Board Game Club Review: Rory’s Story Cubes

I am part of the Blogger Board Game Club run by Playtime PR. Each month 50 bloggers are sent a new (or new-ish, or at least new to them) board game to play and put to the test. This month we were sent Rory’s Story Cubes, a game I am familiar with but have never played.

Rory’s Story Cubes is a simple set of nine dice. Each dice is different and has a different image on each of its six sides. The idea is simple, roll the dice and make up a story based upon the nine images. It’s small, it’s simple and you can play it anywhere.

The game comes in a small magnetic box which contains the nine dice and a set of simple instructions. The only thing you need to supply is your imagination. The instructions are very easy to understand and include suggestions for developing your stories.

I’ve been waiting and waiting for my son (who has just turned seven) to be old enough to enjoy and understand this game. I was a little concerned he would think it was boring, but actually he loved it. He’s an imaginative little soul, so piecing together a story based on the roll of nine dice really floats his boat.

Board Game Club Review: Rory’s Story Cubes

Rory’s Story Cubes are the kind of game that could spark off a whole raft of really lovely developmental activity. The storytelling can help to develop creative ideas and improve communication skills; as well as give their confidence a boost too.

We really loved Rory’s Story Cubes. This is the basic set, but if you really get into it there are a variety of expansion packs to help you grow your stories. This is such a big hit for us, it’s going straight into the activity bag we take with us when we go out.

Rory’s Story Cubes is widely available from a range of retailers and costs around £12.99. It’s suitable for ages 6+ and would make an excellent after dinner game on Christmas Day!

We were sent the Rory’s Story Cube game for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Find other board game and toy reviews here.

Board Game Club Review: Jungle Speed

I am part of the Blogger Board Game Club run by Playtime PR. Each month 50 bloggers are sent a new (or new-ish, or at least new to them) board game to play and put to the test. This month we were sent Jungle Speed, a game none of us had heard of before.

Board Game Club Review: Jungle Speed

Jungle Speed is a card game created by Thomas Vuarchex and Pierric Yakovenko in 1991 and is produced by Asmodee Editions. It is played with a pack non-standard playing cards. It’s a bit like Snap but more complicated.

The box contains a deck of cards, a wooden totem and a bag to store the game in. Because there are so few elements and they can be packed away in a small bag; making it an ideal travel game. Jungle Speed is suitable for 2 or more players aged 7+. Each game should take around 15 minutes to play. It has an RRP of £14.99 and is available from a range of retailers including Amazon.

The game revolves around matching cards with identical symbols. Just like Snap, but the pack of cards all have different symbols on, some of which look similar but they’re not. Because some of the symbols are so similar it does make the game more challenging and players are more likely to snatch the totem at the wrong time meaning they have to pick up extra cards.

Board Game Club Review: Jungle Speed

To play, you shuffle the cards and deal them out equally to each player face down. Players take turns playing the top card from their stacks in a clockwise direction. There is a wooden cylinder called a Totem in the middle of the table, when a player plays a card that matches the symbol of another player’s top card, the two players must ‘duel’ to grab the totem. The loser of the duel takes both players played cards, as well as any cards under the totem and so it continues until the winner doesn’t have any cards left.

I explained the rules to the boys, one of which said it sounded boring, so he walked off and didn’t want anything more to do with it. So I played the game with the remaining 7 year old boy. He’s bright and he picked up the rules quickly enough. We played the game several times just to make sure we weren’t missing anything. Maybe we were, but neither of us had anything particularly good to say about Jungle Speed.

I wonder if it is better and more exciting played with more players. There wasn’t much action other than turning cards and even when we matched a card, snatched the totem and gave away our discarded cards to the loser, it wasn’t as much fun as a simple game of snap.

Board Game Club Review: Jungle Speed

After we’d packed the game away I read some reviews on Amazon, most of which were absolutely glowing. I’ve re-read the rules a couple of times since, just to check we were playing it correctly and we were. Jungle Speed is not for us. It’s not exciting, it’s not especially engaging and it lacked the speed and fun of a simple game of snap. Sorry Jungle Speed, we didn’t really like you.

We were sent the Jungle Speed board game for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own. This blog post contains affiliate links.

Find other board game and toy reviews here.

Board Game Club Review: Hey that’s my Fish!

This month we have joined the Blogger Board Game Club run by Playtime PR. Each month 50 bloggers are sent a new (or new-ish, or at least new to them) board game to play and put to the test. We were asked some questions about how old we all were and what our favourite and least favourite games were, then we waited for our first specially picked board game. We got Hey that’s my fish!

Hey that's my Fish! Board Game Club Review: Hey that's my Fish!

I have seen Hey that’s my fish! before in the shops, but hadn’t really looked at it too closely as my son is 6 years old and it’s advertised as suitable for ages 8+. We had planned to meet my brother, his wife and my seven year old nephew for lunch, so I threw Hey that’s my fish! in my bag to keep the boys entertained.

The game is really quite simple to set up and play. Put the fish cards in eight rows. The fish cards have one, two or three fish printed on them, and you need to mix them right up so they’re fairly well distributed across the board. Hey that’s my Fish! is suitable for 2 to 4 players. Each player takes two of the coloured penguins (choose from red, blue, yellow or green) and you place them randomly on the board. When laid out the “board” of fish cards isn’t huge, maybe around A4 size, which means it’s good for playing on small tables in restaurants or even on trains.

Hey that's my Fish! Board Game Club Review: Hey that's my Fish!

