Bezzerwizzer

The game today is called Bezzerwizzer. This is another adult/older teen game. It's a trivia game, so a lot of younger kids won't know the answers.

The Point:
Be the first to completely make it around the board by correctly answering trivia cards.

Gameplay:
Each team gets a playing piece, two Bezzerwizzer tiles, one Zwap tile and one tile board of the same color as their playing piece.

Place all game pieces on the Start square.

Put the 20 black category tiles into the bag. Here are the categories:

All teams draw four random category tiles from the bag.

Once you've chosen four random tiles, place your tiles on your tile board in the order you want to answer them. Categories with more dots earn more points when you answer them correctly.

Beginning with the lowest-value category tile, teams take turns answering one question each. Correct answers allow you to move your game piece clockwise around the board according to the point value (dots) for that question.

When it's your turn, the team to your left draws a question card and reads a question for your current category. Here are some examples for the questions:

After the question has been answered (whether it's right or wrong), return the question card to the back of the box and turn that category tile facedown. Play then continues to the next team. After all teams have answered the first question, they move on to question number two, and so forth.

But wait! You can sabotage and earn extra points!

If you think you know a lot about your opponent's next category, play a Bezzerwizzer tile before the question is read to them and you can try to steal the question. After the question is read, the other team gives their answer first then you give yours. If they don't answer correctly but you do, you score 3 points!

If you play a Zwap tile at the beginning of your turn, you can swap one of your face-up category tiles with one of your opponent's. You must play a Zwap before the question is read. This is a great way to get rid of a category you don't want.

Once you've played a Bezzerwizzer or Zwap tile, turn it face down and set it aside until the end of the round.

Once all teams have answered their questions, the round is over. Return all the category tiles to the bag and take back your Bezzerwizzer and Zwap tiles. A new round begins, moving clockwise.

How to win:
Be the first to return to the Start square.

Verdict:
We love this game, and if you like trivia games, you'll like it too. There are so many specific categories! I also like the chance to steal from the other teams.

Great for Learning:
Trivia facts you'll never need to know again, thinking on your feet!

Bad People

Today's game is called Bad People. This is an adult-only game which I highly recommend is played only with people who are not easily offended! 

The Point:
Be the first person to score 7 points.

Gameplay:

Each person chooses a Player Identity Card like the ones pictured below. As you can see they are personalities such as cat lady, person who spits in food, etc. Lovely!

Next, each player collects a Picture Voting Card for every person playing the game, even yourself.

Next, each player collects a Double Down card.

The first person to go is the "Dictator". The Dictator draws a question card and reads it out loud. Here are some examples of the question cards:

Once the card is read aloud, the Dictator silently chooses a player that he believes best fits the card, then places the corresponding Voting Card face down in front of them. You cannot choose yourself.

After the Dictator has voted, all the other players also cast a silent vote by guessing who the Dictator voted for. Place the corresponding Voting Card face down in front of you. Remember, you can vote for yourself, but not the Dictator. Also remember you are voting for who you think the Dictator chose, not who you think best fits the card!

Once every player has voted, each player reveals their vote one at a time. The Dictator reveals their card last.

1 point is given to each player who voted the same as the Dictator. If the Dictator chose a player that no one else voted for, then everyone who voted for the most popular answer gets a point.

Dictators don't earn points.

At any time during the round, a player can play their Double Down Card on their Voting Card. If you win that round (by voting the same as the Dictator) you get two points! But if you guess incorrectly, you lose your Double Down card for the rest of the game!

How to Win:
Just earn 7 points! It goes pretty quickly!

Verdict:
Okay, we thought this game was really funny, but you definitely have to play with people who have thick skin. Not everyone can admit they are the most likely to check themselves out in a mirror or flee from the police!

Great for Learning:
Absolutely nothing... this game has no educational value which is why it's for adults only.

Balloon Lagoon

Introducing... 

Balloon Lagoon! This is a game that is REALLY great for younger kids. Bri got it for Hunter a few years ago for his birthday, and even though they've outgrown it, we keep it for our younger friends who come over and play. (What can I say - I'm my father's daughter!)

As you can see, it's a fairly large game, with four puzzle sections that attach to the middle merry-go-round piece.

The Point:
Have fun while playing some simple learning games!

Gameplay:

First of all, choose your purple mover. This is your game piece that will float around the Balloon Lagoon carnival, stopping at each of the docks to play a game.

On your turn, spin the merry-go-round. The game it points to is the game you'll play on this turn. Float your mover to the game's dock and prepare to play!

When you're ready to begin, have another player press the purple button for you. This will start the music, which is your timer!

Playing the games:

Video tutorials are MUCH easier than explanations for each game!

