Games. Family Fun in a Box!

by Trudy Banks July 9, 2020

At our shop we love games and we stock heaps of them. We have the common games that you are very likely to expect in game shops, but quite a few lesser known games. So here I am going to talk about one of my favourites, Gamewright games and why we love them to bits.

We were first introduced to Gamewright Games when our son was a toddler, well before we were here selling games! Our very first Gamewright game sadly has been retired. If you ever come across a second hand game of Duck, Duck, Bruce you should definitely buy it! It will teach your child all sorts of great life lessons like following rules, taking chances, restraint...actually, while we were playing with our young son we looked across at each other and realised that we were pretty much teaching our son about gambling responsibly!

Playing games as a family have so many benefits for us all. Have you ever looked around in the evening and seen all members of the family with their eyes glued to some sort of electronic device and thought to yourself, "this isn't how I want our family to be"? These days were are all so connected, but to devices, not each other. Games give families much needed relief from that.

The Benefits of Playing Games

Teaches youngsters to take turns and follow rules
Can help to increase active kids attention span and concentration, especially when played in full without interruption
Helps with spelling, numeracy, comprehension, visual recognition, spacial awareness, hand-eye coordination
Can help kids with conversation and speaking up
Can also open lines of communication between parents and kids, it can even be an alternative to punitive measures where communication can flourish
Helps with planning, organisation and decision making
Helps kids learn about losing without losing it
Allows healthy competition where there is allowed to be a winner!
Improve teamwork and cooperation
There are so many more great reasons to play games but most importantly it can be heaps of FUN!

Some of our Favourite Gamewright Games

Sleeping Queens

This great game was dreamt up by an eight year old! Literally, she woke with the idea and her family helped her draw up her idea in the morning and they sent it in to the team at Gamewright! We love it, our son who is now 16 will still play it happily. This game regularly tops the list of games that kids love that parents do too!

Sleeping Queen consists of 12 Queen cards that are separate to the rest of the deck. They begin the game by "sleeping" face down. The rest of the deck contains Kings, Knights, Dragons, Sleeping Potions, Magic Wands, Court Jesters and Number Cards. The illustrations on all Gamewright cards are gorgeous and is one of the things that sets them apart from other games.

The game play is simple yet at the same time complex. Kings wake Queens, Sleeping Potions put them back to sleep (unless you have a magic wand to play in defence!). Knights can steal someones awoken Queen...unless the holder of the queen has a dragon to play. Jesters allow the player to take a chance and the number cards can be played in turn or better still three cards can be played at once provided the cards make an addition sum together (2+3=5).

There are special rules that apply to Queen cards, my favourite being that a player cannot have the Cat Queen and the Dog Queen at the same time...they Fight!

Everyone has their favourite Queen...for me, I love the Peacock Queen!

Sleeping Queens is a fun card game for 2 to 5 players, aged 8 up (although most kids can get the hang of it as young as 6) It takes about 20 minutes to play and is a great first choice of Gamewright games. The game is a great way to help kids with concentration, anticipation, simple mathematics. There is a lot of chance in this game, and a fair amount of "take that!" but our kids have all enjoyed playing Sleeping Queens whether they win or lose. We have it in the cardboard box and the 10th anniversary tin edition. If this game sounds fun for your family you can buy it here.

Slamwich

Slamwich is a sandwich building, gastronomic version of the well-known game of SNAP but with sandwich shaped cards and a few different rules that make this so much more fun to play! The box says that this game is for 6 year and up, but if your kids have mastered the simple game of snap then Slamwich will be an easy progression that even the parents will find fun to play.

The basics of the game are to call out and Slam down on a SLAMWICH (where two of the same filling sandwiches a different filling), a DOUBLE-DECKER (where two of the same fillings are played consecutively) and STOP THIEF! (You will know this guy by his mask and the fact that he is running away with your lunch!). The aim is to collect all the cards and leave your opponents hungry. There are also Muncher cards which can be left out for really young players, but when played add another fun element to the game, the game of chance!

Slamwich helps kids to develop visual recognition, sequencing, and hand-eye coordination. While your kids are flipping and stacking sandwich fillings, they are recognising sequences, making somewhat unusual combinations of fillings, anticipating what might happen and sharpening their reflexes! A note to parents, there is no going easy on the kids in this game, play hard. Sharp eyes and lightening reflexes mean the kids will always win!

Slamwich can be played by 2 to 6 players, ages 6 (ish) and up and takes about 20 minutes to play. If you’re hungry for more, you can buy SLAMWICH here.

