Orchard Toys: Monster Bingo (Review)

One of the first games I reviewed with Orchard Toys was Red Dog, Blue Dog which is a simple bingo game for 2-5 year old children. It was a great introduction to colours and really helped to consolidate the skill of recognising and matching shapes and colours. The Boy still loves playing with it, but as he's now reaching the upper age group for it I felt that he needed another level of bingo, something that would challenge him a little more.

Orchard Toys sent me the next step up to try out with him; Monster Bingo. This is a shape and colour matching bingo game with the appealing aspect of the shapes designed as friendly monsters.

The game comprises of:

  • 4 double sided bingo boards, each with 16 spaces
  • a colour dice and a shape dice
  • 36 coloured shape cards
  • 64 slime cards

Orchard Toys Monster Bingo

There are two ways to play this game;

  1. For younger players:
    1. Each player chooses a board, the colour shape cards are placed face down on the table and the slime cards are placed within each reach of the players.
    2. Players take it in turns to turn over a colour shape card and everyone checks to see if it matches on their own board, covering it with a slime card if it does. The colour shape card it left on the table face up (to show it's already been played; we actually placed these to the side so as not to confuse matters).
    3. The winner is the first person to get four in a row, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
  2. For older players:
    1. Each players chooses a board, the colour shape cards are placed face up on the table so they can be seen (we actually placed them in a grid so all the same colour cards went along a column, and all the same shapes cards went along a row; it made it easier to locate them), the slime cards are left in a pile in easy reach of all players.
    2. Each player takes it in turn to roll the two dice and locate the right card (matching it to the dice) and then everyone can cover it on their board if they have it.
    3. Again the winner is the first person to get four in a row, as above.

The first style of game was more straightforward for The Boy to play, it also had the element of surprise from turning the cards over and not knowing what would be picked up. This way could be used to extend the game by each player having to wait their turn before they can place a slime card on their board, it would bring in the element of a memory game then.

The second style of game was more of a challenge for The Boy, and it lasted slightly longer as well. We all enjoyed playing this one, and it was a good learning opportunity. My husband and I were bantering about his pronounciation of the word 'diamond' and The Boy interjected to tell us it could also be called a rhombus and that it was his turn!

Of course at the end of the game, the winner must shout 'Monster Bingo' in true bingo style, with as much enthusiasm as they can muster!

Orchard Toys Monster Bingo

As usual, Orchard Toys publishes an educational guide to show the learning potential of their products. Monster Bingo is good for:

  • developing colour and shape matching skills (mathematical development);
  • encouraging social interaction;
  • developing observational skills (pre-reading development);
  • links with Early Learning Goals.

Monster Bingo is available from Orchard Toys and all good high-street toy shops for £9.50.

We were sent this product for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Orchard Toys: 'What's Rubbish?'

I've got a little bit of an eco-warrior on the sly, he's keen to put rubbish in the bin and is most insistent on knowing whether he can recycle the items or if they go in the compost bin. Very rarely does it occur to him that the rubbish may go in the 'normal' bin, and I'm quite proud of him for this.

We were recently sent the Orchard Toys game, 'What's Rubbish?' to try out and it has gone down a storm (it's even knocked 'Crash, Bang, Whallop' off the top spot, and Inever thought that would happen!).

'What's Rubbish?' is a fun recycling game which features a board with interweaving paths on, four counters, a 3D wheelie bin, four recycling bank player boards (two of each type: metal, bottles, paper and clothing), a spinner, and a selection of 'rubbish' cards.

Orchard Toys

  • Each player chooses two different coloured recycling bank boards.

  • The corresponding small cards are placed face down on the table. If four people are playing all recycling bank cards and corresponding small cards are used, remove unused recycling bank cards and the corresponding cards for fewer players.
  • Choose twelve small cards and place them on the pathways all over the playing board.
  • Choose a playing piece/counter and place this anywhere on the board.
  • The youngest player spins the spinner and moves that number of spaces in any direction across the board. The aim is to pick up as many small cards on the board as possible to fill up your own recycling bank.
  • If the spinner lands on the litterbug section then a small card is taken from the table and added to the main playing board.
  • When you land on or pass a card, pick it up and see if it is one of your materials. If so add it to a space on the board, if not return it to another space on the main playing board.

  • Occasionally there are 'litterbug' pieces which are picked up. When they appear, everyone must return one of their materials from the recycling bank to the table upside down. That litterbug card is then put in the wheelie bin.
  • There are also some small cards which cannot be put on a recycling bank card, like a broken tv, alarm clock etc which are put into the wheelie bin.
  • Each time a material is added to the recycling banks, or is put in the wheelie bin, then a replacement small card must be put onto the main playing board.
  • The winner is the first person to fill their two boards.