Starting with the youngest player first, you can move one penguin in a straight line in any direction, landing on a fish card and collecting it. You can’t move over any penguins which might be in your way, nor can your penguin paddle through the gaps in the ice where other players have collected their cards.

The aim of the game is to collect the most fish, so strategically it makes sense to try to land on and collect as many of the two and three fish cards as you can, then the one fish cards, but it’s not always that simple. Once all the cards have gone, or a penguin impasse has been reached, then you count your fish. The player with the most fish wins.

Hey that's my Fish! Board Game Club Review: Hey that's my Fish!

The verdict on Hey that’s my Fish!

Hey that’s my Fish! is a good introduction to strategy games. The key to success is thinking two or three moves ahead and trying to block your rival penguins in if you can. The boys, aged six and seven got the hang of the rules really quickly and enjoyed the game. It’s fairly quick to play and was a perfect for playing while we waited for our meals to arrive.

It entertained the adults and children equally well, and it’s the kind of game you can really get seriously strategic about if you want. We kept things light and fun for the boys and it’s something I know they will want to play again and again.

It’s a small game in a small box, so it’s the kind of thing we would take on holiday or keep in our activity bag which I have ready for when we go out with the boy.

Hey that’s my Fish! costs around £10 and is suitable for ages 8+ (though my six year old had no trouble at all with it). It’s available from a wide range of retailers and online.

We were sent the Hey that’s my Fish! board game for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own. This blog post contains affiliate links.

Find other board game and toy reviews here.

Review: Spiders and Spouts Mini Game from Orchard Toys

When we go out for a meal, a day trip or a break away from home I always pack a bag of activities to keep my son entertained. When we go out we try to encourage him to work through an activity book or play a small game. We think it’s better for him and a more inclusive activity than just giving him our phones to play with.

We were sent the new Spiders and Spouts Mini Game from Orchard Toys to try out. These travel sized games tick all the boxes when it comes to packing our activities travel bag.

Review: Spiders and Spouts Mini Game from Orchard Toys

Spiders and Spouts is an update on the traditional snakes and ladders game, featuring characters from the Insey Winsey Spider nursery rhyme. Climb up the spouts to reach the finish line, but beware the rain clouds which will wash you back down again! The Spiders and Spouts travel game is suitable for children aged 4-7 and for 2-4 players.

Review: Spiders and Spouts Mini Game from Orchard Toys

The Orchard Toys Spiders and Spouts mini game is a cleverly designed 6 piece jigsaw puzzle which you piece together to form your classic board game. The box also contains four counters (for up to four players) and a dice.

Even though it’s only 6 pieces, my son was keen to help out and put the board together. The design on the board is lively with lots going on. The illustrations are really cheery and the Insey Winsey Spider theme was fun. Although it’s printed thick board, this game still has the practicality of being able to break the board up and fit it into a small box.

Review: Spiders and Spouts Mini Game from Orchard Toys

Like the Orchard Toys games, the Sprouts & Spiders Mini Game has some educational and developmental benefits including –

Developing Personal and Social Skills
Encouraging Number and Counting Skills
Encourages Observational Skills

The Orchard Toys mini games cost around £4.99 and I think they are excellent value for money. They are light and compact, so I can just stick them in my bag and take them out with us. They’re brilliant for days out and holidays and are a fantastic travel game for children and families.

Review: Spiders and Spouts Mini Game from Orchard Toys

Note: Orchard Toys sent us the Spiders and Spouts Mini Game for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Travel Toys: Jungle Snakes & Ladders Mini Game from Orchard Toys

One of the latest releases from Orchard Toys is their new range of Mini Games. The games are mini because they are small and very portable, making them ideal for travel or to slip into your bag for days out.

There are six new mini games to choose from –

Build a Beetle
Dinosaur Dominoes
Little Bus Lotto
Penguin Pairs
Jungle Snakes & Ladders
Crocodile Snap

The games vary, but generally they are for children aged 3+ and are based on classic games. We were sent the Jungle Snakes & Ladders game to play with, so I slipped it in my bag and took the boy out for a milkshake and a game or two.

mini games

The Orchard Toys Jungle Snakes & Ladders mini game rather cleverly is a 6 piece jigsaw puzzle which you put together and it forms your classic board game. The box also contains four counters (for up to four players) and a dice.

First of all the boy really enjoyed putting the puzzle pieces together. The board is lively with lots going on and he enjoyed following the numbers to ensure he was putting the pieces together correctly. He liked the monkeys and he’s re-christened the game “Monkeys, Snakes & Ladders” which seems factually accurate if nothing else.

The board is colourfully printed thick card, the usual thickness of Orchard Toys games, but with the practicality of being able to “break it up” and fit it into a small box. The game is really colourful and well illustrated in a way which wouldn’t put off older children or adults so much.

Like the Orchard Toys games, the Jungle Snakes & Ladders mini game has some very helpful educational benefits including –

Developing Personal and Social Skills
Encouraging Number and Counting Skills

And that has certainly been evident every time we’ve played the game. As well as reinforcing turn-taking in game play, we also have used it to practice counting and learn to deal with the disappointment of sliding down a snake. He may have also practiced his cheating and I practiced calling him out on that. Cheaters never prosper!

These mini games cost around £4.99 and are excellent value for money. They are light and compact, so I can just stick it in my bag and take it out with us. They’re brilliant for days out and holidays and are a fantastic travel game for children and families.

Note: Orchard Toys sent us this game for review purposes, all images and opinions are our own.