I don’t know of too many games that are skewed in such a way that kids naturally possess a skill that makes them better than adults at that particular game. But the game I’m reviewing this week, Gulo Gulo, is precisely that kind of game. Having little, nimble fingers goes a long way toward winning this one, and as for the adults — well, despite the fact that we tend to have bigger, clumsier fingers, this game is way more fun and playable than Candyland.

The mere title of this game, Gulo Gulo, begs the question: what in the world is a Gulo? Okay, I’ll tell you. Gulo gulo is another name for the wolverine. In this game, the players represent a family of wolverines, looking for one particular family member that has been caught by the local swamp vulture. Why? Because the wolverines’ favorite pastime is stealing (and eating) swamp vulture eggs, and Mama Swamp Vulture has had just about enough, so she took Gulo Junior into custody.

In their search for Junior, however, the Gulo family continues to swipe eggs. So there you have the idea behind the game. Gulo Gulo is recommended for ages 5 and up, and can accommodate 2-6 players.

When you open the box for Gulo Gulo, you’ll find some very high quality components (“bits”). First, you’ll have a wooden bowl, which serves as the swamp vulture’s nest, and 22 wooden eggs (in 5 colors) that just barely fit in the nest. You’ll also find a wooden stick that serves as Mama Swamp Vulture’s “alarm pole.” To set up the nest, pour all the eggs into it, and insert the stick into them so that it is standing (relatively) straight up.

You’ll also find 23 “yard tiles” and a “Gulo Junior” tile. Each yard tile has a dirt path design on one side, and a gulo with an egg on the other side. To set up, mix Gulo Junior in with 4 randomly chosen yard tiles and stack them (face-down) near the nest. Then randomly arrange the rest of the tiles — with the dirt path side facing up — in a path leading away from that stack. The path can meander around your table however you’d like it to, and I’ve found that kids enjoy the fact that they can set up the game to look however they want it to.

Finally, each player gets a little wolverine playing piece that they place at the beginning of the path.

The hungriest player goes first (although, while I find this to be a clever an humorous way to pick the first player, you may want to simply appoint a starting player if you fear a long argument between your kids about who’s hungriest!).

A player’s turn basically has three parts:

1. Turn over a path tile (this step may be optional, as you’ll see later).
2. Attempt to sneak an egg out of the nest.
3. Move your gulo appropriately.

You must turn over a path tile if there are no face-up path tiles in front of your gulo. Therefore, the first person must turn over the first path tile (since they all start out face-down). Then, he or she must try to steal an egg out of the nest that matches the color of the egg on the tile (it will be red, blue, green, or yellow), without setting off the “alarm” — aka, without making the alarm pole fall out of the nest and hit the table.

If there are already face-up tiles in front of your gulo, you have a choice. You can turn over the first face-down tile in the path and attempt to swipe a matching egg, or you can try to swipe an egg that matches an already-face-up tile that’s ahead of your gulo on the path. For example, if the first player turned over a red-egg tile, the second player can either turn over the next face-down tile or simply attempt to grab a red egg (since that tile is already face-up).

The way you move your gulo depends on how successful your egg-swiping has been. If you manage to nab an egg without setting off the alarm, move your gulo forward to the next tile of that color. If you set off the alarm, you must move your gulo backward to the next tile of that color (or to the beginning of the path, if there are no tiles of that color behind you).

Once the alarm has been tripped, all previously-removed eggs are mixed back in with the others, the nest is re-filled, and the alarm is re-set.

Play continues around the table with players stealing eggs from the nest and moving forward (or backward, as the case may be). Once players get to the small stack of tiles by the nest, they’re close to finding Gulo Junior! Players make their way through the stack, and the first player to find the Junior tile and to then successfully remove a purple egg from the nest (there are 2 of them) wins the game.

Let’s take a look at a game in progress so you can see how a turn might play out:

In this case, the blue player has 4 options (each represented by an arrow). He could try to swipe a red egg, and move to the red tile; he could try for a blue egg and move to the blue tile; he could try for a yellow egg and move to the yellow tile. OR, he could flip the first face-down tile (which is in front of the yellow player). If he chooses this option, he’ll have to try for whatever color egg that tile contains. Note that if that face-down tile is red, and he successfully gets a red egg, he can still only move up one tile, since you always have to move to the next tile of that color. Also: if it’s yellow’s turn, he only has one option. Since there are no face-up tiles in front of him, he’ll have to flip over the next tile and go for whatever color egg is revealed.

