I don’t know about you, but although games like Candy Land and Chutes & Ladders are classics, and although I’m sure I tortured my parents by begging them to play these games with me over and over again, I have to admit that as an adult… I. can’t. stand. those. games. They bore me, they frustrate me, they seem to be interminably long. There – I’ve admitted it.

And that is why I am always thrilled to come across a kids’ game that I actually enjoy playing. The object of this week’s review, Sleeping Queens, is one of those games.

Sleeping Queens is a card game for 2-5 players, aged 8 and up (but I would say that 6- & 7-year olds can easily play this game as well) that plays in 20 minutes or less. The artwork on the cards is wonderfully whimsical, and the theme is enjoyably amusing as well – just what you’d expect from a game that was invented by a 6-year-old girl (Miranda Evarts) who was having trouble sleeping one night.

In a nutshell: The game begins with 12 Queen cards face down – sleeping – in the middle of the table. The queens have marvelous names – such as Pancake Queen, Cat Queen, Peacock Queen, Cake Queen, and Ladybug Queen – and fun illustrations to go with them. Each queen also has a point value assigned to her. The remaining cards are shuffled and dealt, leaving a draw pile in the middle of the table. Those remaining (non-queen) cards consist of:

*King cards – players play a King card to “wake” a queen and earn her respective points
*Knight cards – allow you to steal awakened Queens from other players
*Dragon cards – defend against Knights
*Sleeping Potion cards – send another player’s awakened queen back to dreamland
*Wand cards – ward against sleeping potions
*Jester cards – involve a risk, but might just win you a Queen

and finally…

*Number cards – If you have no “power cards” – the ones listed above – you can trade in a number card in order to draw one new card from the deck (hoping, of course, for a power card to use next turn). A little math twist is thrown in here: you can create an “addition sentence” with your number cards in order to trade more of them at a time. For example, if you have a 5, 8, and 3, you can play “5+3=8,” and draw 3 new cards from the draw pile.

Your turn is simple – play a card and complete the action associated with it. The first player to collect 5 awakened queens or to accumulate 50 points wins.

Between the quick gameplay and the enjoyable theme and illustrations (I love saying, “Oh look, I got the Pancake queen! Those pancakes look yummy.” Or, “Ah-ha! I shall now play the Tie-Dye King to awaken a queen.”), I would play this game over and over again. Unfortunately, C. is currently on a Sleeping Queens strike. Apparently we had one game where he awakened the Cat Queen and she was stolen from him or sent back to dreamland one too many times. Since, as I mentioned here, he loves cats, he took this sequence of events rather personally and is currently not willing to risk waking the Cat Queen only to have her stolen from him yet again.

So if any of your kids would like to come over and play Sleeping Queens with me, just let me know. I’ll be ready.

In summary:

Sleeping Queens

Number of Players: 2-5
Time required: 20 minutes or less
Ages: 8 and up, but I say 6 & 7 works just fine, too
Where to buy: Amazon.com or your local Barnes & Noble

Callapidder recommends it for: Game night (or afternoon) with the kids.

Read all of Callapidder’s Game Reviews HERE.