One Zillion Games

Jenga Boom!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 14:49:00 +0000

Publisher: Hasbro (2012)

Players: 1+

Age recommendation: 6+

Jenga Boom Rules: http://www.hasbro.com/shop/details.cfm?R=263651E8-5056-9047-F5CF-B38B0A63870B:en_US
_________

Jenga Boom is a nice twist on the classic block tower building game. Where you were once taking your time making sure your piece was meticulously placed and balanced, you are now racing against time.

Jenga Boom incorporates a chess timer approach to turn taking. When it is your turn, you hit the timer and make your move. Only once your move is complete can you turn the timer off. The timer controls the "fuse" which shortens until... well... boom!

Your normal Jenga tower has been infused with the intensity of perfection.

The tower is built on top of a raised dynamite platform but when the time runs out, the flat platform becomes a dome and causes the tower to fall.

The kids loved the game. Why? The most exciting part of Jenga is when the tower collapses, and you don't go more than 5 minutes without a tower collapsing. The only thing my son would change to make the game better would be if the base actually exploded. But as the front of the box clearly states "Actual Product Does Not Explode."

I found Jenga Boom to be fun, but I think the kids enjoyed it more than I did. I had a couple of problems with the design. The fuse made the game a bit too short for my liking. The timer mechanism is, naturally, located at the front of the "dynamite" which made sitting around the table while playing difficult. Your choices seem to be rotating the balancing tower or to play the game with all the players standing up facing the front. As cool as the packaging graphics are with caution tape and an actual fuse sticking out of the top, I feel the size of the box is much too big for the components. None of these things, however, are going to keep me from playing when the kids ask.

One Zillion Games was provided with a review copy of Jenga Boom from Hasbro. The fact that a review copy was provided, in no way influences our opinions of the game.

Thanks to the good people at Hasbro, you can win a brand new copy of Jenga Boom for your game collection.

Congrats to Michelle C. from Marlton

Toy Fair 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 04:06:00 +0000

I just got back from the 110th American International Toy Fair (One Zillion Games' second) and am looking forward to sharing all the great things I saw and played.

Here are a few pictures to start you off!

1 night, 3 markers, 1 pile of paper, and 1 sad 5 year old

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:09:00 +0000

I have a few disclaimers to make before I get started:

I am taking a brief diversion from games for this post.
If you are one of the few people that haven't seen the seventh Harry Potter movie or read the book - there will be SPOILERS.
Before anyone clucks at me; yes, I made a conscious decision to watch the seventh PG-13 Harry Potter movie with my then 5 year old son.

We are moving out of our apartment this week and with packing up everything you own comes a certain amount of reflection. One of the most reflective moments came while taking down the pictures from my 7 year old son's bedroom walls.

The walls were covered in Dobbys - 27 Dobbys to be exact.

My son loves Dobby. Dobby is his ABSOLUTE favorite character in all of the Harry Potter universe. He has the above Dobby figure. He has a Dobby picture book. He has a Dobby banner from Blockbuster (it was actually a banner with around 10 characters, but he cut the Dobby one out alone). He dressed like Dobby for Halloween - as a family that makes most of our own Halloween costumes, this was much appreciated - thrift store pillow case + scissors + coffee grounds for staining. He even has this song on his MP3 player:

I read all of the books before hand. I should have been better prepared for the Deathly Hallows part One. I tried - I really did. Before I watched the movie with my son and my 10 year old daughter, we did our own little "previously on Harry Potter" recollection and when we came to the death of Albus Dumbledore, I used that as a warning:

"Now, we know this story has gotten pretty dark right? I am telling you right now that I know there will be more characters dying. It could be anyone! This is a battle for the future of magic and muggle kind so everyone could die for all we know. Harry Potter even. I just want you to be ready."

Then the movie started.

Hedwig - There was a collective whimper.

Mad-Eye Moody - No obvious reaction.

Dobby - Tears and more tears.

