Family Games

In one of his sillier games, Karl-Heinz Schmiel casts the players as semi-psychotic cooks attempting to hone their culinary skills. Each player receives a miniature pan and a hotplate. Then each turn you can either attempt to turn up the heat, season your dish, or attempt to steal another cook's recipe in the making. Heating your hotplate is a random affair with a die, and could raise the heat on everyone's plate. Spicing the dish is heart of the game and done by up-ending small bottles filled with little colored wood pellets. When the pellets tumble out of the bottle (sometimes, if they do), the number of pellets can't exceed two, because over-spicing the dish ruins it and you have to throw it in the trash!

Components:

• 4 Stoves
  • 1 Plate
  • 4 Pedestals
  • 1 Adjusting Knob
  • 2 Plastic Rivits
• 4 Pans
• 4 Condiment Dispensers with Colored Lids
• 80 Condiments in 4 colors
  • 20 Lemon
  • 20 Pepper
  • 20 Paprika
  • 20 Herbs
• 25 Salt Crystals
• 20 Artfully Weird Dishes
• 4 Delicious Crepes
• 13 Coffee Cups
• 3 Cooking Spoons
• 1 Coffee Tray
• 4 Trays for Finished Dishes
• 1 Trash Can
• 2 Sinks
• 9 Star Tokens
• 1 Heating Die
• 1 Rule Book

Each player is the owner of a water zoo. Each player tries to lure as many visitors as possible into his water zoo and earns points for the visitors that visit his zoo. To create a zoo that people want to visit, a player must collect animals. When a player’s water zoo is successful, he may want to expand it. When a player’s animal basins are full, he must place additional animals into his depot, which loses him points at game end. When a player makes skillful use of his coworkers, he can gain additional points. The player with the most points wins.

Fire! The alarm has sounded in the firehouse, and four lines of firefighters must dash to the blaze to douse the flames. Advance the bucket brigades as close to the fire as possible, but take care—rushing leads to spilling, and without your precious water, all your efforts will be wasted!

Contents:
-Board
-4 Fireman Tokens (in different colors)
-55 Cards (6 walk cards and 5 run cards, in each of the 4 colors and in a joker set)

This is a game (not an expansion) in the Carcassonne line. It has new graphics, a new set of components, a theme set in the stone age, and new rules to match the theme. As in Carcassonne, players place tiles and put game figures on them, but with different strategies and results. Players have figures that can represent hunters, gatherers, or fishermen and place them in meadows, forests, or on rivers. They also have huts, which can be placed on rivers or lakes and are scored at the end of the game as are the hunters. Gatherers and fishermen are scored when forests or rivers are completed. There are special forest tiles that give the player who plays a tile completing a forest an extra tile lay of special tiles with special features. Players will like this game that features the tile-laying and token placements of Carcassonne with many new twists.

On an icy lake, two clans of prehistoric men clash in a match of Kairn, better known as Caveman Curling, this being an ancestor to the modern sport of curling. Players compete as individuals or are grouped into two clans, and they try to land their stones the closest to a target each round. On a player's turn he takes two actions:

• He launches a stone across the ice, flicking it wit his finger toward the target on the other end of the game board.

• To improve the positioning of his stone or the chances of it staying in place, he can choose to use either a small or large hammer or a totem. With a hammer, the player moves the stone according to the size of the hammer. As for the totem, the player sets it on top of the stone; if the totem falls off the stone, the player can shoot it again on a later turn.

If your player or clan has one or more stones closer to the center of the target than the other clan, you score points. The first player/clan to collect six points wins.

Monsieur de Montforte no longer lives in his Chateau. When he vacated the premises, the highly acclaimed gourmet left behind a collection of the finest cheeses in the world. As the years passed, the cheese aged, but so did the Chateau. Now the mice that search the Chateau for the cheese treasures must be careful or fall into holes which have opened in the floors as the building aged, making the Chateau one of the largest mouse traps under the starlit sky.Welcome to the craziest Chateau in the gaming world! The three-dimensional adventure takes place on four levels. At the top, the Chateau’s roof blocks the view of the inside. When a player peeks under the roof, he can see the lattice of walls and rooms and send his mice in search of treasure – cheese! However, once there, the mice must tread carefully as the floors slide unexpectedly under their paws and can reveal a deadly trap. For those who can avoid the traps, delicious cheese treasures await.Not only can children shine in Chateau Roquefort with their unbeatable memories, but they improve also their abilities to anticipate what lies ahead! Adults will also find the game an exciting challenge, again and again! it And the game comes with a two-sided board for TWO DIFFERENT SCENARIOS!

