Articulate

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Christmas is a time when families and friends get together and as the festive season approaches it’s the perfect time to invest in a couple of new board games to play with your nearest and dearest.

Articulate the “fast talking description game” from Drumond Park is a great game to play as whilst it can be played with 4 people it is much more fun played in teams. It’s really easy to get the hang of too so is perfect when playing with family members with a mix of ages.

The circular board unfolds to reveal coloured sections named with the following categories – people, world, objects, actions, nature and random. Players are split into teams and it depends on the number of players as to how many describers and guessers there are. The game begins by placing the counters on the start segment and the first team then have 30 seconds to describe the object listed on the card to the rest of their team, if they shout a correct answer, they keep picking cards and describing words from the same category until the timer runs out. Once their turn is over they move their counter forward by the number of correct words.

Sounds straightforward – it is but once you get started there are a few extra twists to add more excitement to the game. If you land on a white CONTROL segment play does not pass to the next team, instead the same team pick the next card and the describer/s describe the item marked with the spade icon to all the players, there is no time limit for this and play passes to the team who shouts out the correct answer first. The other curveball in the game is the orange and red segments which extend into the centre of the board. When a counter lands on one of these the team spins the spinner to try and win bonus places or the opportunity to move an opponent back a few places.

It’s a very fast paced game and as you are racing against the clock you’ll find your voice getting louder and using your hands to try and describe the words on the cards, much to the delight of the rest of the players. Some of the categories are much harder to describe than others so if you are playing with children younger than the 12+ recommended age you may need to look at a few cards to pick one they can describe easily. With 500 cards, each with a word for all six categories you’ll be able to play it every day over the festive period without using the same words!

This is a fantastic game and will be a great addition to any Christmas festivities this year.

RRP: £32.99 but currently £17.99 at Amazon

Suitable for ages: 12yrs+

Stockists include: Independent toy shops, Amazon, Smyths, Argos, ASDA, WH Smiths, Hamleys, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and The Works Stores

Spot the Intro

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Christmas is a time when the whole family gets together and sitting down to play a board game after lunch is now a favourite family tradition. Music games are great to play when you have a mix of ages and Spot the Intro from Cheatwell Games is bound to get everyone reminiscing about the music of their youth and all those long forgotten top ten hits that we all know and love.

The game features music from the last six decades with the aim being to guess songs from a 10 second intro and be the first to reach the finish. There are 480 double sided cards in the box giving you 960 tracks to play and we found it quite addictive so it will certainly keep everyone occupied over the Christmas period. Unlike older music quiz games that used a CD or DVD to play the music, this game has QR codes on the cards to scan with your phone, taking you to a Spot the Intro page where you can play the songs via Amazon, Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

After listening to the intro, the team have to name the song correctly to get one point with an additional point given for naming the artist. With any correct answer there is a bonus question with another point available for a correct answer. Once the questions have been answered the team then moves their counter by the number of correct answers.

The game is great fun although it’s a bit fiddly scanning the codes so that’s definitely a job for the teenagers rather than Granny!  

Spot The Intro is a great game for music lovers and works really well as a team game, especially with mixed ages. It’s a great game to play with family and friends and with Christmas round the corner, it would make a great gift that also doubles up as the afternoon or evening’s entertainment.

RRP £25.83 available from Amazon

Flipslide

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review but all words and opinions are our own

Flipslide from Moose Toys is an incredibly addictive electronic puzzle game which is a lot of fun to play. There are 4 different game modes to choose from which can be played alone or team up for the multi-player option which is a great option when visiting family this Christmas.  

The aim of the game is to move the coloured blocks by simply turning, moving or flipping them to match the colours of the lights on the centre four squares. To score points you need to move the blocks quickly, which is much harder than it sounds!

The four different game modes are
Speed Mode – beat the clock
Level Mode -level up to win
Memory Mode – remember the sequence
Multiplayer – challenge your opponent

My favourite was the Memory Mode which certainly tested my memory trying to remember the order of the lights and my sons enjoyed the challenge of the Speed mode.

The game is aimed at 8+ but my younger nephews and nieces enjoyed playing it too, getting the hang of it quicker than their grandparents!!  

Flipslide is easy to hold and the compact size means it is perfect to pop in your bag to keep children entertained when travelling this Christmas.

This is a delightfully addictive game for all the family and would make a lovely Christmas gift for children of all ages, and something the entire family can play whenever they get together.

RRP £19.99

Age 8+

Available from Smyths Toys, Argos and Amazon

Tension

Disclaimer: We received this game free of charge for the purpose of this review but all words and opinions are our own.

This week is International Games Week, so why not join in the fun this weekend and play a board game with your family?