We grieved for Dobby as a family. We ate a little ice cream. We talked about how awesome it was that Dobby saved his friend, Harry Potter. We called their Momma on the phone to grieve some more.

Listen, I know he is just a fictional character and believe me, I used that line to try to calm my son down. Let's just consider it a compliment to J.K. Rowling that she was able to create a story that drew us into its reality enough to feel loss. I understand my son's fiction-induced funk. I remember the post script "Dr. Sam Beckett Never Returned Home." I remember Jenny Calendar, Doyle, Winifred, and Wash.

And then it was time for bed.

I have a rule: as long as you are in bed quietly, you can do whatever you want to wind yourself down for an hour before lights out. There are bookshelves by every bed in the house. The kids' bookshelves are loaded with books, dolls, Matchbox cars, and art supplies.

My son spent that hour with 3 markers and 1 pile of paper. His bedroom full of Dobbys was born. He showed them to me the next day and I hung them all up in his room. I still tear up at how he was able to work through his sadness by scribbling out 27 Dobbys (each one based on the above Dobby figure he has).

Here are some of the pictures that I have taken down from the walls and bound together for him.

There are normal Dobbys

There are fat Dobbys

There are Wolverine Dobbys

There are Yoda Dobbys

There are Hulk Dobbys

There are Shrek Dobbys

And my favorite are all on one sheet of paper. I imagine some sort of dancing Dobby animation going on here.

27 Dobbys

We have watched the movie a couple of times since and he now has a sense of pride in the hero that is Dobby. Thank you JK Rowling. Thank you for the Harry Potter universe, and thank you for Dobby.

Jukem Football

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 03:18:00 +0000

Publisher: Flying Pig Games (2009)

Game Design: Jeff Spelman

Players: 2-4

Age recommendation: 8+

Jukem Football Rules: http://jukemfootball.com/rules/
_________

"I love this game!"
-My 7 year old son upon scoring a touchdown.

As a parent, I endorse any game that garners that much excitement after MATH was involved.

Jukem is a football (American football - sorry rest of the world) card game with a singular shared goal with it's inspiration: score more points than your opponent through touchdowns and field goals.

100 yards. That is your goal. If you can create a drive using your cards that equals exactly 100 yards, you get a touchdown (with assumed success at your extra point) for 7 points.If you your drive is 70 yards or longer and the half is coming (draw pile is low) you can always play a field goal card if you have one for 3 points.

Wait. But how do you get 100 yards? On your turn, you can make a play by laying down the cards that correspond to a run, or a pass. Each run card has a yardage amount on them to get you closer to 100. Passes have an extra step - you have to catch them (of course). Pass cards do not have a single yardage, but a range. The Catch card that you play is like the Run card; it has a yardage amount. The Catch yardage need to fit in the range of the Pass card.

this drive has a 20 yard run, a 10 yard catch, and a 30 yard run for 60 yards

If you want to make that 10 yard catch pictured above, you need to make a 5-20 yard pass.

Math!

Unlike real football, your opponent is creating their own drive at the same time you are. The 2 are unrelated. Their is a small defensive side to game play in the way of Blitz, Pick, Fumble, and Penalty card which can negate your opponents last play - or even wipe out their entire drive.

This is actually the only are where I would suggest a change in the game. In the spirit of math (yay!) I would suggest that the penalty cards actually created a negative yardage to add that tiny extra level to the arithmetic - much like the single Jukem card in the deck that is a x2 multiplier to and Pass or Run play.

We haven't had the chance to play 4 player team play, but rules are included with the game.

Like I stated at the beginning, my son loves this game. It could be because he has a 90-ish% win rate, but I don't mind because math!

One Zillion Games was provided with a review copy of Jukem Football from Flying Pig Games. The fact that a review copy was provided, in no way influences our opinions of the game.