Letter Lake:

Tumble Tides:

Snack Hut:

Frog Pond:

When your time is up, collect your balloons (any mixture of colors) and put them into your mover. For Letter Lake, you get a balloon per correct letter you fished out. For Tumble Tides, you get a balloon per section that matches the picture. For Snack Hut, you get a balloon per matching snack you collect. For Frog Pond, you get a balloon per frog that made it into the pond.

The person to completely fill their mover with balloons wins!

Verdict:
Like I said, this game is a little young for us now, but it's such a great little educational game I don't want to part with it just yet. Also, the cheapest one I can find online is about $50, so if you want to play this game, you might want to borrow it from a friend to try it out!

Great for Learning:
Spelling, letter recognition, fine motor skills, matching, patterns, and working under pressure!

5 Second Rule

Today's board game is 5 Second Rule. This is a really quick, simple (I won't say easy!) game you can play with the whole family. The recommended age is 10 and up, and I believe that's because some of the categories can be kind of tough (like famous sports figures or historical events, etc.). I would not be surprised if there is a children's version floating around out there.

The Point:
Score the most points by giving three answers before the balls twist down to the bottom of the timer.

Gameplay:

Place the card box with the cards on the table where everyone can reach it, as well as the timer. Determine how many rounds you are going to play. Two or three rounds will be plenty for larger groups, whereas a smaller group may get through four to six rounds.

The first person who goes will draw a card and read it aloud. You can see there are different categories on the yellow side and red side. I don't really think it matters which side you read from. You can choose to read either, or decide to only play one color for the duration of the game.

Read the category aloud and immediately flip the timer. The player TO YOUR LEFT is in the "Hot Seat" and they will begin answering. The timer will run for five seconds and the person in the Hot Seat has to say 3 answers before that timer runs out. If they are successful, they get to keep the card. That's one point. Play then moves to the right.

Here is a video of the timer in action:

Okay, let's say you answer one or two things but not all three. The player in the Hot Seat gets no points, and the player to their right automatically has the timer flipped for them and must begin naming three things in that category. The tricky part is they cannot say anything that has already been named by the previous person!

Play will continue until someone names three in five seconds and wins the point.

If you get back to the original player without anyone naming 3 in 5 seconds, that player gets one point by default.

The person to the right of the original player then becomes the new player in the Hot Seat, so the person to their left picks a new card and reads it aloud. And so on and so forth.

For example: if we played with the card above - preschool songs - I might spit out, "Mary Had a Little Lamb", "Twinkle, Twinkle", and "Itsy Bitsy Spider". If I do that in five seconds, I've won a point.

Let's pretend now that I get stuck. I yell out, "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Twinkle, Twinkle" but I choke under pressure and can't think of a third. The timer flips over for the player on my right and he begins guessing. If he says either of my guesses, it does not count as one of his three.

This gets tricky if multiple people only get one or two answers correct as you can't use any of them for your three answers!

How to Win:
At the end of all the rounds, count up your points. Whoever has the most points is the winner!

If there is a tie, play one more round between those players as a tiebreaker.

If you aren't sure the answer given is correct, feel free to Google!

Verdict:
I like this game even though it makes me so nervous! I am definitely not good under pressure! This game can definitely bring a lot of laughs though.

Great for Learning:
Quick thinking, Vocabulary (cards have categories such as "perennial flowers" and "prepositions".

Coronavirus Update

I feel like if I don't blog about the coronavirus now, I'm going to wonder why not in about 20 years. This is definitely a turn of events in our nation's history that has never happened before and may not ever happen again. I don't really have the time right now to articulate exactly what's happening in the country (there is a lot of turmoil) but I figured I will jot down some notes before I forget.

• Our life hasn't changed TOO drastically. We still do school every day. The difference is there are no extracurriculars except for karate. Jujitsu, gymnastics, Scouts, church, co-op, our STEAM classes and food labs at the library, baseball, have all been canceled.
• I'm doing more puzzles than ever.
• I'm still teaching online and taking a nap during the day, I just have time for two short naps now instead of one typically, so I'm sleeping closer to 6-7 hours in a 24-hour period. Wahoo!!
• I bought a label maker when I first realized we were going to be headed toward a quarantine, so my house is about to be labelfied! (Yes, I invented that word).
• Brianna's gym where she takes gymnastics is offering daily classes online for the kids. So far they have offered live classes on Irish dancing, better jumps for cheerleaders, and a shoulder workout. More to come!
• Karate is taking every precaution against the virus. Kids must have their temperature taken before going into class. Their belt test next week will be done completely online in an unprecendented move.
• Zoos, schools, museums, libraries, and tons of other facilities are offering live shows and free resources during this time. 
• The pollen is here so we can't even play outside for hours at a time. It makes 3/4 of our family feel as though our head is going to explode.
• We have plenty of food but the main thing people seem to be hoarding is toilet paper. We also have plenty of that because I did my monthly grocery trip right before this all started.
• Our church will be livestreaming services for the first time ever. 

