Games are hot in specialty toy stores, but a photo and description can't tell you how much fun it is to play. TDmonthly Magazine's Video Crew solved that problem by going to Toy Fair 2008 armed with video cameras so you and your customers can see what makes each game unique:
Comet® The Fast Path to Learning, is Active Minds' premier product. Comet® is an enjoyable and engaging way to learn and spell, having fun based on world facts, legends, geography, science, history, health, nature, animals and dictionary meanings. The game has several game editions such as Bible and Family, with a Children's card expansion deck. Launch date: June 2008. — "'Comet, The Fast Past to Learning' is being played in schools across America and has been praised in South Africa for helping patients suffering from brain injuries develop their learning skills," Sandy Evans, creator of Comet® at Active Minds, told TDmonthly. Awards: 2008-2010 Preferred Choice Award; 2008-2010 Editors Choice Award; 2008-2010 Toyman Seal of Approval
Ballpark Classics™ Baseball Game by BALLPARK CLASSICS, INC.
This arcade-style baseball game of skill and strategy is made in America and designed for all lovers of baseball. Easy to learn and rewarding to master, this table-top baseball game has the real feel of pitching and hitting and features the timeless charm and character of classic ballparks in a detailed 1-inch-to-18-foot scale-model setting. The game can be played alone, head-to-head or on teams. "Ballpark Classics draws people together for a great, authentic experience that's fast and fun and plays like real baseball," Doug Strohm, president of Ballpark Classics Inc., told TDmonthly. Launch date: December 2007.
Beyond Chess comes with everything you need to play. The board is made of 64 high-quality, solid, plastic squares that measure 1.5"x1.5"x.25" and accommodate most chess pieces, plus two extra squares. This set includes standard Staunton-design chess pieces, a 12-page instruction booklet and a sturdy nylon backpack-style carrying bag.
This game for girls challenges participants to guess who their fellow players have secretly chosen to date from the My Little Pink Book of guys. Each "date" has his own distinctive characteristics — such as what kind of car he drives and what kind of music he likes. The colorful and very "pink" gameboard features hotspots that young girls might visit while trying to attract the opposite sex.
This game tests players on their knowledge of snacks and sweets by asking them fun and clever trivia questions across five tasty categories: Chocolate, Candy, Cookies, Snack Attack, and Ice Cream & Desserts. The types of trivia questions range from jingles and advertising campaigns to ingredients, nostalgia, pop culture and more. "EAT IT! Snacks & Sweets Trivia Game now includes [$5.00 in] coupons for Sara Lee desserts, Jolly Time popcorn, Auntie Anne’s pretzels, Cadbury Adams Swedish Fish candies and Sour Patch candies," C-Me LLC CEO Eric Ash told TDmonthly.
The game is one of strategy, based on inner and social awareness. It celebrates Earth Day every day and invites everyone to think about their choices and actions and the larger community around them. By answering questions and engaging in discussion, players learn how their choices affect the earth and its inhabitants. "[This is] the only game on the market where a player wins by using a 'pay-it-forward' strategy," Elightened Play! Owner Eileen Thournir told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 17, 2008.
The wand is designed to look like a true wizard’s magic wand. The patented magic wand allows levitating objects indoors to go as high as the ceiling allows. With or without a magic spell, just press the button and watch how toy objects included with the set expand and fly up as high as you can make them go. Awards: TDmonthly Innovations 2008. — The wand demonstrates “real levitation,” Olga Ousherovitch, president and co-owner of Toysie LLC, told TDmonthly.
Tri-Cross™ is a game that requires strategy before the first game piece is even placed. It evolves from poker-like play (reading your opponent) into total strategy (much like chess). Play takes less than 20 minutes, and the more times one plays, the more challenging the game becomes. There are no ties or draws, and beginners should not be totally intimidated, since they still have an outside chance to win against the pros. The game is for two to four players and features five variations of play. “No game starts the same,” Brian Burns of Tri-Cross told TDmonthly. “It really isn't like anything else. It plays fast but challenges you every step of the way.” Launch date: February 2008.
Wise Alec is the new highly interactive party and family fun game from Griddly Games. The game is entertaining as well as educational and is tailor-made for family game nights. Wise Alec is filled with challenging questions for the young and old. This stimulating trivia game takes you back to everything you learned in grade school. With over 1,000 questions covering a wide range of interesting topics like history, science and spelling, this game is guaranteed to entertain time and time again. Each card features both easy and hard questions – great for leveling the playing field between big and little kids. The second edition of Wise Alec features updated questions, new packaging and a new game board.
Kingka Matching and Memory Game 1 – Learn Chinese by KINGKA LLC
The uniquely designed Kingka Matching and Memory Game (English/Chinese version) is a multi-purpose toy that can further stimulate children’s spatial perception after they master the identification of a circle, a square and a triangle. It also exercises visual discrimination, fine motor skills, memorization and concentration, and teaches the hottest foreign language, Chinese. Kingka is the most age-appropriate toy that introduces Mandarin Chinese to toddlers and preschoolers from English-speaking families. Made in the USA, this brain-teaser game challenges people in all age groups.
Kubit2me Lil' Scholars All About Me Bonus Box by KUBIT2ME INC.
Designed to extend play with the Kubit2me Lil’ Scholars game, this box includes 60 All About Me Cards featuring fun and engaging games that help children learn about body parts and emotions, plus 135 reward stickers. Launch date: September 2007.
