Tag: horse gifts

Host Your Own Family Quiz Night

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Games, Gifts for children, Home, Learning, Toys

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

Christmas is the time of year when we not only give and receive board games, but old games are brought out, new plays are established and memories are made in families.  The cold days where children can’t play outside as much and dark weekend evenings when Nan and Grandad come round for dinner also help foster the fun at family time.  Along with all the old favourites, Cheatwell have the Host Your Own Family Quiz Night board game – a variation on the typical ‘pub quiz’ type games but in the form of a board game.

For ages 8+ years and at least 2 players, the question cards are divided so that there is one multiple choice question for younger children and one challenging question for older adults and children to answer. The questions aren’t related either, so the topics are also aimed at the different audiences. The topic include People, Science and Nature, History, Movies, TV, Geography and Pot Luck.  Each player rolls the die to move along the board and lands on a square with a question topic. The aim is to get to the end of the board and answer as many questions as possible first to be the winner.

The game takes longer with fewer people taking part but you find that there are a lot of discussions with younger children when it comes to answering their questions. Some of the questions, especially about TV are Britain-centred so if there is anyone in your family who didn’t grow up here or isn’t familiar with some aspects of British life, then they are going to be at a disadvantage. Maybe that’s a good thing in some families!  It is great fun though and I thought the questions were really well pitched for children and adults alike.

Available for £18.49 at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cheatwell-Games-Family-Quiz-Night/dp/B08TXWBRBT

Host Your Own Race Night Board Game

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Father's Day, Games, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home, Toys

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

I had heard of Host Your Own Race Night from friends who have played it before and explained what a fun idea it was and how it worked, so when I was given the opportunity to test it, it seemed like the perfect Saturday night in with the family!

Host Your Own Race Night is a board game based on betting on horse races. Instead of having to go to a race meeting, the game is hosted at home with the use of 2 DVDs of 32 races. As a team, you choose which race you want to play, then you are given a Race Form Guide to study the form of each horse and then you place your bets using the race cards provided. At the end of the race, check the results and the winner collects their winnings in the form of (albeit fake!) ‘cash’! At the end of the game, the person with the highest amount of cash wins!

The races are hosted on a dry-wipe board and the pen is included so you can use the board and the race cards over and over. I would have a rag or something similar handy so that you can clean the board between races easily.  You might not have a DVD player any longer so hunt one down before you invite others to come over and play, but some laptops with CD/DVD drives can still play them.

The game instructions are easy to understand and it’s a game for the whole family from teenagers up to grandparents.  Kids will love the fake money too! The game is set for more than 2 players and I would say that this is great for about 6 players ideally.  It is a betting game though, and you probably shouldn’t encourage smaller children to play so the starting age of 14+ years makes sense. You can play just a couple of races or all the 32 races and make a night of it, plus the races are reasonably short so you can stop and start the game for interruptions. This would be a good game for New Year’s Eve for instance, where you might not want to watch TV but you do want to switch it on and off for different celebrations etc. 

It’s great fun, and some family members get really involved in it whilst others are more passive and play for the game rather than the amount of winnings. It’s how much you bet on each horse in each game that makes the game different each time. You don’t need to be a horse racing expert to know how to play or be able to enjoy it, but horse race followers will love it!

Available on Amazon for £20.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cheatwell-Games-23250-Host-Night-2/dp/B07F88XD7Y