Kerflip!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 21:56:00 +0000

Publisher: Creative Foundry Games (2010)

Game Design: Damon Tabb

Players: 2-4

Age recommendation: 8+

Kerflip! Rules: http://kerflip.com/howtoplay/

__________

The first one to spot a word yells it out and flips their 20-ish second timer. In that 20-ish seconds, the other players have to come up with another word. Ideally, they would choose a word that doesn't use many of the same letters, and here is why:

Player 1 yells out "washer" and player 2 yells out "fresh". Player 1 gets 10 points for every ivory colored tile (60 points) and then flips them over to the orange side.

Orange tiles are only worth 5 points now.

I made a mistake on this picture - I didn't see the unused R

Player 2 would get 35 points: 10 points each for the ivory F and R and 5 points each for the E, S and H.

That is almost the end of the round. If you take a close look, you can also see numbers on a few of the harder to use tiles (F and W). These numbers indicate the number of bonus cards you get for being the first to use that letter. The bonus cards are kept and added up at the end of the game.

Sweep off the used tiles into the drop zones and recycle the unused letters and begin the next round. Play ends when you are out of tiles.

I like this game a lot because I am really fond of word games. I also like the easy cleanup tray and bin that lies underneath the board (outstanding design).

My partner had a slow start to the game. She had to ditch her Boggle mindset where she was spending too much time thinking about HOW MANY words she could make out of the mix and not thinking about the BEST POSSIBLE word. After 3 rounds, she was back on track (enough so, that she ended up winning).

I would definitely recommend Kerflip to word game enthusiast families!

Here is a quick video explanation from the makers of Kerflip!

One Zillion Games was provided with a review copy of Kerflip from Creative Foundry Games. The fact that a review copy was provided, in no way influences our opinions of the game.

Make 'N Break Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 20:22:00 +0000

Publisher: Ravensburger

Ignore the hair brush. I would have staged it differently, but I let my 5-year old handle the photo shoot for this game.

Players: 2-4

Ages: 8+

Make 'N Break Challenge Rules: http://files.boardgamegeek.com/file/download/63vmbr1o22/Illustrated_rules.pdf?
__________

Make 'N Break Challenge is a fun block building game where the goal is to build the shape on the card, BUT do it faster than your opponent, AND do it with only a giant pair of wooden forceps.

There is a clear card holder which displays the upright, double-sided building card to the dueling players as they are each presented with the same goal and matching sets of building supplies.

The cards vary in difficulty and point value, with the winner of each individual duel collecting the card and points.

My son was very pleased to take this picture of my creation as the top piece was falling off.

My son got a little worked up by the pressure of speed-building something against me. He saw it as inherently unfair since I was older (and by his definition, had more building block towers with tongs-experience). He does have a point. My motor skills are considerably more developed, as is my experiential knowledge of stacking, friction, balance and chopsticks. He seemed to enjoy playing in more of a free-play mode where he challenged himself (or his imaginary friend, Bududada).

One Zillion Games was provided with a review copy of Make 'N Break Challenge. The fact that a sample copy was provided, in no way influences our opinions of the game.

Dabble: The Fast Thinking Word Game

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 01:26:00 +0000

Publisher: INI, LLC (2011)

Game Design: George Weiss

Dabble at ChiTag 2012

Players: 2-4 players or teams

Age recommendation: 10+

Dabble Rules: http://www.dabblegame.com/dabble_rules.pdf

__________

You get 20 tiles and 5 minutes to make 5 words.

Here is the catch - you can't make just any 5 words. You need to make a 2-letter word, a 3-letter word, a 4-letter word, a 5-letter word, and a 6-letter word.

I kind of had a Bananagrams feel when I first played Dabble, only with less chaos. While there are opponents, your race to finish is against the clock alone. Play does not end after 3 minutes if one player finishes; you still get to use up all of your time to succeed.

I say less chaos, not no chaos. Those 5 minutes go fast and seeing others stack their pyramid of words can be disheartening. If you are really feeling lost, you can just toss all 20 of your tiles and star over - you just don't get to reset the time.

Using screenshots from the Dabble Facebook app, you can see the gist of the game.

