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

Vowel Adventures Ready to Read Kit 3 by BRIGHT MINDS

This teaching aid is designed to assist beginner readers in learning short and long vowels. It is designed by Australian teachers with consideration of the English syllabus and includes the following: playing cards, a fun game of matching that helps teach children to recognize short vowels and long vowels; a magnetboard and magnets, allowing children to sort words into short and long vowels and change words by adding "bossy e" at the end; and an A2 poster of words containing long and short vowels. Launch date: June 2007. 5/23/2007 (Price: $21.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Sight Word Swamp Ready to Read Kit 2 by BRIGHT MINDS

This teaching aid is designed to assist beginner readers in learning to read sight words. It is designed by Australian teachers with consideration of the English syllabus and includes the following: playing cards and board game that help teach children to read sight words, five game pieces for jumping from lilypad to lilypad, and an A2 poster of common sight words needed to read. Launch date: June 2007. 5/23/2007 (Price: $21.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Phonics Frenzy 2 Ready to Read Kit 1 by BRIGHT MINDS

This teaching aid is designed to assist beginner readers in learning to sound out and read simple words. It is designed by Australian teachers with consideration of the English syllabus and includes the following: playing cards, a fun game of memory that helps teach children to read simple words; a whiteboard and pen, allowing children to practice writing and sorting the words into word families; and an A2 poster of the alphabet. Launch date: June 2007. 5/23/2007 (Price: $21.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Phonics Frenzy 1 - School Readiness Kit by BRIGHT MINDS

This teaching aid is designed to assist beginner readers in learning to read and write the alphabet. It is designed by Australian teachers with consideration of the English syllabus and includes the following: playing cards, a fun game of memory that helps teach children the sounds of the alphabet; a writing workbook, allowing children to practice writing the alphabet; a workbook on CD, which allows the workbook to be printed time and time again; and an A2 poster of the alphabet. “All our games come in kits which contain a variety of hands-on resources. These unique kits are a series and, therefore, parents can take their child through the complete reading process in an enjoyable way,” Kelly Tunny of Bright Minds told TDmonthly. Launch date: June 2007. 5/23/2007 (Price: $21.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

M Is for Mouse: The Game of Starting Sounds by PLAYROOM ENTERTAINMENT

In this card game, players match objects to the letter that the object’s name begins with. The player who finds the most pairs first wins the game. Typically completed within 15 minutes, the game accommodates two to five players. The card set includes five reference boards, 26 cards, 30 chips and instructions in English, Spanish and French. 5/21/2007 (Price: $8.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Bleach Trading Card Game by SCORE ENTERTAINMENT

Trading Card games are games played with one’s own collection of cards. The goal of the game is to either take away all of the powers of the opponent’s guardian or to empty the opponent’s deck of cards. In the Bleach Trading Card Game, join Ichigo and his friends in their fight to protect the innocent and help tortured souls find peace. It's $11.99  for the Starter Deck and $3.29 for the Booster Pack. Launch date: May 23, 2007. 5/21/2007 (Price: $11.99)

Traditional Series Gemaco Playing Cards by GEMACO

This “1st in Quality” deck of cards is printed in China on high-quality casino paper exclusively for Gemaco Inc. 5/15/2007 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Parasites Unleashed Card Game by Ekos USA

A simple and fast-paced card game with lots of fun and entertainingly gross information about real parasites!  Simple enough for younger players, but also more sophisticated gamers can discover subtle strategies. Each set contains 55 cards. Comic illustrations by renowned artist Fred Zinn. 5/10/2007

Piranhaz! Go Fish With Teeth by ENDLIGHT LLC

This fish game is certainly no ordinary Go Fish game.  One must catch as many fish as possible and be the first to get rid of all the cards in one’s hand.  One may steal fish from opponents, trade hands, change direction, pollute a rival’s catch, stuff and mount a catch, and grow from the smallest fish to the biggest fish in the pond in a single day.  Play the piranha and take a bite out of an enemy.  Launch date: April 2007. 5/4/2007 (Price: $10.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Nature of the Beast: Farm vs. Forest by EYE-LEVEL ENTERTAINMENT LLP