'What's Rubbish?' is a really fun game to play as a family; it does involve some form of strategy when playing (for example Mr. TBaM and I are very careful to ensure we lay the small cards down on the board in our counter's path – or The Boy's if he's losing), but likewise it's purely chance as to whether a litterbug is picked up and pieces are lost. Even The Boy has started to realise that he needs to think carefully about the path he takes while playing.

Aimed at 5-10 year olds, I actually think that a child younger than that and capable of logical processing would be able to play this as well as The Boy does. As always,Orchard Toys games aren't just about having fun (although that is the primary aim!):

  • develop strategic thinking
  • encourage personal and social skills (turn-taking, etc)
  • linked with National Curriculum Maths (counting, number recognition, shape and colour recognition.
  • scientific development (identifying different materials and whether they can be reused or not – a tricky concept)
  • moral and spiritual development (taking care of our world).

This is one of the entire family's favourite games from Orchard Toys; it's fun, educational and allows for a little bit of devilment whilst playing it with other adults. Excellent games and top marks from us!

I was sent this product for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Words With Friends & CityVille: Virtual Games Become Reality

One of the most fun features of mobile technology and social media platforms are the games that are available; fun and attractive they frequently allow the players to interact with other players regardless of geographical location. Two of the most playable games of the past year have been Words With Friends (which I rock at by the way) and CityVille.

Now Hasbro is responsible for bringing these two Zynga games to 'life' as board games, albeit in a familiar format to current games available.

WORDS WITH FRIENDS

zynga games

Before I go any further, yes it is like Scrabble.

  • The game includes a full-size board, four curved tile racks, tile bag and 104 tiles. And just like Scrabble, players choose the tiles, arrange them in the tile rack and take it in turns to place tiles onto the game board, building upon opponent’s word creations to score as high as possible. Bonus spaces such as Double Word or Triple Letters give opportunities for higher scores and the player with the highest word score at the end of the game wins. So no difference there then?
  • However, purchase of the Words With Friends game also includes a bundle of digital features to enhance online or mobile play, including Word-O-Meter, The Count and Tile Pile. To access the digital features, players must be 13 years or older and have a valid WWF account on Zynga.com or Facebook.

This is a fun game, and while it works along the same theory as Scrabble, for me that's not a problem. The Words With Friends game is more attractive to younger players and anything that gets children enthusiastic about playing with language and broadening their vocabulary is a good thing in my book.

CITYVILLE Monopoly Game

There are loads of different versions of Monopoly out there (I'm pretty sure Mr. TBaM would point out the collection we have!) and variants of the game involving different methods of payments, or locations. Zynga’s CITYVILLE and Hasbro’s classic Monopoly game have joined forces to become the fast-play way to build your dream city! Which is great because, quite frankly, I have the attention span of a gnat nowadays!

  • Become the first mayor to build four skyscrapers to win. Skyscrapers are built by building layers on properties, topping it off with the grey skycraper piece.
  • Combines classic Monopolygameplay with new, creative ways to build:
    • Buy and build a variety of locations like train stations, the toy shop and the bakery;
    • Use stackable buildings to build houses, community buildings and businesses in the center of the board;
    • Give and receive 'Mystery Gifts' to decorate neighborhoods and increase rent value (I don't completely 'get' this bit!).
  • Each CITYVILLE Monopoly game includes a unique code to redeem 85 'city cash' of in-game currency for use in Zynga's CITYVILLE online game so the building adventures can continue online (this is where the age restriction of 13 comes in: Facebook 'members' should be 13+)

We played this last night with The Boy and while we had to adapt the rules quite a lot (fines with a three year old? No chance!) he absolutely loved the basic premis of buying the property and having the receipt for them.

Monopoly is a great game to play with children anyway (I can't play it by myself with Mr. TBaM due to an unfortunate incident about eight years ago where I took pity on him and then he bankrupted me!) and the concept of buying property which can they be built up high and set upon an attractively designed board is great fun. The properties are relevant for children; ice-cream parlour, toy shop, train stations, etc. and retain the original idea of Monopoly well to sustain adults interest.

It is worth noting that both of these games come with a certain amount of credit which can be used online with a Facebook account, and it clearly states on the front of each box that in order to use this players must be over 13 years old, in line with Facebook rules and legislation. I would urge parents to act responsibly and not purchase it for children under this age, e-safety and Internet awareness is an essential aspect of online activity nowadays and it is parents responsibility to ensure they know what their children are getting up to.

I was sent these products for the purpose of this review, my opinions are honest and unbiased.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...