The game sounds simple enough, but let me assure you — things can get nerve-wracking. Should you turn over a face-down tile (that could allow you to jump over your opponents) and risk the fact that it might be green, when you can clearly see that grabbing a green egg will definitely trip the alarm and send you backward? Or should you just grab the highly-accessible blue egg, but only get to move forward 1 tile? In addition, the more eggs that are succe
ssfully removed, the more precarious the alarm pole becomes and the more likely you’ll be to set it off.

You can see where having tiny fingers would come in handy at this game. I’ve been amazed to watch C. carefully slip his fingers into the nest and nab an egg without disturbing anything else. Meanwhile, every time I try to get an egg, I feel like a clutz, and usually end up bumping and shifting all the eggs around in my efforts, not to mention regularly setting off the alarm.

C. and I played a round of Gulo Gulo Thursday night, and it was the first time I’ve won this game. I only won because C. got stuck with a wobbly alarm pole right at the end, and had to move back quite a way. It was close though — if he’d had one more turn, he would surely have won.

In the interest of full disclosure, Gulo Gulo is more expensive than some of the kids’ games you may be used to buying — it’s almost $25 at Time Well Spent. Personally, I think it’s worth it if you’re in the market for a game. For one, this game is far more enjoyable than many of the kids’ games that are out there (read: Candyland), and for another, it’s less expensive than taking the family out to a restaurant one time, and you’ll get to enjoy the game many times over. Finally, the components are truly high-quality. Solid wooden eggs and nest, thick cardboard tiles, and durable plastic wolverines — this game will last for a long, long time.

In summary:

Gulo Gulo

Number of Players: 2-6
Time required: 20 minutes
Ages: 5 and up
Where to buy: Time Well Spent or Amazon.com

Callapidder recommends it: For anyone with young kids. It’s easy to learn, easy to play; kids love the bits and love that they have an advantage over the grown-ups!

Read more of Callapidder’s Game Reviews by clicking HERE.

I’m a big fan of games I can stick in my purse and have available for down-times in restaurants, airports, and other places where a quick game would improve the experience. Treehouse is just such a game. It’s easy to learn, quick to play, and portable. Read on to learn more.

Treehouse is a game for 2-4 players that fits in your purse and can be played anywhere you have access to a flat surface. The recommended age is 8 and up, but I believe 6- and 7-year-olds could easily catch on to this game as well, especially with a little help.

Treehouse comes in a square-ish plastic tube. When you open the tube and dump out the contents, you’ll find 5 sets of pyramids. Each set is a different color, and each set consists of 3 different sizes of pyramids (small, medium, and large). A set of pyramids can nest together or can be stacked in various ways. Treehouse also comes with a special die containing the words: Tip, Hop, Dig, Swap, Aim, and Wild.

Each person receives one set of pyramids, and stacks those pyramids in front of themselves like this (they call this a “tree”):

Another set of pyramids is placed in the center of the table and is arranged like this (this arrangement is called a “house”):

The goal of Treehouse is to be the first to get your set of pyramids to match the configuration of the pyramids in the center of the table. You’ll do this by rolling the die and taking the prescribed action.

On your turn, roll the die and move your pyramid pieces according to what you roll. (Note: If you cannot take the rolled action on your own pieces, you have the option of taking the action on the pyramids in the center of the table.)

Here’s a brief description of what each action means:

Tip allows you to knock over any upright piece (either to the left or to the right). If there is another piece stacked on it, the pieces both get tipped, and then separate.

Hop allows you take one of your upright pieces and “hop” it to another place in line.

Dig allows you to take a piece that’s lying on its side, pretend that it “digs” underground, and then emerges upright in another place in line.

Swap allows you to switch the positions of any two pieces.

Aim allows you to change the direction/orientation of any one piece (you can set it to point left, point right, or stand upright).

Wild allows you to perform any of the above five actions; as a bonus, you may perform this action either on your pieces OR on the center pieces.