It's a zoo in here! Those meddling monkeys have set all the animals loose, but do you want to catch a pod of walruses, a journey of giraffes, or a zeal of zebras? You can draw as many chips as you want, but don't be too cheeky! Cheeky Monkey is hours of fun for everyone from wise old elephants to young pups.

There are eight sets of animals. A chip represents each animal. All the chips are placed in the bag. A player may draw chips until one chooses to stop. The player adds the chips, in any order, to one’s own stack. If a player draws a the same animal twice in the same turn all the chips return to the bag and the player’s turn passes. If a player draws a monkey, one of ten in the game, a player may swap the monkey for the top chip in any player’s stack. The game is over when the last chip is drawn from the bag. Any individual who has the most chips of any animal receives bonus points. The player with the most points wins.

Players create new words to fit the outrageous definitions. The player who creates the best word is awarded the Faux Cabulary card. The first player to gain the required number of cards wins Faux Cabulary!

Each round in Faux Cabulary one player is the Wordmeister and reads a Faux Cabulary card out loud, e.g., "The compulsion to pop bubblewrap". Each other player randomly draws three of 21 word cubes from the box and secretly creates a word using 1-3 cubes, e.g., "Bust-O-Ific". The Wordmeister mixes the words, reveals them one-by-one, then awards the card to whoever submitted the word that best matches the definition. Players then return all the dice, and the Wordmeister position rotates, with the game continuing until someone nabs enough cards to win.

Who does not know the colloquial expression "Buying the cat in the sack" ("Buying a pig in a poke")? In this game you can experience the meaning of this expression yourself. A group of cats wants new owners, but these lucky people do not know if they get some sweet pussycats or one or more mean old cats. Sometimes only a dog is helpful, who chases the unwanted cats away. But then too many dogs are worse, too, because they only think about chasing themselves away. A clever auction game with many interesting decisions.
Idea of the game: With their mice, the players attempt to grab the famous cat in the sack. In the sack, there are both good and bad cats. Each player can also put a dog or rabbit into the sack instead of a cat, allowing players to bluff one another. At game end, all positive cats and mice count plus points, but negative cats count minus points.

Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss!

It’s a great honor to introduce the latest creation by cooperative game master, Matt Leacock. There are so many things we love about this unique game: from the rich illustrations, to the collaborative nature of play, to the innovative set of rules, to the infinite possibilities generated by the tiles and cards. Don’t be surprised if your pulse starts pounding faster soon after you start playing – it’s a game that instantly generates an electrifying atmosphere of tension and excitement!

Problem Solving Strategic Thinking Cooperation

• 58 playing cards
• 24 island tiles
• 6 pawns
• 4 treasure figurines
• 1 water meter
• 1 water level marker
• rules of play

Look for hungry penguins in this fast playing and exciting board game. Hey! That's My Fish! is highly suitable for families and strategy gamers.

At the pole your penguins are jumping from ice floe to ice floe hunting fish. They're also trying to block other penguins and secure the best fishing grounds for themselves.

A short game in which players control a number of penguins. The penguins move over hex-shaped ice tiles with 1, 2 or 3 fish on them. The player takes the hex from where the penguin started his movement from the table, thereby creating a gap which other players can't cross. If a penguin can't move, he's taken from play. The player with the most fish in the end wins.

