a cooperative game, meaning all players are playing for the same outcome together. A cooperative game eliminates stress, builds self-esteem, and teaches kids that playing together can be fun. Kids learn to work together, they share in the game play, and they practice cooperation. The object of the game is move all the owls from start to the nest before the sun rises. Players take turns, but work together. Launch date: May 2011.
Awards: A Dr. Toy Best Green Product for 2011; 2011 Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award; 2011 Parents’ Choice Major Fun Award; 2011 Disney FamilyFun magazine Toy of the Year (T.O.Y) Award.
— As of 05/23/2011 this product had 4.8 out of 5 stars from 10 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Teaches kids to work together; difficulty can be increased as players get better; eco-friendly.

This game is set up as a reading race through the southwest. Players pick their cards, gallop around the board to round up all their words, and must giddy up home before the other players to win. Game features the top 25 building block words. Includes game board (16.5"W x 16.5"H), 50 word cards, and 4 game pieces. For 2-4 players.

Non-Trivial Quest challenges players by asking questions about all the things they need to know for real life- it's trivia that isn't trivial. For instance, what does one do with a computer one no longer needs? The cards have the question and provide the answer. Aimed at families and friendly groups, Non-Trivial Quest is educational and helps stimulate conversation. The first person to get to the finish line wins. The game includes 300 Questions & Answer cards, a game board, 2 dice, 8 pawn tokens, a card tray, and an instruction sheet. The categories include Health & Nutrition; Math, Science & Technology; Money & Economics; Law, Civics & Sociology; Computer & Internet; and History & Geography. For 2-8 players.