For thousands of years, Senet was the most popular game in the ancient world ― until the rule book was lost. This game of Senet introduces a modern rule book, a colorful game board and 10 beautiful playing pieces. Easier than chess and more complicated than checkers, this two-player game is a combination of strategy and luck. It's simple enough for a 5-year-old to learn, yet interesting enough for adults. The hand-painted playing pieces are phthalate- and lead-free. Awards: 2015 TDmonthly Magazine Top Toy Award
Flibbix™ Super Set by Merillian is the fun and exciting new game where you can build your own board game, make your own rules and then play. It's super easy, lots of fun, and lets you rebuild and replay your game as much as you want. The Super Set gives you even more cards and game board tiles, with 35 more tiles than Flibbix, including three-way and four-way intersections! These let you build crazy game boards that go different directions and cross-cross paths to bring your game to an even greater level of fun.
In this "hysterical game of sketchy directions, two teams (anywhere from four to 10 players) race each other to identify sketches drawn by their teammates. The catch is, the artists themselves aren't aware of what they're drawing — the sketching instructions are being given to them by another team member. Playing time is 20 to 30 minutes.
This strategy-based football board game features a football field that is designed “exact-to-scale.” The game combines the strategic elements of a real football game with the disciplines and patterns of chess. A Canadian edition is also available.
Alphabet SQUIGGLE on-the-go is a portable game that helps children learn the alphabet, improve penmanship and strengthen vocabulary as it stimulates their creativity and builds confidence. With its compact size, it makes a great addition when taking the kids to daycare or while on vacation to keep them occupied and learning. Its educational component would also be beneficial to any home-schooling program or transition to kindergarten. “Our games are for children to adults and offer creative, basic fun without loud noise or the need for batteries,” said John Kiely Chief SQUIGGLER and president of Randomline. “We believe that our games are more fun to play because they not only stimulate creativity, but also boost confidence and children gain a sense of accomplishment.”
This "curious game of clever connections" challenges two to four players to compare and identify SETs on the dice with those on the board, scoring as many points as possible by making SETs up, down and across the game board. Playing time is 30 to 45 minutes. Launch date: April 2008.
Blunders™ - Make Learning Manners Fun by SUCCESSFUL KIDS INC.
The adorable characters of Becky, Bobby, Brenda and Billy Blunder revolutionize the way manners are taught. The game includes a game board, a story book and 300 fun and interactive charade, multiple-choice, scenario and true/false questions covering social and dining etiquette. “Blunders™ is the only board game on the market today that makes learning manners interactive and fun!” Successful Kids Inc. President Aimee Symington told TDmonthly. This game has received the following awards: Dr. Toy, National Parenting Center Seal of Approval, iParenting Media, Creative Child Preferred Choice, Mr. Dad Seal of Approval, eChoice, and The Toy Man Award of Excellence and Seal of Approval. Launch date: February 17, 2008. — "I've loved the Blunders Game from the moment I was introduced to it. Now you can reinforce manners at one of the places where manners are key. Manner Mats takes the blunders concept and turns it into a set of 38 table mats. The mats include tones of games including word searches, challenges, multiple choice, what is wrong with the picture, complete the sentence and many more. Another innovative way to teach manners without having to point your finger," Jennifer Shuman, owner of 1SmartNoodle, told TDmonthly at Toy Fair 2010.
In this human-puzzle game, players use color wristbands to bind their hands and feet to one another, leading to a sticky mess of people. The goal of the game is to crawl, walk, scoot or jump one’s way towards the finish line, all the while maintaining the connections determined by a shake of the Bambooga Shaker. Bambooga is safe and eco-friendly, adhering to "green-" manufacturing practices with second-generation, sustainable bamboo construction. “Bambooga is the result of a social-entrepreneurship project sponsored by Kids Ark Foundation of Thailand,...an organization that hopes to find a solution to the AIDS epidemic in Thailand,” Uncle Skunkle Toys Inc. Marketing and Communications Director Maya Cardoso told TDmonthly. A portion of "the proceeds from the manufacturing of Bambooga [is] recycled back to Kids Ark and [goes] towards projects to raise education and standards of living.” Launch date: April 2008. Awards: Bambooga is a winner of "Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Picks Children’s Products for 2009" and also won Creative Child Magazine's "Toy of the Year Award" for 2008. Bambooga has also been recognized with a favorable review by The Old Schoolhouse, a magazine for homeschooling families.
Curses! is fun for the whole family, ages 9 and up, great with kids and parents, kids parties, teens and college students. You have been voodoo Cursed, and you can't bend your elbows, bark like a dog when you speak, or talk like you have a golf ball in your mouth, easy when it's just one, but what about multiple Curses!. Last player performing all Curses! correctly wins the game. Hilarious.
Writer's Bio: ALISON MAREK is an award-winning writer, director and cartoonist whose work has been published by Fairchild Publications and DC Comics (Piranha Press), broadcast on Showtime and other cable networks, and viewed worldwide in film festivals. See her short films and print work on www.alisonmarek.com. Watch her nefarious villains in the web series www.MuggsMovers.com. Get inspired by her cartoons "Daily ARFFirmations to Unleash Your Inner Fido" at www.ARFFirmations.com. Phew! And then ... Read more articles by this author
Writer's Bio: ALISON MAREK is an award-winning writer, director and cartoonist whose work has been published by Fairchild Publications and DC Comics (Piranha Press), broadcast on Showtime and other cable networks, and viewed worldwide in film festivals. See her short films and print work on www.alisonmarek.com. Watch her nefarious villains in the web series www.MuggsMovers.com. Get inspired by her cartoons "Daily ARFFirmations to Unleash Your Inner Fido" at www.ARFFirmations.com. Phew! And then ... Read more articles by this author