Can you turn this:

into this?

I highly recommend trying out the Facebook app or download the mobile app to give yourself a digital version of the game to try out, but I definitely prefer the tactile feeling of arranging tiles as opposed to mouse clicking.

If you like word games (we do at the One Zillion Games family), then you can't miss with Dabble.

One Zillion Games was provided with a review copy of Dabble from INI, LLC. The fact that a review copy was provided, in no way influences our opinions of the game.

Scrabble Catch Phrase

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 15:05:00 +0000

Publisher: Hasbro
Players: 4+
Ages: 12+

Scrabble Catch Phrase Rules: http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/electronic-toys-scrabble-electronic-catchphrase-game
_____________

This morning I woke up...

- famished like smokey
- starving like panda
- empty stomached like Yogi

"Hungry as a bear!"

That is a perfect example of how Scrabble Catch Phrase should be played. When it is your turn, you look at the screen and your task is to get your team to guess the catch phrase by acting it out or giving clues - without using any of the original catch phrase.

Here is an example of how Scrabble Catch Phrase is actually played in the One Zillion Games family:

OK... I got this... this is, ummmm... this is when you are really hungry - Oh crud I said "hungry"!

I may be exaggerating a bit, it didn't always go like that, but there is a sense of impending doom when you play this game. It is not just that you are timed, it is that the timer clicks as you try to complete your task. The closer you are to the buzzer, the faster the clicks get! It adds a bit of chaos to your rational thinking about how to say "Substitute Teacher" without saying "Sub", "Substitute", or "Teacher".

This is a fun party game. I have played it with the recommended 12+ only and I have also played it with a mix of ages.

The 12+ recommendation is in place due to the words and phrases themselves. Getting someone to guess "Churchill Downs" takes A LOT more steps ("Church", "Hill", "Down") when the other person has no idea what the Kentucky Derby is. This is also the case when your partner is not up to date on pop culture - I had to say baby goose to lead her towards Ryan Gosling.

We were able to create some house rules in order to include my 11 year old daughter. She was allowed to skip words as many times as needed to in order to find a word or catch phrase she knew.

We really enjoyed this game. It was quick and full of energy.

One Zillion Games was provided with a review copy of Scrabble Catch Phrase. The fact that a sample copy was provided, in no way influences our opinion of the game.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Would you like to win a copy of Scrabble Catch Phrase for your family?

Thanks to Hasbro you can!

Just fill out the below form and a winner will be chosen at Midnight CST, Tuesday November 27.

A winner will be announced soon!

7 Ate 9!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:12:00 +0000

Publisher: Out of the Box (2009)
Game Design: Maureen Hiron

Players: 2-4

Age recommendation: 8+

7 ATE 9 Rules: http://www.otb-games.com/7ate9/rules.html
__________

It is one of my all-time favorite cheesy jokes: Why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 7, 8, 9! It has only been recently usurped by a series of interrupting knock-knock jokes (interrupting starfish is pretty funny).

If there is one thing the One Zillion Games household loves in a game, it is hidden learning! This game is math. No getting around it. It may only be adding and subtracting by up to 3, but you have to do it quickly!

Once you start 7 ATE 9, you frantically try to do a math problem before the other players can do it. And once someone places a new card, you are presented with a whole new math problem.

Take the pictured card combo:

8 + 2 = 6
6 + 1 = 7
7 +or- 2 = you could play a 5 or 9

There is an added difficulty that the numbers only go to 10, so the numbers wrap around. If you add 2 to 9 you would actually lay down a 1. This part is what most confused my daughter (and me).

One Zillion Games was provided with a review copy of 7 ate 9 from Out of the Box. The fact that a review copy was provided, in no way influences our opinions of the game.