A children's game where players shake plastic igloos in an attempt to identify how many beads (between 2 and 13) they hold.
Nine cards are dealt face-up in a circle around the igloos, with each card showing a different number (or range of numbers). Players then start shaking the igloos to find one that matches the number of beads shown on a card. When a match is found, the player marks that igloo with a colored chip and places it on the card with the same number. If the guess is correct, that player receives the card (worth points) as a reward. If the guess is incorrect, that player loses the chip used to mark the igloo. The game is finished when one player has no chips left, or when all of the cards have been claimed!
Although the appearance of Igloo Pop is quite silly, it takes a steady hand and well-trained ear to be able to determine how many beads are inside an igloo. The sound and vibration when shaking each igloo is slightly different, allowing skilled players to judge the contents quickly and accurately. Also, a risk/reward system is introduced in the cards: cards with several numbers are easier to guess, but are worth less points; cards with a single number are often difficult to guess exactly, but are worth more points.
Background story, from the back of the box:
The young ice giant has a big problem: he wants to buy fish sticks, but he cannot remember how many and he has nine shopping lists in his basket.
So he goes from igloo to igloo and shakes each. In each he listens to the delicious fish sticks bouncing off the igloo walls. When he thinks that the igloo in his hand has the same number of fish sticks as one of his shopping lists, he takes it home.
When he gets home, there are no fish sticks in the igloo. Instead, wild and laughing Inuit children tumble out of the igloo. Excitedly they shout, "Shake us again!" "That was great fun!" "This is super", thinks the young ice giant. "Now, I have found some new friends to play with!" And, he promptly forgets all about his shopping lists.

In 1675, after a long career in piracy, Henry Morgan skillfully gets appointed Governor of Jamaica, with the explicit order to cleanse the Caribbean of pirates and buccaneers !

Instead, he invites all of his former "colleagues" and comrades-in-arms to join him in his retirement, so they can enjoy the fruits of their looting in all impunity.

Each year, in remembrance of the "good old days", Morgan organizes the Great Challenge, a race around the island, and at its end the Captain with the most gold in his holds is declared Grand Winner.

Each year, the people of France celebrate a national holiday on July 14th. In Carcassonne, the people mark the day by releasing the sheep, chickens and cows from their pens. All day, the children of Carcassonne make great fun by trying to catch the animals and return them to their pens by dusk.
This highly simplified version of the best-selling Carcassonne gives small children the chance to enjoy this great game, even with their families. Here, no points are counted. Instead, the first player to use all his figures is the winner.

Yo-Ho-Ho and a Barrel of Fun! Set sail for an exciting adventure of strategy and skullduggery in this captivating card game. Storm your opponents' merchant ships and seize valuable treasure. But watch your back, matey - plundering pirates are out to capture your ships as well! The player with the most loot rules the high seas.
Renowned game inventor Reiner Knizia has created a highly clever card game that is at once simple to learn and fast to play, while engaging those looking for a strategic challenge. There's a team play version, where you and a partner get to look at each other's cards and conspire moves. The game's even more fun when everyone talks in pirate accents when playing. Give it at try and you'll be hooked!

Long ago, the ancient Mayan empire built a city with nine temples, using sacred stone blocks. But somehow, the blocks were all mixed up! Luckily, two priests have knowledge of powerful magics, and they can rebuild the towers without damaging them! As one of these mighty priests, can you outwit your opponent and rejoin the stones of the nine towers?

Contents:

• 9 towers of 5 blocks each
• 30 ladders
• 10 priests
• 1 Raven monolith
• 9 task cards
• game board
• rulebook

In the wild rapids of the Niagara River, fearless canoers battle the water and each other to collect gems along the riverbank. Of course, the most valuable gems are found furthest down-river, close to the waterfall. Yes, there is a waterfall, and careless canoers can fall over the waterfall. Also, players must return collected gems to land in order to be counted. At the end, the player who collects the most value in gems is the winner. Players play on a 3D board, representing the Niagara River and the falls. Canoes float down the river as the river flows, but players can row their canoes up-river or down-river to collect gems, to return them to shore, and to avoid the waterfall. This game is great fun for the family, but is strategic and gives players the chance to plan and steal from one another.

A family board game where you race to make and deliver pizzas. Players vie for ingredients to meet the orders of customers then move on a track to reach their house with the right ingredients for the pizza they want. When the pizzeria closes, the player with the most money wins.

Part of the KidFun line of games from Z-Man Games, Inc.!

Roasted worms are a bird’s delight. On one hand this is due to the fact that worms are the favourite dish of all poultry. On the other hand, the preference for barbecue worms is nobody else’s doing but of Johnny Rooster Roaster. His Uncle Sam, a native from Chickentown Kentucky, had the idea to open up a worm roasting house at each corner of town. Johnny didn’t hesitate to make this idea a reality and since their first days as worm-barbecue masters their roasting joints have found no lack of eager and famished customers. And the customers keep coming. All over the place, chicken folk have started to gather worms and supply them to Johnny. Whether Curry Worm, Roast’n Worm or Frankfurter Worm: poultry of all sorts are standing in line to taste one of these specialties. For Johnny and his new found business the following stands: from worm hunter to millionaire!