Zeus on the Loose

Zeus on the Loose is a game of Mythic Proportions according to the box. We love this game for a bunch of reasons, it is fun, it teaches some maths, in adding, subtracting, and rounding and the game teaches you a bit about Greek Gods, what’s not to love? In the box you will find a mini statue of Zeus, cards that are numbered 1 to 10 and cards that have various Greek Gods and Goddesses. Each God and Goddess has their own game power which is printed on the card, so you don’t actually have to remember that the that the God of the Sea, Poseidon, subtracts 10 from Mount Olympus and Steals Zeus! Mount Olympus is the name of what is commonly known as the discard pile. The aim of the game is to get Mount Olympus to equal 100 while also being in possession of the Statue of Zeus.

Zeus on the Loose is a quick game to learn and play (about 15 minutes) that is great for quick addition and subtraction. Throughout the game you play a card from your hand and add it to the accumulative total of Mt. Olympus, so it is important to remember numbers and quickly add to the total, or subtract if the card you play tells you that is required. Any time the pile equals a multiple of ten, you get to steal Zeus. Be the holder of Zeus and get the pile to 100 to win, but beware! If another player gets the pile to exactly 100, they get to steal Zeus and claim victory!

Zeus on the loose is a great game for kids aged 8 and above. They will play, win, and lose…and do a whole lot of maths without even realising that they are learning along the way! If this is the game you’ve been searching for, you will find it here.

Dragonwood

Dragonwood is probably my favourite Gamewright game for all of the family…and I haven’t won yet! Like all the Gamewright games, Dragonwood is beautiful, when you open the box for the first time it feels like a special game to be shared with your nearest and dearest. It is made up of two separate decks of cards (Dragonwood and Adventurer cards) and six dice.

Dragonwood is a game of chance, yet also allows for an increasing amount of strategy which means that as the kids play more and get to know the game better they can become increasingly strategic about how they will play the game and what they will use their chances on.

Simply, you play any number up to 6 of the Adventurer cards (there are easy rules about which cards you can play together – all same number, all same colour or a run of numbers in sequence). Choose which Dragonwood card you want to capture and roll the dice. How many cards you play determines how many dice you can roll. Add your dice together to see if you have captured the card. Each Dragonwood card has the target number printed depending on whether you played all the same number, colour or a run of numbers (you will come to know these as STOMP, SCREAM or STRIKE).

Dragonwood reinforces risk management, strategic thinking, counting, and the basics of probability. It is a game for 2-4 player aged 8 or more and can be played in about 20 minutes. If you want to capture Dragonwood for yourself click here.

Sushi Go Party!

Sushi Go! is like a Sushi Train in a card game and Sushi Go Party! is the Buffet sized version of Sushi Go! It offers the same great game as Sushi Go! with more menu options and a playing board to keep your menu and score.

The more players the merrier in this game, it suits 2 to 8 players but in our experience, it is better with more than three players. Each player chooses any card from their hand and plays it face down in front of themselves. When all players have chosen the players all pass their hand to the left, hence the Sushi Train Analogy. After passing on the cards the players turn over their card to reveal to all players. Players are aiming to collect sets of the same cards, or a variety of menu items to gain the most points.

This larger version of Sushi Go! allows the players to select Nigiri, Maki Rolls, two Specials, three Appetizers and a Dessert, making each game slightly different with a different strategy required to WIN, so depending on your choice of menu every time you play the game it can be different!

Again, this game is suitable for 2 to 8 players, aged 8 and above and the game takes about 30 minutes to play. If you’re hungry for more Sushi Go Party! You will find it here.

Imagine

Imagine is a clever game by Gamewright which uses clear cards in a guessing game that can best be compared to Charades and Pictionary! Each card is printed with an image, be it a semi-circle, a straight line or something like a tree, there are 61 different transparent cards in the box. Players choose a number and the person “drawing” announces the corresponding category from the deck of enigma cards, then proceeds to bring together the cards, overlapping them to create the image connected to the chosen category. The cards can be combined, overlapped and even animated to help demonstrate what you are trying to “draw”.

Imagine is a game that fosters a rich imagination, it is great for ages 12 and up but can be played by younger kids. Kids will get to demonstrate their artistic expression at work and communicate to their audience without words.

Imagine is a game for 3 to 8 players, aged 12 and up and takes about 20 minutes to play. If you would like to take Imagine home for your family you can buy it here.

I hope that this give you a great taste of the fun that Gamewright Games can offer your family. I know that our family is turning to games and jigsaw puzzles and family time more as the world adjusts to the new normal that is life in the time of COVID-19. We delight in finding new and varied games to present to you, and always try to understand the way that games are played to help you to choose a game that suits you and your family. Let the fun times roll on!