Here are four great games to stock up on during the long days of winter or during the fun parties during the summer. Great for a range of ages, it can be fun for kids and parents (and grandparents) alike!
CrossWays
CrossWays
is a game that encourages you to complete a path across the board to win, but opponents can block your way or remove your markers, so your path across the board may not be in a straight line! You use traditional playing cards with the board. If you get a Queen of Red Diamonds, you can place your marker on the Q red square. If you have a pair of cards, you can score the coveted white spaces. If you get a suit, you can remove an opponent! It is a simple premise, but a fun game of offense, defense and strategy! MSRP is $25 for ages 8+ and 2-4 players.
Reverse Charades
Reverse Charades
is a hilarious twist of charades. You need six or more players for this game, so its perfect for a barbecue or graduation party. Rather than one person acting out a word and a group of people guessing, reverse charades is where a group acts out a word and one person guesses! Imagine getting the card “Rock Band” and having a group act out (or should I say, rock out) for you to guess? Your team has 60 seconds to act out as many words as it can. There are over 700 words and phrases so the game will not get boring any time soon! For kids 6+ and MSRP is $20.
Melissa and Doug Suspend Game
Melissa & Doug Suspend
is a balancing game that is as easy to understand as it is difficult to master. The game comes with 24 notched, rubber-tipped wire pieces that hang from a tabletop stand. With each turn, a new piece is added to the transforming vertical sculpture, causing the balance to shift and the difficulty to increase. Recommended for ages eight years and up, this balancing game tests your nerves and helps develop hand-eye coordination, cognitive skills, and interpersonal skills. Suspend can be played individually or with up to four players. A colored die is included to determine which color of game rod is to be used at each turn. For versatile game play, Suspend can be played in four different ways. Beginner-level play allows inexperienced players to work their way from using longer pieces to shorter pieces, while intermediate play requires more experienced players to draw on another player’s game rods should they roll a color they no longer have. The expert tournament requires advanced players to keep score using a point system. For individual play, the balancing pieces of Suspend can be used to create a freeform sculpture. Retails for around $17.
