Rating:  -
This is a very simple but challenging game that the whole family can enjoy. The object is to build a zoo with four habitats, and you have to collect cards (for food, animals, and shelter) while going around the board, eventually trading the cards for habitats. It teaches counting and evaluating skills as well as a bit of understanding about animals. It's lots of fun, and even though the age-range is 8 and over, my 4-yr-old enjoys it too (albeit with some math and reading help from the other players). I even find myself asking my 7-yr-old if he wants to play it with me. Chalk up another one for Cranium!
Rating: -
I grew up in a game-loving family, but the onset of the digital age has threatened the around-the-table entertainment I so loved as a child. Cranium, almost single-handedly, seems to be rejuvenating this industry.
"Zooreeka" is another hit. I hesitated to buy it, based on the younger flavor of the game. My kids are 12 and 14, so I thought this might be a bit beneath them. After reading the reviews here, I decided to give it a try. And I'm glad I did. Not only does Zooreeka contain the trademark graphics and colors of the Cranium line, it involves a bit of fun imagination. Primarily, this is a game of luck, allowing players to circle the board, gathering animals and food for their future animal habitats. It's easy to learn, with not much to it. Once a player has collected four habitats, he or she is the winner and announces the opening day of the zoo, giving it a name as well. One of my daughters loves to collect the marine-life habitats, forming an aquarium. The other loves the safari creatures. I take the leftovers--the mole rats, for example. And we all have a good time.
While my daughters still love to create online habitats at Neopets and other sites, Zooreeka has allowed us to share that hobby in a fun family format. Cranium, keep 'em coming.
Rating: -
This is another great Cranium family game. Easy for young ones to understand, limited reading and a lot of fun. As described by many the game plays as follows...
There are two dice in play. One a classic 6 sided number die and one a resource die, that shows pictures of food (banana), animal (paw print) and shelter (palm tree). 3 sides have bananas, 2 sides have paws and only one has a shelter. Before each roll, every player places a token on one of the 3 symbols (think of craps for kids) to predict what the current player will roll on the resource die. If the item you picked comes up, you get a card of that item. Obviously, there is some strategy here... do you go for the big score and hope for a shelter, only 1 in 6 chance of getting, or do you play it safe and go for the food. I have found even my 5 year old is understanding a bit of probability (though she wouldn't know it) and usually picks food. Sometimes she will announce that she feels lucky and change to a paw or shelter, so she does understand that they are less likely to come up. And if you land on the Lucky space, you get to make 2 guesses for each roll and have a better chance of getting resource cards.
After rolling both dies and distributing cards based on resource die matches, the player moves the number on the other die. Then they follow the instructions on the space. The can get Blue Sky cards (take a resource) or Cloudy Sky cards (lose a resource.) These are the only places the kids need to read, so you could help the young ones out by reading the cards aloud for them. They can also land on Teamwork, where each player rolls the resource die and if they match the first player, they get a card. And they can land on the trading post or roll again spaces.
The whole point is to collect enough of each cards to trade for a habitat piece. Each person completes their zoo when they have 4 habitats. To get a habitat, you must land on a Trading Post space, where you can trade the resource cards you have for a habitat piece to add to your zoo. There is a guide as to how much each resource is worth.
3 bananas = 1 animal
2 animals = 1 shelter
4 bananas, 2 animals and 1 shelter = 1 habitat.
The cards that guide you in trading show pictures, so even young kids can work out what they can trade for what. Once you have enough for a habitat (by trading either up or down), you hand it in and get a plastic pie wedge showing some part of a zoo scene. My kids love this part, and we pick randomly, so everyone is excited to see which exhibit they get. They all particularly LOVE when Mom gets the Insectisaruim, since I HATE bugs.
Play continues until one person has 4 habitats, completes their zoo, names it, and announces it open for business.
I have played this with the whole family, mom, dad, 8 and 5 years olds, and with just the 5 year old. It is fun for everyone and simple to play. The game is usually pretty quick, 20 minutes or so, depending on the number of players. This is a bonus as you can decide to make it longer by starting over and playing again. The whole family loves it.
I can say this is one game that I don't cringe at when they bring it out of the closet.
Rating: -
I bought this gamie for my daughters (16 and 17 years old) for Christmas. We played it together and all loved it. Especially being able to pick which 4 animals you want to exibbit in your zoo. Quick and easy to set up and play.
Rating: -
This game is very appealing to my animal-loving 7 year old daughter, who is also a Monopoly fanatic. It is especially appealing to me because it doesn't take nearly as long as Monopoly.
The players move around the game board based on a die roll, trying to collect enough "food", "animal", and "shelter" cards to create a "habitat". One player acts as banker to manage the trading of the cards (several food = animal, several animals = shelter, etc), much like cashing in your bills in Monopoly. There are two stacks of cards, similar to Community Chest and Chance, that will cause a player to win or lose resources.
But you don't just play when it's "your turn". In addition to the number die which directs movement around the board, there is a resource die with symbols for food, animal, and shelter. On each turn of any player, you place your token on either food, animal, or shelter. You're essentially betting what the player's resource die roll will be. Anyone whose bet matches the die roll wins that resource. Resources are not valued equally, and are not represented equally on the die, so there's a lesson in probability there.
There are also spaces on the board marked "teamwork", that involve all players in another opportunity to win resources -- even if it's not "your turn".
So far we have only played it with 2 players. And it's fun. But it would be even better with 3 or more. A 2-player game lasts about 20-30 minutes.
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