TDmonthly's ToyFair 2006 Preview--Board Games Product Category

Sequence for Kids™ by JAX LTD INC.

Play a card from your hand, place your chip on a corresponding character on the board...When you have 4 in a row, it's a SEQUENCE and you win! Use a UNICORN card to place your chip anywhere. Remove your opponent's chip with a DRAGON card. Have fun with your friends playing SEQUENCE® FOR KIDS™! 4/20/2007 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Big-Deal Auto-Dealership by ABOVE AND BEYOND CONCEPTS

Move over Monopoly! You've been in the driver's seat long enough! Now you have to take a back seat to the Big-Deal Auto-Dealership board game. Big-Deal is a fun game of players buying/selling and operating automobile/truck dealerships. Are you a super wheeler dealer? Play the game and find out!

2-6 Players 4/18/2007

Capt. Keyo's Trains and Brains™ by ABOVE AND BEYOND CONCEPTS

The Trains and Brains Board Game teaches and awares children of the dangers playing in and around railroad tracks, cars, yards, tunnels, bridges, trestles plus much more.

2-5 Players 4/18/2007

Capt. Keyo's School Daze by ABOVE AND BEYOND CONCEPTS

The Capt. Keyo School Bus Safety Game is fun to play while teaching children safety in and around a School Bus. The object of the game is for the player to leave their home and arrive at their school safely.

2-5 Players 4/18/2007

Welcome to the Casino™ by ABOVE AND BEYOND CONCEPTS

Will you break the Casino or will the Casino break you! Welcome to the Casino is a fun game of players challenging their skills, strategy and luck against the casino plus much, much more.

2-6 Players 4/18/2007

Stonehenge: An Anthology Board Game by TITANIC GAMES

Titanic Games gathered together five talented game designers and gave each of them the same board and pieces. Five unique designers resulted in five unique games: an Arthurian showdown by Richard Borg, a monumental fire sale by James Ernest, a druidic election by Bruno Faidutti, a magical convocation by Richard Garfield, and an alien chariot race by Mike Selinker. Stonehenge contains one rulebook with five games, a game board, a 65-card deck, five plastic trilithons, 50 plastic disks, 50 plastic bars and six plastic pawns. Launch date: May 2007. 4/18/2007 (Price: $49.95)

Claim It! by WATTSALPOAG GAMES

In this game for two to five players, participants compete to be the prospector who claims the largest patch of land in the gold-filled hills of California. Players roll the dice and stake their claim, and then keep rolling to watch their patch grow. But if they get too greedy they may bust and lose everything earned that turn. Players can steal their opponents' land and lock down their claim so opponents cannot steal it. Launch date: Early 2007. 4/18/2007 (Price: $24.00)

GALLOP HOME by GALLOP HOME LLC

This exciting educational game allows players to train their own horse. They choose their playing piece — Friesian, Thoroughbred, Arabian or Paint — and the score card that matches the breed. Each participant travels the board by the roll of a dice or the pick of a card, collecting training disciplines and keeping score as they go. Players receive points for caring for their horses or winning a Blue Ribbon, and must be careful not to lose a shoe or get “grounded” at the grounded barn. Once a player receives the four "top" training scores, he can "GALLOP HOME" to the barn. The first to arrive receives 25 extra points, and the player with the most points wins. 4/18/2007 (Price: $29.95) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Noukar Monkey Chase by NOUKAR GAMES

Based on gaming principles developed by French mathematician Jean Pesquié, Noukar mixes gaming strategy with the luck of the die to create a head-to-head competition the whole family can enjoy. The goal is to be the first player to move three pieces across the game board, but players can bounce their opponents back to start. Monkey Chase is a self-contained game that is perfect for travel, vacationing and even birthday goodie bags. 4/18/2007

Parthenon by Z-MAN GAMES, INC.

Winner of the 2006 Origins award for best boardgame. Also, a GAMES 100 listee.

Parthenon: Rise of the Aegean immerses you in an exciting, competitive world filled with aggressive trading, perilous voyages, and the construction of grand monuments. It is a game of commerce for 3-6 players set in the islands of the Aegean Sea. The time is 600 B.C. and mainland Greece stands on the threshold of glory. The Aegean Islands now attempt to share in that glory and to thrive in an increasingly profitable (and dangerous) world.

Each player represents a different island in the Aegean Sea populated by two villages and a fleet of trading ships. Each island's villages produce commodities which are either traded with the other islands or sent abroad across the Mediterranean Sea. Fleets journeying to distant lands face the deadliest hazards, but also obtain the greatest rewards.