Everyone knows the cake rules: one person cuts, the other chooses. In this way, one makes the slices as equal as possible so that one does not end up with the short end. But this rule does not apply to “piece o´ Cake”. Here a person can cleverly offer larger pieces to the others and still get the most in the end. 5 cakes with 11 slices of different varieties are divided.

Each variety awards a different amount of points. One can immediately eat slices to guarantee a number of points, or collect them in the hope of scoring bonus points for having the most of that variety at the end of the game. Only skilled dividers with an eye on their opponents’ pieces can score the most points and win the game.

Qwirkle is as basic as matching colors and shapes! Well-planned strategy is the key to victory. Qwirkle consists of 108 wooden tiles with 6 shapes in 6 colors. Each tile is worth 1 point. Players score points by building lines of tiles that share a common color or shape. Score a “Qwirkle” by completing a line of 6 and receive double points for each tile in that line! The player with the highest score at the end of the game wins!

• Awards:

Mensa Select,

Major Fun,

Parents’ Choice Gold,

Creative Child Magazine Preferred Choice,

The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval ,

2011 Spiel des Jahres

• Contents:

108 thick wooden tiles,

cloth drawstring bag,

instructions

Qwirkle is as basic as matching colors and shapes! Well-planned strategy is the key to victory. Qwirkle consists of 108 wooden tiles with 6 shapes in 6 colors. Each tile is worth 1 point. Players score points by building lines of tiles that share a common color or shape. Score a “Qwirkle” by completing a line of 6 and receive double points for each tile in that line! The player with the highest score at the end of the game wins!

• Awards:

Mensa Select,

Major Fun,

Parents’ Choice Gold,

Creative Child Magazine Preferred Choice,

The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval ,

2011 Spiel des Jahres

• Contents:

108 thick 3/4 inch tiles,

zippered carrying bag,

instructions

Reverse Charades is a hilarious twist on a classic game where the entire team has 60 seconds to act out as many words as one team member can guess. It’s a fast-paced, fiercely fun team competition that’s an absolute riot with families, school groups, party-goers, work teams or among a few close friends. But be warned . . . you’re in for big and dangerous doses of fun.

NOW Introducing the Junior Edition with 720 words developed for our younger audience ages 6 to 10! (Sample words: trampoline, itchy, piggy back, jack-in-the-box, washing the dishes)

1. Split into teams of three or more. Decide on a number of rounds or a point target to win.
2. 1 word guessed correctly = 1 point. Each team has one minute to guess as many words as possible.
3. Each team selects a guesser (everyone gets a turn) and the rest of the team acts out the words.
4. Shhh! Not a peep among the team members.
5. Ready, set, go!

One of the players takes on the role of Mr. X. His job is to move from point to point around the map of London taking taxis, buses or subways. The detectives, the remaining players acting in concert, move around similarly in an effort to move into the same space as Mr. X. But while the criminal's mode of transportation is nearly always known, his exact location is only known intermittently throughout the game.

Components:

• 1 Game Board
• 6 Playing Figures
• 18 Starting Station Cards
• 125 Tickets:
  • 54 Taxi
  • 43 Bus
  • 23 Underground
  • 5 "Mr. X"
• 2 Double-Move Tickets
• 1 Travel Log (w/Paper)
• 1 "Mr. X" Baseball Cap
• Game Rules

Winner of over 6 awards, including the Parent's Choice Gold award, The National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval, Creative Child Magazine's Preferred Choice Award and more, the Sherlock card game now has a new look in the Sherlock Deluxe edition!
The new and elegant book-shaped box attractively houses the popular game, and as a special addition, includes an intricately sculpted Sherlock pawn and 11 extra clue cards!
As Sherlock goes around and searches the clues, every player tries to remember each of the eight objects hidden in a facedown circle of cards. Then, Sherlock travels from one card to another. Each time Sherlock stops at a facedown card, the player has to remember which object is on that card. Sherlock continues to move, as long as the player guesses correctly.
If Sherlock travels to a face-up card, then the player gets to keep that card. The first player to collect six cards wins!