So, like I said, not a TON of disruption here. We're obviously home a lot more (A LOT MORE) than usual but I am welcoming it! I'm so happy to be forced into this! And honestly we haven't had a second to be bored yet. We have so many projects to work on and school and chores and games, we are busy from the time we wake up until bedtime. Of course the kids do get to watch TV during their lunch hour and then they get a little electronic time right around dinner time. They aren't totally deprived!

Angry Birds Knock on Wood

Today's board game is Angry Birds: Knock on Wood. This is another one of our favorites that we particularly like because you can choose the length of the game. You can even play by yourself!

The Point:
Knock down as many towers as possible and earn the most points.

Gameplay:

There are five different card piles. The purple cards, with eggs and a star icon, are rewards. More about those later. The green "1" cards mean that the tower will be a bit easier to knock down and is worth 100 points. The orange "2" cards are a little bit tougher towers and are worth 200 points when knocked down. The blue "3" cards are the most difficult and are worth 300 points when knocked down. The red cards are the favorites of my kids. They are "freestyle" cards which means you are told which blocks to use for your tower, but you create any tower out of those blocks.

In this game, I was building for Brianna. She wanted a 300-point tower, so this is the card she chose. I had to build the tower exactly as shown on the card. If she knocked over all four of the green guys (the pigs), she wins the card and essentially 300 points. If she also was able to knock over the yellow star, she picks up a purple star card worth 100 points!

Hunter built this tower for me worth 200 points. The same rules apply - if I knock over all the pigs, I get the 200 points, and if I can also knock off the yellow egg, I get the purple bonus card!

Like I said, the kids really like the freestyle towers. This is an example of one. You pick the card and all it tells you is which materials to use for building:

I made those materials into this tower for Bri:

Hunter created this freestyle tower for me:

And Bri built this freestyle tower for Hunter:

Verdict:
Thumbs up! We like to pull this game out when we don't have a lot of free time - maybe while lunch is cooking or if we have 20 minutes to kill before our next extracurricular activity. It's also great for all ages, because younger ones can just knock the towers over with their hands or feet - haha!

Great for Learning:
Dexterity, Fine Motor Skills, Creative Play, Geometry (finding the perfect geometric arc can be tough!)

Apples to Apples/Sour Apples to Apples

Today's board game is Apples to Apples. This is a really popular game. You have probably heard of it and you may even own it already. It still is worthy of the blog. It is one of our favorites. There are TONS of games out there like this now (both kid-friendly and adult-only) but this is one my kids always return to. 

The Point:

Collect enough green apple cards to win the game. 

Gameplay:

Each player is dealt seven red apple cards, face down. Look at your cards. 

One person is deemed the "judge". The judge picks a green apple card from the top of the stack, reads the word aloud, and places it face up on the table.

All players except the judge quickly choose the red apple card from their hand that they feel best goes with the green apple card played by the judge. Players place these red apple cards face down on the table.

The judge mixes the red apple cards so no one knows who played which card. The judge turns over each red apple card, reads it aloud, and then selects the one he thinks is best described the word on the green apple card. The player of the selected red apple card is awarded the green apple card played by the judge.

To keep score, players keep the green apple cards they have won on the table until the end of the game. 

Once the judge has completed her turn, the role of judge passes to the player on the left. Everyone should make sure they have seven cards in their hand, and the new judge lays out the new green apple card. Play continues from there!

Winning the Game:
If 4 players: 8 green apple cards are needed to win
If 5 players: 7 green apple cards are needed to win
If 6 players: 6 green apple cards are needed to win
If 7 players: 5 green apple cards are needed to win
If 8+ players: 4 green apple cards are needed to win

Things to Note:

• Your red apple card doesn't have to be a perfect fit. It might be the most creative or hilarious that gets chosen!
• You can agree before the game to allow "lobbying" for your card. If you play this way, players can try to convince the judge which card should be picked!
• You should definitely play to the judge! If I know the judge has a favorite actor, I may play that particular card knowing the judge will pick it no matter what!
• When playing with younger kids, you may want to discard celebrities or other cards they aren't aware of. We always discard certain celebrities like "Jack Nicholson" and cards like "Communism" or "Wall Street" because they aren't old enough to really understand how those specific things fit with a card, or know the actor.

Verdict:

Thumbs up! This is one of our favorite games, and because there are hundreds of cards there are so many combinations. You can play all the time and constantly come up with new combinations of cards!

Great for Learning:

Vocabulary words, synonyms, debate (if you play with the "lobbying" rules!), creative logic, reasoning

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This is another version of Apples to Apples, called Sour Apples to Apples. It is played almost exactly like the original version except there are consequences!