To give you a brief example, let me walk you through some sample rolls-and-moves for one player.

Ann starts the game with her Tree in place. On her first roll, she rolls Hop, and decides to Hop her medium pyramid to the right. Because the small pyramid is on top of the medium pyramid, it goes along for the ride:

On her second roll, Ann rolls Tip, and tips over the medium pyramid to the left. The small pyramid tips as well, and both end up separate, and pointing left.

On her third roll, Ann rolls Aim. She decides to re-aim the smallest pyramid, and re-orients it so it is upright.

Ann has her pyramids in the right order and just needs to get them all pointing the correct way. She still needs to get the large pyramid to point to the left, and the medium pyramid to point to the right.

Players alternate turns, and the first one to match their pyramids to the center pyramids is the winner.

Depending on the luck of the die, a game of Treehouse can last a mere five minutes or it can stretch into a 15-20 minute game. Most of the games we’ve played have lasted 5-10 minutes, and C. has won the majority of them!

One of the tricky parts of the game is when a player rolls a Wild and decides to rearrange the pieces in the center of the table in some way. All the other players have been working toward one configuration and now, all of a sudden, they have to start working toward a different one. The game can change quickly, but that’s part of the fun.

Treehouse is easy to teach and even easier to play. We’ve played this game at our kitchen table, and also at Max & Erma’s. Oh, and a tube of Treehouse lives in my car, just in case we find ourselves in need of a game.

In summary:

Treehouse

Number of Players: 2-4
Time required: 5-20 minutes
Ages: 8 and up
Where to buy: Time Well Spent or Amazon.com

Callapidder recommends it: As a great take-al
ong game. Perfect for those 15 minutes before your food arrives at a restaurant, or to take along to a game-loving friend’s house when you’re invited for dinner. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that kids love playing with the plastic pyramid pieces, too. And we moms can always use another, “Here honey, look what I found in my purse for you to quietly play with” item.

Read more of Callapidder’s Game Reviews by clicking HERE.

Do you like to press your luck? Then Can’t Stop might be the perfect game for you. On each turn, you’ll keep rolling the dice until you decide to stop and keep the points you’ve earned so far…or until you roll something you can’t use, and lose all your points for that turn. Addictive? Yes. Fun? Definitely.

Can’t Stop is a push-your-luck game for 2-4 players. One game takes about 30 minutes, and it’s recommended for ages 9 and up. Younger kids can certainly grasp the basic mechanic, but it’ll be harder for them to weigh their options and make strategic decisions. The rules are fairly simple, so you can easily teach someone to play in less than 10 minutes, which is always a plus around here.

When you open the Can’t Stop box, you’ll find an octagonal board, four dice, 11 playing pieces in each of four colors, and 3 pieces called “markers.” The board has 11 columns, with the numbers 2-12 across the top. Each column has a number of squares in it (where playing pieces will be placed during the game), with the 2 & 12 columns having the fewest squares, and the central 7 column having the most (see picture of the back of the box for reference).

Here’s how gameplay works:

On your turn, take the four dice and 3 white marker pieces. Roll the four dice, and then split them (however you want) into two pairs. Take the sum for each pair, and place two of the white marker pieces on the board, at the bottom of the appropriate columns.

Example: Jim rolls a 1, 3, 4, and 6. He can split the dice in several ways, but chooses to pair up the 1 & 4, and the 3 & 6. Therefore, he places one marker at the bottom of the 5 column, and one marker at the bottom of the 9 column, corresponding with the sums of his dice pairs.

[Note: He could also have split his dice into 1 & 6, and 3 & 4, which would have resulted in two sums of 7. In this case, he'd place one marker at the bottom of the 7 column, and then move it up an additional square.]

At this point, you may continue to roll, or stop whenever you want to. If you continue to roll, you’ll split the dice into 2 pairs each time, and place or move up the markers appropriately. The tricky part is, once you’ve placed a marker on the board, you can’t move it to another column. You have to hope that you keep rolling dice combinations that pair off into columns you’ve already “claimed”. When you do, you can move the appropriate marker(s) up the column. But if you roll in such a way that you can’t move any of the markers, your turn is over and you lose all your progress for that turn.