Forest animals have little care or need for humanity, and are capable fighters. Farm animals see the world in shades of gray and often visit the darker regions. As players control animal armies fighting for domination, they recruit animals, promote leaders, seek allies, buy equipment, seize locations, and unleash events to further their cause or devastate their enemies. Participants can buy more boxes to customize decks or add more players. Partner Matt Anticole of Eye-Level Entertainment told TDmonthly that “veteran players … are pleased to find that this is a self-contained game with no booster packs to worry about. New players are welcomed in with plenty of material online.” Launch date: November 2005. 4/23/2007 (Price: $17.95)

Nature of the Beast: City vs. Suburb by EYE-LEVEL ENTERTAINMENT LLP

In this two-player card game, each player takes control of an animal army fighting for domination. Suburb animals may not be the largest but they are crafty. City animals are tough, well-connected to humanity and well-trained for battle. Players recruit animals to build an empire, promote leaders, seek allies, buy equipment, seize locations, and gain the favor of humanity. Participants unleash events to further their cause or devastate their enemies. “Nature of the Beast enjoys the feel that lots of folks have come to expect from the ‘collectable’ … [or] ‘trading card game’ market without the disadvantages of that format,” Partner Matt Anticole of Eye-Level Entertainment told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 2005. 4/23/2007 (Price: $17.95)

Take Away by JAX LTD INC.

TAKE ALL YOU CAN GET ...when you play this unique, new family card game! Collect as many cards as you can by making plays between your cards and your opponent's cards. But BEWARE...Your opponents might take them all away! The player with the most cards at the end of the game wins!! It's challenging AND fun! 4/20/2007 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Kings in the Corner by JAX LTD INC.

Kings go in the corners. Play your cards solitaire fashion and extend your turn as long as you can. Can't make a single play? Pay the pot. First to empty your hand? You win the pot...plus your opponents' point chips for their unplayed cards! Reach 100 points? You win the game! 4/20/2007 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Treasures and Traps™ – “The Adventure Card Game” by STUDIO 9 INC.

Award-winning artist and game maker C. Aaron Kreader offers the fantasy adventure of classic role-playing in a complete card game. Treasures & Traps puts each player in the role of a hero on a quest to collect three treasures. Simple enough, right? But throw in a two-headed troll, a maze of dangerous doors and a few cunning thieves, and you never know what might happen next. Each game is a unique journey of wild adventure. “The 100 different cards make the game highly re-playable,” Kreader told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 11, 2006. 4/18/2007 (Price: $12.95)

Shrek the Third Premium Trading Cards by INKWORKS

This new trading card set from Inkworks brings the film “Shrek the Third” to life in a 72-card collection. Randomly inserted bonus cards include hand-drawn sketch cards (one per box), "Scratch and Stink” cards, and many more. Launch date: May 2007. 4/18/2007 (Price: $2.49)

Pin High™ by INTROMARK INC.

This 54-card game is based on match-play golf and played on famous “imaginary” courses including Augusta, St. Andrews and Pebble Beach. It consists of nine or 18 holes and is designed for two to four players. Each hand represents a hole on the course, with players attempting to “hit the ball” from the tee into the hole before their opponents. The deck includes stroke, putt and penalty cards. Launch date: March 1, 2006. 4/18/2007 (Price: $9.95)

SCUM, the Card Game by 4J ENTERPRISES LLC

Nothing feels better than sending someone to the depths of Scum. In this exciting, versatile and family-friendly card game, players of all ages battle their way from SCUMville to the Presidency, pitting their skills against one another each round. After each round, players change seats ranging from SCUM and Next-to-Scum, to Middle Class, Vice-President and finally President. The first to reach a predetermined point total wins the game. “This game is fast-paced and fun for small or large groups, all ages, and is a well-known game,” a representative of 4J Enterprises told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2006. ( Watch Video) 4/18/2007 (Price: $5.99)

Saboteur by Z-MAN GAMES, INC.

Winner of a Major Fun award.

You are dwarves digging for gold in the depths of a mine when suddenly, the pick-axe breaks, and the lantern goes out. The saboteur has struck again! But who is the saboteur and will he (or they!) stop you from reaching the treasure? If you succeed, gold awaits you. If you don't, then to the victor goes the spoils. Whoever has the most gold nuggets after three rounds is the winner.

A 3-10 player path-laying card game where each player has a role and no one knows for sure what that role is. 4/17/2007 (Price: $14.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Attribute by Z-MAN GAMES, INC.

