Review - Dr Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Game

Dr Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Game
Published by University Games
Designed by someone who chose (or was forced) to remain uncredited.
For 2 - 4 players, aged 4 to adult




It looks like a present! Cute!

My daughter turned three this December. She has been quite interested in board games for a little while, and we have been playing Parcheesi and the like over the last few months. It is truly wonderful to watch how her ability to play games is developing, and how much fun she has spending time with me, my wife (and sometimes our friends) playing board games. And yes, I admit, I was proud when I found out her most wanted birthday present was a board game she had seen on the television called Go Piggy Go (a game I will be reviewing another time, and which is surprisingly tactical and fun).

Anyway, as a result of my daughter's increased interest in games, I have started looking for more games I can play with her. And so, I picked up How the Grinch Stole Christmas in a little charity shop ready for the festive season. I didn't expect it to be very good, but I will play anything when my little girl is at the table: Snakes and Ladders, Junior Monopoly, Candyland, it really doesn't matter. The important thing is spending time with her, and...

What? Why are you looking at me like that?

Okay, okay, I'll confess: I love the Dr Seuss books. I think they are wonderfully inventive, and excellent for teaching children to read; and one of my favourite Christmas stories is How the Grinch Stole Christmas, so if I am being honest, I would have purchased this game no matter what. Besides, it gives me something interesting to write about.

Now, where was I?

Oh yeah. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is published by University Games as part of their Beginner Games series. Games in this series are exceptionally easy to learn, quick to play, and feature elements that help children to read and learn social skills. The focus here is on learning, and encouraging children to play well, and that means you can't really expect much from the game itself. Hardcore gamers need not apply.

Inside the box, you get a nicely illustrated mounted board, four cardboard player pieces in plastic stands, a spinner, and some lovely three-dimensional cardboard "Christmas presents." The quality is okay, but not in the same league as many modern games from companies such as Queen Games and Days of Wonder.



Forks in the path encourage decision-making for young children.

The game itself is simple. On your turn, you spin the spinner, and then move your playing piece that number of spaces.

Yeah. It's roll and move. What did you expect?



Roll and move? Hurrah!

Anyway, after moving, you look at the space you have landed on. If you land on a space with a letter on it, you get to pick up one of the presents and look at the bottom. If the bottom of the present shows a picture of a toy that contains the same letter as the letter your playing piece is on, you get to keep the present. If you don't get a match, you show everyone what you got, and then you return the present to the pile.



Merry Christmas!

As you can see, this is teaching a number of core skills. Counting (moving the piece), reading (matching an item to the letter you are on), and memory (remembering which presents have already been looked at, and what they contain). Forks in the path on the board also encourage simple decision-making and strategies.

This is basically the whole game. There are a few other special spaces, like Grinch spaces that make you return a present to the pile, and Cindy-Lou Who spaces that allow you to take and keep any present you want, but generally, you just try to match letters, and remember where the presents you need are. At the end of the game (one circuit of the board, which only takes a few minutes), the player with the most presents wins, but everyone gets to hold hands and sing "Welcome Christmas, Ba-hoo Bo-ray."

Yeah. Really. That's actually in the rules.



Who decided to print green ink on white paper?

The description in this review should tell you everything you need to know about the game, and whether you would actually enjoy it.

It's quick, it's simple, it's about the Grinch, and it's designed to be educational. For me, that makes it a perfect game to play with my daughter on Christmas Eve. And I guess that makes it one of the best games in the world. For now, at least.

Review - Don't Worry! (aka Parcheesi)

Don't Worry!
Published by Oaze.
For 2-4 players, aged 5 to adult (or 2 to adult in my house).


I am far from being a snob when it comes to board games. I don't turn my nose up at dumb games like Dungeon! and I am usually happier crawling through a dungeon in search of treasure than I am matching wits with someone in a game of Chess (although I do love Chess too). While my preference is definitely for thematic games, my collection is actually pretty diverse. Ingenious sits next to Kingdom Builder which sits next to Zombicide which sits next to Lords of Waterdeep which sits next to Gears of War. Anyway, you get the idea...

Despite my "come one, come all" attitude, there are still a few games that make me shudder: Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, all the usual suspects. Parcheesi is actually one of the games that fits into that "shuddery" category. It just isn't a game I would have in my collection through choice.

However, it is a game I own.

You see, it was my birthday back in June (I was 21 again), and my daughter (who is two years old) had picked a present for me. She had chosen it herself while she was out shopping with my wife. She had chosen it because it was big, bright, and "a game for Daddy."

She had chosen Don't Worry! A version of Parcheesi  released by a German company called Oaze.

Yeah. Parcheesi.

It is obvious to see why this version of the classic game caught the eye of a two year old. The box is huge, the colours are vibrant, and the playing pieces are an absolute joy. I mean really, just look at the pictures of them.



Seahorses.



Chameleons.



Tapirs.



Lemurs.

I admit, I was impressed with the look of the game. Laying out the board is like laying out the background for a cartoon, and the animal playing pieces are really chunky (I am a sucker for a game that comes with nice toys). Even the dice is huge. It is clearly a game designed for little hands, and in terms of production quality it is a triumph.

But it's still Parcheesi. It has attractive playing pieces, but it's still the same old rules that I dislike (presented in an ugly rules leaflet).

Dense text, dumb rules.

But a few days after my birthday, something happened. I had left the game in the lounge, and while I was working, my daughter pulled on my sleeve to get my attention. She pointed to the box, and said "I want that, please."

I took the game out of the box and laid everything on the floor, and then (knees creaking in protest), I got down on the floor too. I thought my daughter just wanted to play with the cute animal pieces, but to my surprise she picked up the dice, rolled it, counted the pips, and then moved a playing piece.

PROUDEST. DAD. MOMENT. EVER.

She didn't want to play with the animals. She wanted to PLAY.

That first time, we got through about a quarter of a game (playing slightly simplified rules) before she got bored. Since then, we have played the game on a regular basis. We still haven't got to the point where one of us has got a full set of playing pieces "home," but we get a little closer each time.



The Don't Worry! board.

No. This hasn't changed my opinion of Parcheesi. I still don't think it's a very good game. But it is a game that I can play with my daughter. And any game that enables me to spend more time with her deserves a place in my game collection.