Magic Feather

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:08:00 +0000

Publisher: Wiggity Bang Games
Designers: Jean and Matthew Rivaldi
Players: 2-8
Ages: 7+

Magic Feather Rules: http://www.wiggitybang.com/magic_feather/mf-learnmore.html
_____________

When the minds that created the deliciously random Furt and the awesomely quirky Quao released a younger kids' game, I was slightly hesitant. You see, Furt and Quao are very fun party games for teens and adults which often lend themselves to wackiness for wackiness' sake. That is not to say that I think this is a bad thing; it is a great thing - for party games. It's just that I expect and/or appreciate a little more...pedagogy in my younger kids' games.

I greatly appreciate Magic Feather.

At it's base, Magic Feather is a race. You have a starting point, a feather you must retrieve, and a finishing point. What makes Magic Feather so great are the "Magic Feather Story Cards". Before you start your game, you choose your character form a collection of 8 animals and then you pick a Magic Feather Story Card. These cards create the framework for your game - Who, what, where, when, why? These are all answered in the card - Where your character starts on a board of 12 neighborhood locations, where your must-collect magic feather is, where you need to end, what to do when a crow (blockers) card is drawn, and a little back story to give your movements meaning.

I am going to make one up just to give you a general idea of how a Story Card works.

Iris the Skunk is sad because she misses her family. All of her friends want to cheer her up with a party. Rex, Fuzzball, Nutkin, Olliver, Riley, Poopsie, and Swift are at the Post Office with pictures and letters from Iris' family. All of Iris' friends need to collect their feather and meet meet Iris at the Pirate Grove.

Feathers are all at the Recycling Center.

When a crow card is drawn, place a crow as a blocker anywhere on the board, or move an already placed crow.

What you have here is a reading opportunity for children, where they need to suss out the important details in order to play the game. It's like a word problem for 7 year olds - but fun! (Who am I kidding? Word problems are always fun!)

And this is just the game set up. You have already created a situation where children are in charge of the game and they are doing it while using reading and logic skills.

Remember the wackiness I was talking about earlier? Here it comes (younger kids' style). You move around the board by completing tasks on the cards. These tasks are all accomplish-able and range from discussion starters (What is your favorite animal and why?) to scavenger hunts (Quick! Go find something stinky and bring it back to the table) to wacky (You are a hamster. Explain in your hamster voice why you should be a character in the game).

My 7 year old son loves this game. He gets to be in control of a changing game setup and act silly. While some of the goals are competitive (be the first to the Old Town Square), some goals are cooperative (meet all the players at the Putt Putt Hut). My son enforces some house rules on the cooperative goals - he turns them all into competitive ones. Should I be worried about that?

Magic Feather can be played and enjoyed with 2 players, but it is MUCH more fun with more; all of the imaginative wackiness is best enjoyed in a group.

While I would not choose to play Magic Feather with my friends or partner (it is a younger kids' game), I haven't turned down any of my son's multiple requests to play with him.

My only real complaint is that there are too few Story Cards. There are 2 completely acceptable solutions for this:
1. Create some of your own story cards with your kids

2. Join the Wiggity Bang mailing list and request to be rewarded with new self-printable Magic Feather cards as they become available: http://www.wiggitybang.com/form-contact.html

One Zillion Games was provided with a review copy of Magic Feather. The fact that a sample copy was provided, in no way influences our opinion of the game.

The Toy Insider Hot 20 for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:57:00 +0000

So here is another list for you and this one bucks a major trend - it does NOT have a Furby on it.

The Toy Insider list does have a board game - albeit, one based on a video game...based on a board game:

Words With Friends

I am not sure what makes Words With Friends substantially different from Scrabble, but I will still give it a try.

The other different thing about the Toy Insider's list is that it is really just a teaser for their big, top 116 toys list that will be published in November in Women's Day.