Each player strives to develop his island by building additional villages, workshops, and advanced structures such as fortresses, shrines, and academies. The first player to complete all of the structures on his or her island, including two Great Wonders, wins the game! 4/17/2007 (Price: $49.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Classic Game Collection Travel Wood Chess Set by JOHN N. HANSEN CO. INC

This high-quality 11" x 11" folding magnetic chess set features a walnut-inlaid board and a 1 3/4" king. The men are weighted and felted, and the set has interior storage. Launch date: July 2000. 4/16/2007 (Price: $34.99)

University Games - Big Brain Academy by UNIVERSITY GAMES

In this mental fitness game based on the original best-selling Nintendo DS title, players exercise their brains in five categories: Analyze, Compute, Identify, Memorize and Think. Exercises challenge players mentally and physically to see who has the heaviest brain. Participants play in teams and can become a master matchmaker, a fluent reciter of tongue twisters, a cube counting whiz or a logician capable of deducing heavyweights, pathfinders and comparisons. The game includes a brain-o-meter scale, 330 cards, a spinner, puzzle pieces, scoring chips, a dry-erase pen, a red revealer and a and timer. It “keeps minds nimble and players laughing,” Matthew Crovitz of University Games told TDmonthly. 4/13/2007 (Price: $24.98) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Master-Pieces: A Creative Building Game! by THUMBPRINT ADVENTURES

In this exciting game, players use their creativity to transform the specially included gizmos and gadgets into unique works of art. They simply pick an idea card, choose objects from the box and start creating, and then present their Master-Piece or have others guess their creation. This open-ended game comes with more than 100 cool objects, idea cards, a playing mat, a sand timer and instructions. The game “is a truly open-ended product that excites minds and each time it is played is a new ‘wow’ experience. [It is] perfect for specialty as it is a unique, high-end product that equally merges fun and learning,” Director Karen Halpern of Thumbprint Adventures told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 2007. ( Watch Video) 4/13/2007 (Price: $39.99)

AT-43 Initiation Set: Operation Damocles by RACKHAM

This fast-paced, easy-to-learn game allows players to engage in thrilling futuristic battles, using a range of assembled and painted plastic miniatures of unmatched quality. They lead squads of soldiers and striders into battles reminiscent of the best war movies. “The miniatures are already assembled and painted, which makes them completely playable out of the box. Easy-to-grasp rules and ready-to-play miniatures allow the game to appeal to a very broad audience that can get into the game very quick[ly],” Rackham Communication Manager Martin Terrier told TDmonthly. Launch date: December 2006. ( Watch Video) 4/13/2007 (Price: $80.00)

Magnetic Folding Travel Chess Set by WOOD EXPRESSIONS INC.

This circular wooden folding chess set measures 7” in diameter and features 9/16" squares. It includes a 3/16" king and other magnetic pieces. 4/11/2007 (Price: $39.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Ben 10 Total Transformation Game by PRESSMAN TOY CORP.

The Ben 10 Total Transformation Game gives players an opportunity to role play as Ben Tennyson, star of Cartoon Network’s “Ben 10.” Using a replica of Ben’s Omnitrix, players find out what alien they’ve become and then use that power to battle and get closer to winning. Launch date: June 2007. ( Watch Video) 4/6/2007 (Price: $15.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Redneck Life by GUT BUSTIN' GAMES

In Redneck Life, for two to six players, the winner is the player with the most teeth remaining at the end of the game. Teeth are lost through accidents and brawls, but players can buy some back at the end if they have money, or they have to lose a tooth for every $100 owed to Uncle Clem. A roll of two dice determines each player’s grade in school, setting them up for one of 11 fabulous careers, such as monster truck announcer or taxidermist. Debt is incurred by buying vehicles and a home, and trying to manage a family. Game play requires one to two hours. ( Watch Video) 3/29/2007 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

innovativeKids Readers™: The Penguins' Perfect Picnic by INNOVATIVEKIDS

It’s the perfect day for a picnic, so the Penguins pack their things and go. But when the weather turns bad, the Penguins find out what it really means to have the perfect picnic. This book includes a memory-match bingo game that comes with four double-sided playing boards and 48 rebus playing pieces. Kids will have hours of fun playing and learning. Launch date: February 2007. 3/29/2007 (Price: $6.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Lexogon One by TIPPECANOE LLC