Example: On Jim’s second roll, he rolls 2, 2, 3, 6. Because he already has a marker in the 5 column, he decides to split the dice into: 2 & 3, and 2 & 6. He gets to move his marker in the 5 column up one square, and put the third (and final) marker in the 8 column.

From this point forward, Jim will have to be able to split his dice in such a way that he gets a sum of 5, 8, or 9 (since that’s where his markers are). The good news is, once all three markers are on the board, it’s okay if he can only use one pair of dice. For example, if his third roll results in: 1, 1, 2, 3, he’ll be able to use the 2 & 3 in order to move up the marker in the 5 column, and the remaining 1 & 1 won’t affect him negatively. However, if he rolls: 5, 5, 6, 6, he’s out of luck, since he can only make sums of 10, 11, or 12 out of those dice… and he doesn’t have any markers in those columns.

If a player decides to stop, he or she replaces the markers with their own colored pieces, showing that they earned and are able to keep those scores. If they push their luck too far and roll an unusable combination, they remove the markers from the board, but do not get to put their own playing pieces there. They’ve lost all progress from that turn. Either way, the dice and markers are passed to the next player.

On future turns, if a player already has one of his colored playing pieces in a column, he places the marker in the next square up if he goes for that number again. For example, if Jim gets his piece up to the 3rd square in the 5 column before he stops his first turn, then on his next turn, he can start on the 4th square and work from there.

The goal is to be the first player to get to the top of 3 different columns. Once a player reaches the top of a column, all other players are removed from that column, and they are not allowed to claim it. (There’s only one “winner” of each column.) As a variant, if only two people are playing, you can make the object to win five columns instead of three.

The tension runs deep in Can’t Stop. First of all, you’re constantly asking yourself, “Should I roll again? Or should I stop and stay safe where I am?” But then there’s also the added competition for columns. If your opponent is almost to the top of the 8 column, it’s so tempting to just keep rolling and rolling, in an attempt to get to the top first, so you don’t get knocked completely out of the running for that column.

Ironically, Chad and I completely reverse personalities when we play this game. In “real life,” I’m super-cautious, while he’s more likely to take risks and embrace uncertainty. But when Can’t Stop hits the table, that all gets turned on its head. Chad stops after just a couple rolls, in order to guarantee his safety and progress. Meanwhile, I keep saying, “Just one more roll…just one more roll. I can’t stop!!”

In summary:

Can’t Stop

Number of Players: 2-4
Time required: 30 minutes
Ages: 9 and up
Where to buy: Time Well Spent or Amazon.com

Callapidder recommends it: Anyone who’s looking for a quick, fun game, particularly those who like to push their luck a little. Those who’ve enjoyed Pass the Pigs will like this one, too.

Read more of Callapidder’s Game Reviews by clicking HERE.

If you just took a quick glance at Qwirkle, you might think it was a simple game of color and shape matching. Kids’ stuff, right? Well, you’d be wrong. Yes, Qwirkle involves matching colors and shapes, but one play will convince you that while it’s accessible for kids, it’s also a game of strategy and fun for adults. It’s the 2007 winner of the Mensa Select award, and the recipient of a Parents’ Choice award. Our family gives it our personal thumbs-up as well.

One part Scrabble, one part dominoes, and one part something else entirely, Qwirkle is a game for 2-4 players, age 6 and up. One game lasts about 45 minutes, and it’s easy to learn, teach, and play.

In a nutshell: Qwirkle consists of 108 square, black, wooden tiles. You’ll also need paper and a pen to keep score.

Each tile has a symbol on one side. There are six different symbols (circle, square, clover, diamond, and 2 different stars) that come in six different colors (red, yellow, orange, green blue, and purple). Altogether, the game has 3 copies of each of the 36 specific symbols — e.g. 3 red circles, 3 red squares, 3 yellow diamonds, etc.

Players start by drawing a “hand” of six tiles, which they keep hidden from other players. The rest of the tiles are placed to the side of the playing area and are used as the draw pile. The player who has the most tiles that share a single attribute (color or symbol) goes first, by laying those tiles on the table in a straight line. One caveat: players may not count duplicate tiles (for example, if you have 3 circles, and two of them are orange, you can only count one of those orange circles toward your “most tiles that share a single attribute”).