We love board games and this week we have been playing Tension – the Top Ten Naming Game from Cheatwell games. It is recommended for ages 8+ and is played in teams.  

There is nothing worse than opening a game and spending 15 minutes or more setting it up – especially on Christmas day, so I was very impressed with Tension as it can be played pretty much straight away – the only setting up involved was a quick read of the rules and then we were ready to go. It took longer choosing the teams than it did to understand the rules – always the sign of a good game!

Once you have decided your teams then you choose a player to ask the questions (or you can keep swapping – especially if you are playing at Christmas with lots of children) they pick a card and ask the other team to name 10 things that are …….. Italian cities, actors who have played Doctor Who, popular Disney characters etc. The timer is turned and everyone in the team shouts out the answers. It sounds easy but the twist is you need to come up with the ten answers that are on the card to gain points. There is a handy scorer which makes it easy to keep track of correct answers.

There are orange and purple cards and the card you select is determined by the coloured circle on the board. The orange cards tend to be easier so when we have been playing with younger children we tend just to choose these so that they can come up with answers, but if you have older children or are playing it with adults you can play based on where your counter lands.

Once the minute is up the correct answers are counted and the team move their counter forward this number of places. The first team to reach the finish space wins the game.

With Christmas fast approaching it is the perfect game to play as everyone can join in, we’ll be playing it with 3 generations of our family and with 400 topics it will be a great way to keep the children off electronics over the Christmas period!

RRP £12 from Tesco

Top It Board Game Review

Disclaimer – we received this game for the purpose of the review but all thoughts and opinions are our own.


Does anyone else look forward to winter and cosy nights in playing board games with friends and family? My family certainly does, and it certainly wouldn’t be Christmas if Father Christmas didn’t leave a new board game alongside his empty beer glass and cake crumbs!

This year we will be playing Top It from Cheatwell Games, it is the perfect game to play at a family get together and can be played by 2+ players. It does say it is suitable for ages 10+ but we played it with our 7-year-old nephew and he was able to come up with plenty of answers but it does depend on the child – you can always select a different question to give them a little help.

The game is packaged in a carboard box and inside the box are
• 75 double sided Top It Topics Cards
• 60 Top It Cones
• 18 Letter Discs
• Sand timer
• Score Pad
• Pencil

It’s easy to play – each player is given 10 cones and then 9 letter discs are placed on a table and finally a topic card is selected.

The timer is turned and then the fun begins! Players shout out an answer that not only fits the topic but also starts with one of the 9 letters on show, they then place their cone on that letter. However, this is where the fun starts – if another player comes up with something starting with the same letter after you, they can then Top-It with their own cone.

It quickly becomes very competitive as the cones stack up, but only the last cone counts, winning all the points! The topics are quite wide and it was quite astounding hearing the items my family came up with to suit the topics. When “Things found in a garden!” came up my son shouted out “treasure chest” I’ve been searching our garden all week but I haven’t found it yet!!!!

This is a great game and a fun way to bring the all the family together this Christmas

RRP £26.99 available from Amazon

30 Seconds Board Game

Disclaimer – We received this item for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

With Christmas looming, it’s time to get our thinking cap on and make a dent in the Christmas present shop. 

As a family we love playing board games so when 30 Seconds by SmartGames UK arrived we couldn’t wait to play! 

In this fast-paced general knowledge game, players have just 30 seconds to describe five names on their chosen card, for teammates to guess. 

From landmarks to TV shows, celebrities to politicians, players will be kept on their toes whizzing through the list as fast as they can – without saying the actual words or using any ‘sounds like’ or rhyming tactics.

A minimum of 4 players are required to play making the perfect gift for friends and family! 

30 Seconds will give your family and friends hours of enjoyment and laughter this Christmas! 

Contents include a game board, dice, timer, 4 playing tokens, and 240 cards (2,400 names).

BANANAGRAMS

Disclaimer – We received this item for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

As a family of keen campers, we are always looking for games and activities to keep us amused but without taking up much space whilst camping.

BANANAGRAMS is addictively simple, and simply addictive, BANANAGRAMS is the fast and frantic word game enjoyed by millions!

Players and their opponents aim to use all of their letters to build a word grid in a race to the finish. The first player to use all of their tiles is crowned “Top Banana”!

BANANAGRAMS requires no pencil, paper, or board, and comes in a small portable banana-shaped pouch that’s perfect for ages 7 and up —at home or on the go!

We played it every night whilst recently camping in Lincolnshire and it provided us with some family friendly entertainment.

BANANAGRAMS is a family favourite and is safely tucked away with our camping kit ready for our next excursion.

Ages: 7+
Players: 2-6
Play Time: 30 mins or less