A creative word game about associations. One player chooses a topic and each player picks one of the 4 attribute cards from their hand. If they have a green sheep, they must try the attribute that matches the topic best. If they have a red sheep they try to pick an attribute that least matches the topic. Then everyone tries to grab the attribute that comes with a green sheep. It's a flurry of fun and action as players try to grab the matches.

Players use their hand of cards to increase stock prices in the various stocks or discard cards to play the market to affect the value of one or more companies either positively or negatively. You also save certificates of shares in a particular stock in order to score points. Players can also exercise stock options to increase their shares at the end of a round. After 4 rounds of play, the player with the most points wins the game. 4/17/2007 (Price: $15.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Fairy Tale by Z-MAN GAMES, INC.

It is a tale as old as time itself. Shadow threatens the world of Dragons, Fairies, and Knights. But this time you are in control as you draft cards from one or more factions. By choosing your forces wisely and anticipating your opponent's picks, it is within your power to affect the outcome of this FAIRY TALE!

This is a non-collectible cardgame wherein you draft cards - you draw 5 cards, pick one, then pass the remaining cards to another player while receiving a new hand of 4 cards yourself from another player. You pick another card then give those cards to another player, etc. After 4 rounds of drafting, the player with the most points wins.

Team play available. Includes a team rules variant by Richard Garfield. 4/17/2007 (Price: $15.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

No Thanks! by Z-MAN GAMES, INC.

Good card games can be so simple: either take a card or pay a chip. Anyone can make that decision, right? However, there's a catch - in fact there are two. Nobody wants the cards, not even for free, because they give you points in a game where you need to have the fewest points to win. And the chips? They are scarce, very scarce. An excellent filler game that appeals to non-gamers as well. 4/17/2007 (Price: $10.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Sudoku: The Card Game by Z-MAN GAMES, INC.

A fun way for families and friends to share in playing the cult hit puzzle called, Sudoku. The object of Sudoku is to have each column, row, and box grid contain different numbers.

But there's a twist in SuDoku: The Card Game. The object here is to have the least amount of points in your penalty stack while forming a Sudoku puzzle. Your penalty stack comes from not being able to (or be unwilling to) play cards correctly. Yellow cards form the boxes (and are worth 2 points in your penalty stack) and blue cards surround the yellow cards (and are worth 1 point in your penalty stack).

Games are short and you'll be able to play many games during the evening - and each game is different! 4/17/2007 (Price: $15.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Thing-a-ma-Bots by GAMEWRIGHT

Players must gear up for a memory bender in this fast-playing card game of shouting silliness. Each participant must turn over a card and give the robot a name: Melvin, Spaghetti Head, GP-450, or whatever. When it shows up again, the first to shout its name collects the stack of cards. Spot a robot match? Shout out "Thing-a-ma-BOT" and steal an opponent's stack. The person who collects the most robots wins the game. In 2006, this game received the Dr. Toy Smart Play/Smart Toy Award, the Creative Child Magazine Preferred Choice Award and an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award, among others. Launch date: 2006. 4/13/2007 (Price: $5.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Three of a Crime by GAMEWRIGHT

A gang of thieves has just been nabbed, but only three members actually committed the crime. Using keen eyes, quick thinking and deduction, players must try to figure out who's part of the guilty trio. Was it Loose-Eye Lenny, Kid Cassidy and Pencil Top? Or was it Louie St. Louis, Jonny Cortex and No Neck Nick? The first to name the right three suspects is the master sleuth. “This is a great whodunit game and is perfect if you only have a short amount of time, as the playing time is only about 15 minutes,” Cara Newbitt of Aigner Associates told TDmonthly. This game received a 2007 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award. Launch date: January 2007. 4/13/2007 (Price: $9.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Hats Off by GAMEWRIGHT

Players must put on their game caps for a frenzied round of hat matching mania, holding three hat cards in their hand and balancing one on top of their head. The goal is to be the first to match the center hat card and collect the pair. But if a hat is dropped, someone else can yell "Hats Off" and steal a card. Whoever wins the most cards is crowned the top hat.
— “Not only does [this game] work on memory skills trying to match the cards; it also works with improving hand-eye coordination,” Cara Newbitt of Aigner Associates told TDmonthly. This game received a 2007 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award. Launch date: February 2007. 4/13/2007 (Price: $5.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]