Spot It! is a visual perception card game in which players race to find the one matching picture between one card and another. The pictures can be different sizes. The cards are round and feature an assortment of colorful images of items like insects, plants, symbols, and smiley faces. Every card is unique, and has only one picture in common with each card in the deck. The game is very portable and includes a deck of 55 cards in a round, tin container that is the same size as the cards.

A deck of 55 round cards, each of which has one and only one symbol in common with any other card. Rules for five different "little games" are included. All five are observation games with a speed component -- the first person to find a match either claims or is able to get rid of a card.

A long time ago at the Japanese Imperial court, the Chinese Emperor offered a giant panda bear as a symbol of peace to the Japanese Emperor. Since then, the Japanese Emperor has entrusted his court members (the players) with the difficult task of caring for the animal by tending to his bamboo garden.

In Takenoko, the players will cultivate land plots, irrigate them, and grow one of the three species of bamboo (Green, Yellow and Pink) with the help of the Imperial gardener to maintain this bamboo garden. They will have to bear with the immoderate hunger of this sacred animal for the juicy and tender bamboo. The player who manages his land plots best, growing the most bamboo while feeding the delicate appetite of the panda, will win the game.

The floodwaters are rising and the animals need to board the ark!

Valley Games is pleased to announce the arrival of Two by Two, and the first published for designer Rob Bartel.

Players move their ARKS around a steadily deteriorating landscape, matching pairs to rescue stranded animals. The goal is to find matching pairs of animals and bring them onto your ark before your opponents raise the waters. There are six animals of every type, except for the unicorn, of which there are only two. Animals that are rare at the end of the game are worth more points.

The game is for 2-4 players aged 8 and up and takes around 45 minutes to play. This game offers both the family and the seasoned gamer the opportunity to have a great deal of fun.

Join OX, Wedgehead and the rest of the Uglydolls in their first ever fast-action card game. Turn over cards until you spot three matching Uglys. Then race like an Ice-Bat out of Heck to grab a match before they all get snatched. Claim the most cards and you claim the game. Winning isn't always pretty, but it's always fun!
It is our great honor to introduce the first ever Uglydoll card game! We first met these adorable characters a couple of years ago and have been chomping at the bit ever since to bring them to life. We hope you enjoy playing this frenetic game of fast reflexes as much as we have enjoyed making it. A word to the wise: You might want to remove any jewelry or breakable objects before playing or else it might really get Ugly!

Danger and excitement lurk around every bend of the river in Whitewater. Race down a deadly river, carefully navigating your raft through the obstacles, while trying to keep your paddles and crew inside the raft.

In Whitewater each player directs the actions of four courageous rafters. Each raft in the race contains four crew, with two crew from you and two from another player. Players control the crew within a raft, but also may use Energy cards to additionally help one raft or the other. Dice represent the effects of hazards you encounter, and even your best-laid plans can be spoiled by another raft pushing you a direction you don't want to go. Earn points for getting your rafts and passengers home safely, while navigating through treacherous waters containing rocks, driftwood and the dreaded whirlpool!

Components:

• 14 Victory markers
• 12 Overboard markers
• 6 Paddle markers
• 9 River boards
  • 1 Start board
  • 8 River boards
• 12 Raft tiles
• 24 Action cards
• 18 Energy cards
• 6 Rafts
• 3 Dice (blue, red, black)
• Rulebook

A Family Edition of the Most Award-Winning Party Game in History!

Wits & Wagers Family simplifies the rules and scoring system of the popular Wits & Wagers. Now families and kids can get into the Wits & Wagers action! First, every player writes down a guess to a fun question. Then players try to score points by choosing which guess is closest to the right answer without going over. That is it!

The game features 300 new family-friendly questions. And even better than that, Wits & Wagers Family includes Meeples, fun, cute, human shaped wooden pieces that the players use to select which answers they think are correct. Meeples have been a hallmark in European style strategy games for years, but this is the first time they have made an appearance in a party game.

So check out Wits & Wagers Family, the game that combines laughter and learning in a way that all ages can enjoy together!

Each player uses small, large, wild and exotic animals and their young to try and attract as many visitors as possible to their zoo. But be careful - the zoo must be carefully planned. Before you know it, you have too many animals and no more room for them. That brings minus points! Luckily, your zoo can expand. A zoo of a family game in which less is sometimes more ...