Lexogon challenges players to think of a word that uses the three clue letters in order, but arranged in a special way required by the color category indicated on each card. In this game of risk, luck and strategy, two to six players must depend on the roll of the die, the Clue Cards and their way with words. Lexogon One, at a middle-school vocabulary level, features two-letter clues and is great for classroom and family play. “It challenges you to think about words in a way that is entirely new,” President John Tyler of Tippecanoe told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2006. ( Watch Video) 3/29/2007 (Price: $27.95) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Reiner Knizia's Penguin by FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES

This delightfully simple and fiendishly addictive game by world-renowned designer Reiner Knizia challenges players to find room for all their penguins on the ice. “Penguin blends the simple joy of stacking plastic penguins with subtle and devious strategy. It is unique in that it is a delightfully and attractively simple game with unsuspected depths of strategy and fun. Penguin is simple enough to teach in ten seconds, accessible enough for children, and engrossing enough for adults,” Marketing Associate Dan Clark of Fantasy Flight told TDmonthly. Launch date: June 2007. ( Watch Video) 3/29/2007 (Price: $14.95) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Little Italy by PLAYROOM ENTERTAINMENT

In this 30-minute game, two to six players travel back to New York’s golden age of gangsters, where they take on the role of a crime boss in 1950s Little Italy. They make their rounds, sharing control of two cars and collecting money from different buildings. With strategic action, players can drive their opponents straight into a stakeout. 3/29/2007 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Cosmic Cows by PLAYROOM ENTERTAINMENT

It's time for the Annual Extraterrestrial Cow-Pulling Contest, and aliens from all over the galaxy have come to watch the event. Players go head to head with cross-cosmos rivals to see who can abduct three Cosmic Cows first.  The number combinations that are rolled determine the movement of the cows, and each player can choose which tractor beam to use in order to abduct them.  With a good mix of strategic offensive and defensive maneuvers, players decide which combination of the unknowing bovines to pull toward their spaceship or away from the opponent's.   The player that pulls three cows into his or her Win Zone first is the winner in this dicey game of alien tug-of-war. Game play is about 20 minutes. The game includes a gameboard, 10 dice, 10 Cow Pawns, plus instructions in English, French and Spanish. The game is designed for two players or teams. ( Watch Video) 3/28/2007 (Price: $15.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Sneak a Peek: The Crossword Game by J-WAY

This easy-to-play, interactive game gives two to four players or teams the ability to solve even the most difficult crossword puzzle. Players start with a blank puzzle and amass clues each turn, based on the draw of a card and roll of a die. They may answer a clue for points or receive a “Sneak a Peek” letter. Correct answers are entered on the board, with points awarded or deducted. The player notes clues (and Sneak a Peek letter) on their “cheat sheet” and play continues. Upon puzzle completion, the person with the most points is the winner. “The rules and play format self-handicap game play, providing a fun and fair challenge for players of any skill level,” Inventor Richard Jensen told TDmonthly. ( Watch Video) 3/27/2007 (Price: $34.95)

APBA Pro Baseball Board Game by APBA INTERNATIONAL INC

APBA Pro Baseball Board game is fun, quick and easy to play, ideal for those who want to enjoy quick baseball fun or learn more about the unique strategy of America's favorite pastime. It uses real players and real stats. “Since 1951, APBA Pro Baseball has consistently fulfilled the hunger for baseball strategy gaming. APBA continues to release both current and historical full season card sets for its game. The APBA community of players is an enthusiastic and loyal base that gathers yearly for a convention and is very active on the APBA and fan-created message boards,” President Marc A. Rinaldi of APBA Games told TDmonthly. Launch date: New build - May 2007. ( Watch Video) 3/27/2007 (Price: $21.00)

The World Cup Game by GAMES FOR THE WORLD

This game of luck and skill recreates the excitement of the World Cup soccer tournament. Can players guide a European team to victory in Uruguay in 1930? Or repeat Brazil’s 2002 triumph in the Far East? Players control the destinies of national teams, taking them through group and knock-out stages. Through card play, each player scores goals, presses attacks and shores up defenses, but fouls, offsides and penalties can thwart a strategy. Matches in each round are resolved simultaneously, so a complete tournament can be played in one to three hours. “Unique tournament replay style” sets this game apart, Shaun Derrick, designer and proprietor of Games for the World told TDmonthly. Launch date: June 2007. ( Watch Video) 3/27/2007 (Price: $59.95) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]