The cards look a little different but the gameplay is the same. Instead of stacks of red and green cards, they are combined! The green side is the "category" and the red side are the answers that can go with the category.

The Twist:
The player whose Red Apple card is selected as being LEAST like the word on the Green Apple card must spin the Sour Apple to see their fate! (The winner is selected first, and then this card is selected next).

Push down on the Sour Apple spinner to spin it. Whatever symbol stops in the window determines your fate:

Can't Talk Next Turn

This is self-explanatory. It's especially difficult if everyone is allowed to "lobby" for the judge to pick their card!

 Play Red Before Green:

The next time BEFORE the judge plays the Green Apple card you need to go ahead and lay down your Red Apple card! This is a really funny one!

 Pass the Sour Apple:

Lucky you! You get to pass the Sour Apple spinner to any other player EXCEPT the person who just won that round, and they have to spin it!

Double Play:

The next time you play a Red Apple card, you get to play two Red Apple cards instead of one, doubling your chances of winning that round!

Lose a Card:

You must immediately discard one card from your hand and for the rest of the game, play with only four cards. If you spin this symbol multiple times in the game, it has no effect after the first time.

Enjoy!

Stratego

Today's board game is Stratego. This is an older game, first created in the 1940s. I have to thank my dad for introducing us to this game. It quickly became one of our favorites.

Beware - in case you didn't figure it out based on the name, this game involves a lot of strategy. It's the type of game you really need to play multiple times to figure out what strategy is going to work best in your favor!

The Point:
Find your opponent's flag.

Gameplay:
Place the game in between players and choose a side and a color. Each player gets an army of 40 pieces. This consists of the following pieces:

(Number on the piece / Title of the piece / Quantity of piece):

1/Marshal/1
2/General/1
3/Colonels/2
4/Majors/3
5/Captains/4
6/Lieutenants/4
7/Sergeants/4
8/Miners/5
9/Scouts/8
S/Spy/1

There are also 6 bombs and 1 flag which cannot be moved after the game begins.

The Marshal (#1) is the highest rank. The lowest rank is the Spy (S), although he has a special move (see "Rules for Striking").

Fill your side of the board with 10 pieces, 4 rows deep. Make sure the pictures are facing you so your opponent has no idea where your pieces are located.

In this game, players alternate turns. You may move one piece to one square on each turn (the exception is the "Scout"), and may move forward, backward, or sideways (NOT DIAGONALLY).

You may not move onto the lakes in the middle of the board.

You may not move onto a space that has a piece on it or jump a piece (this ain't Checkers, y'all).

You may NOT move the "flag" or "bomb" pieces.

The "Scout" (#9) may move any number of spaces in a straight line (as long as the squares are open), but beware - this clues in your opponent that this piece is a Scout, and he may come after you! The Scout can be very valuable for scoping out the other side of the board, so you may just want to move it one square at a time. (But don't take my word for it - try a different strategy every time you play!)

Pieces may not be moved back and forth between the same two squares in 3 consecutive turns. Come on, buddy, make up your mind and take a risk!

You MUST move or "strike" in your turn.

Rules for "Striking":

When your piece is in an adjoining square to your opponent's piece, you may strike (back to back, side to side, or face to face - not diagonal). You do not HAVE to strike just because you are adjoining an opponent's piece.

You may move on your turn or strike on your turn. You may not do both.

To "strike" (attack), the player whose turn it is picks up his piece and lightly taps the opponent's piece and says out loud the piece's rank (the number on the piece). The opponent answers by naming the rank of the tapped piece. The piece with the lower rank is removed from the board. If the attacked piece is higher, it stays in place. If the attacker's piece is higher, it moves into the now empty spot of the opponent's piece.

If you strike and both pieces are the same rank, both pieces are removed from the board.

A Marshal (#1) beats a #2-9, a General (#2) beats a #3-9, a Colonel (#3) beats a #4-9, and so on down to the Spy, which is the lowest ranking piece.

The Spy is special because it is the only piece that can remove the Marshal (#1) - IF he strikes first! If the Marshal finds the Spy first, the Spy must be removed from the playing board. The Spy loses to every other piece, no matter who attacks first.

When any piece (except a #8) strikes a bomb, that piece is removed from the board. The bomb does not move. When a Miner (#8) strikes a bomb, the bomb is removed from the board and the #8 piece moves into that position.

Remember that the bombs and flag cannot be moved.

As soon as a player "strikes" his opponent's flag the game is over and he is the winner.

If it's your turn and you realize you've boxed yourself in and can't make a move (been there, done that!) you forfeit the game.

Verdict:
This is such a great game, because you can try a different strategy every time. Then again... so is your opponent! It's a really quiet, thought-provoking game for two people, which I really enjoy. I like seeing my mistakes in strategy so I can improve the next time I play!

Great for Learning:
Strategizing, Critical Thinking, Resource Management