Example:

Jim and Ann have just started a game of Qwirkle. Jim has 4 red symbols — a square, a diamond, and two circles. Because the second red circle doesn’t count, Jim could play 3 tiles. Ann has 4 diamonds – a green one, yellow one, red one, and blue one. Because Ann can count all four of these, she has the most and will go first by placing her diamonds on the table in a line.

Play now continues around the table, with each player laying down one or more of his tiles in a line, building off the existing tile structure. I know this sounds confusing, so just think of Scrabble. In Scrabble, you build words by laying down one or more of your letters in a single line, building off the existing word structure. Qwirkle works just like that.

But since we’re not building words in Qwirkle, how do you choose which tiles to lay and how to lay them?

In Qwirkle, all the tiles in a single line must share one (and only one) attribute — either a color or a symbol. In addition, there cannot be any duplicate tiles in any line.

Examples of possible lines:

• A line containing only red tiles (but a variety of symbols, keeping in mind the no-duplicates rule)
• A line containing only green tiles
• A line containing only squares (but a variety of colors, keeping in mind the no-duplicates rule)
• A line containing only circles
• Etc.

On your turn, you may add to an existing line or create a new line (as long as it attaches to the existing tiles in some way).

Okay, I think we need a visual here. Let’s say that the board looks like this:

Note that line 1 (horizontal) consists of all blue symbols. Line 2 (vertical) consists of all circles. Line 3 (horizontal) consists of all orange symbols. Etc.

Now, let’s say that Jim’s hand looks like this:

Jim has several options. He could add the yellow 4-pointed star and the yellow circle to Line 8 (vertical); however he could not add the yellow diamond, since Line 8 already has a yellow diamond. Alternatively, he could add the blue square to the front of Line 1 OR to Line 7 (along with the orange square, if he wishes).

Here’s another move he could make: Do you see that yellow square in Line 5 (vertical)? He could take his three yellow tiles and build them all out to the left of that square, creating a new line in which all tiles are yellow. He would have to place the 4-pointed star under the green 4-pointed star, in order to match up the symbols, but he’ll score for that new mini-line as well.

Scoring is usually the biggest factor in determining which option to go with. Scoring is simple: you score one point for each tile in the line(s) you create or add to. Again, think Scrabble. In Scrabble, if the word “ton” was on the board and you turned it into “stone,” you would score for the entire word “stone,” not just the letters you added. In Qwirkle, if you add 2 red symbols to a line that already contains 3 red symbols, you would score 5 points. In addition, if the tiles you lay happen to also land in such a way that they add on to other existing lines, you score points for those lines as well. To beat a dead horse, think Scrabble once again. If you turned “ton” into “stone” and the “s” also happened to make a vertical word above it go from “mark” to “marks,” you would score for both “stone” and “marks.”

One more scoring rule: If you happen to “complete” a row, you score an extra 6 points for that turn. An example of “completing a row” would be if there is an existing row containing a green square, a red square, a blue square and a yellow square, and you are able to add the orange and purple squares to it. Remember, because there can be no duplicates, once you have all the symbols of one color, or all the colors of one symbol, that line cannot be made any longer.

Make sense? I hope so. As I’m writing this, I realize it sounds involved, but I promise — after two or three turns, it all falls into place and you can start working on your beat-everyone have-fun-with-your-family strategy.

Each player ends his or her turn by drawing enough tiles from the draw pile to bring their hand back up to six tiles.

Keep track of each player’s score for each turn, adding as you go along (again, just like Scrab well, you know). The game ends when the final tile is played, and the player with the highest score wins.

Qwirkle has been hit at our house. C. picked up on it immediately, and Chad and I en
joy playing with him, or just the two of us. C. prefers to play without keeping score — just seeing what kind of rows and combinations he can make. The game is flexible enough for the three of us to play, with just Chad and I keeping score (because we both like to win evaluate our skills) and letting C. play “just for fun.”

In summary:

Qwirkle

Number of Players: 2-4
Time required: 45 minutes
Ages: 6 and up
Where to buy: Time Well Spent or Mindware, and you might also stumble across it at some specialty toy/game stores. In Canada, you can find Qwirkle at Fun Games Cafe.

Callapidder recommends it: For any families or friends. Qwirkle makes a great after-dinner play-and-chat kind of game. I also think it will appeal to Scrabble-lovers who are looking for something a little different.

Read more of Callapidder’s Game Reviews by clicking HERE.

Despite its name-with-gross-connotations, this new game from Gamewright has nothing to do with becoming ill. Okay, there’s a picture of a queasy-looking dog on the box, but other than that, I promise there is no gross-ness involved. Instead, this is a game involving — you guessed it — cookies. Cookies that you occasionally are required to toss.

In Toss Your Cookies, 3-8 players aged 8 and up attempt to collect a set of five matching cookies plus the milk by “passing, swapping, and tossing cards according to the dice rolls.” It can get a bit chaotic, but sometimes that’s what attracts kids to a game (what is it with kids and chaos anyway?). Playing time is stated as 15 minutes, but I believe the game could go on for quite a bit longer, depending on what mood the dice are in.

In a nutshell: Toss Your Cookies contains 48 cookie cards (eight sets of six matching cookies), 4 half-eaten cookie cards, 3 wild cards, 1 milk card, and 2 colorful dice. The neat thing about the cards is they’re circular, made of a good sturdy cardboard, and illustrated very nicely. (The problem with that, of course, is that playing this game puts me in the mood to eat cookies, and that has its consequences.) To set up the game, you first choose one set of cookie cards for each player involved (the rest can stay in the box), and mix in the appropriate number of wild cards and half-eaten cookie cards (there’s a chart in the instructions to give you this info). Cards are thoroughly mixed, face down on the table, and everyone takes exactly seven cards.

Wild cards can be used in place any cookie. Half-eaten cookies do absolutely nothing for you — they just take up space in your hand.

A turn is simple: roll both dice and take the action indicated. Here are some things you might roll on your turn and what they mean:

• Swap + a number — Exchange the shown number of cards with any other player. No peeking at their cards first, though. It’s a blind swap.

• Pass Left or Right + a number — All players pass the shown number of cards in the indicated direction.

• Toss + a number — All players select from their hand the number of cards shown and simultaneously toss them, face-up, into the middle of the table. Immediately, everyone scrambles to grab the same number of cards back from the table. This is sheer chaos, and I suppose it could become violent if you let it. Also, one of the “numbers” on the number die says “All,” so sometimes you have to toss your entire hand into the center of the table and grab up seven new cards. If you’re close to winning, this can only be described as: “Aaaarrrgghhh!”

• Special milk actions: The “number die” also has 2 sides with a picture of the milk. If this is rolled, whoever has the milk must either pass it (left or right), swap it with the player who rolled, or toss it into the table, where everyone else scrambles to get it.

As soon as one player has a set of 5 matching cookies plus the milk card, they’re supposed to shout “Snickerdoodle!” and they win the game. At our house, it’s perfectly acceptable to not shout “Snickerdoodle!” but instead to shout something like, “I won!” or “Game over, I win. Now get out of my way — I’m going to go eat some Oreos!” A person can win in the middle of another player’s turn, or during their own.

The reason I think this game could go on for a long time is because it’s quite possible that you could be really, really close to winning and then someone rolls a “Toss All” and now you’re out of luck and back to a hand of random non-winning cookies. Admittedly, though, the games we’ve played have lasted about 15-20 minutes.

We had a good time with this game. C., naturally, liked it more than Chad and I did (perhaps since we generally try to avoid chaos in our lives). But it’s a good game for kids, definitely. I think some kids younger than 8 who are used to playing games could get the hang of this as well. Also, I really like that it plays up to 8. That makes it good for family get-togethers with a bunch of kids, or even for a birthday party game for kids.

In summary:

Toss Your Cookies

Number of Players: 3-8
Time required: 15 minutes
Ages: 8 and up
Where to buy: You can purchase this game directly from Gamewright if you wish, and you can also find it at FunAgain. Gamewright games often pop up at our local Barnes & Noble, too, though I haven’t seen this one there yet.

Callapidder recommends it: For chaos- and cookie-loving kids. C.’s description of the game: “Fun, tasty, and wack-o.”

Read more of Callapidder’s Game Reviews by clicking HERE.