Here is the list of 20:

0-2 Years
Bright Starts Having a Ball 5-in-1 Sports Zone - Kids II
Cruise & Groove Ballapalooza - Fisher-Price
Lil' Princess 3 Story Enchanted Castle - Mega Brands
Rocktivity Sit to Stand Music Skool - Playskool

3-5 Years
Batman the Dark Knight Rises U-Command Bat-Pod - Thinkway Toys
Chuggington Die-Cast Railway Wilson's Wild Ride - TOMY
Doc McStuffins Time for Your CheckUp Doll - Just Play
LeapPad 2 - LeapFrog
My Magical Wand Cinderella - Tollytots
Power Rangers Deluxe Megazord - Samurai Gigazord – Bandai

6-8 Years
HEXBUG Warriors Battle Stadium - Innovation First International
Kurio - Techno Source, a division of LF Products
La Dee Da Dolls - Spin Master
Lego Friends Heartlake Stables - Lego Systems
Monster High High School - Mattel
Skylanders Giants - Activision

9+
Air Hogs Battle Tracker - Spin MasterWii U GamePad - Nintendo
Words with Friends Luxe – HasbroY Fliker - Yvolution

Kmart's Fab 15 Toys for the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 12:26:00 +0000

Christmas is coming and so here comes another list of hot toys.

Today it is Kmart.

This is my favorite list. Not because of what is on it (which is fine), but the delivery method is awesome. Check out the list and unwrap the fab 15.

It seemed inevitable, but Furby is also on this hot toy list. Twister Dance in the only non-video game listed.

They even have "Fab 15 Daily Giveaways" where you first rank your fab 15 and enter to win.

2012 Holiday Hot Toys List from Best Toys Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 17:48:00 +0000

Best Toys Guide has release their list of hot toys for the 2012 Holiday season.

From Best Toys Guide:

We’ve taken significant time to look into these products to determine whether or not they should make the list. Factors that contributed were our hands on experience with them, their popularity amongst the general public, and their levels of innovation.

Their list of 30 items has the the new and improved Furby and a toy crossbow among a good mix of toys, dolls, electronics, and, yes, 3 non-video games!

To see their whole list, visit http://besttoysguide.com/hot-toys-for-christmas-2012

Ghost of Christmas Past - Walmart's List of Top Toys for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:17:00 +0000

One word: Furby

No, it is not 1998 where the much craved after $35 Furby could be purchased for hundreds of dollars if you REALLY wanted one.

No, this is the new and improved 2012 Furby and it is on the top of Walmart's Top Toys for Christmas 2012 list.

Here is the rest of Walmart's list of top toys for 2012:

Toys for All

1. FURBY

2. Leapfrog LeapPad 2

3. VTech InnoTab Learning App Tablet

4. Little Tikes iTikes Map

5. Playskool Rocktivity Walk 'N Roll Rider

6. Monopoly Millionaires

Toys for Boys

7. Nerf N-Strike Elite Hail-Fire Blaster

8. Beyblade Destroyer Dome Play Set

9. Hot Wheels Terrain Twister R/C Vehicle

10. Air Hogs Hover Assault Radio-Controlled Helicopter

11. Fisher-Price Imaginext Eagle Talon Castle Play Set

12. Power Wheels Dune Racer 12-Volt Battery-Powered Ride-on

Toys for Girls

13. Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Star Melody B. Sharp Interactive Doll

14. Monster High High School Playset

15. Little People Disney Princess Songs Palace Play Set

16. Baby Alive Baby Wanna Walk Doll

17. Barbie Sisters Cruise Ship

18. Holiday Barbie 2012 Doll

19. Novi Stars Dolls

20. Razor Pocket Mod Electric Scooter,

NOTE: There is one board game on the list - Monopoly Millionaires.

Toys "R" Us wants to be your Christmas hero!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Toys "R" Us wants to be your Christmas hero!

Alternate Title:

Toys "R" Us will keep you from having to knock over little old ladies for the last Cabbage Patch Doll!

Every year, There are hot toys and every year it seems that there are supply issues with those hot toys. This year, Toys "R" Us is doing something about it, gosh darnit!

With their release of this year's Holiday Hot Toys list, Toys "R" Us promises you will get them in time for Christmas without knocking over little old ladies, or camping outside of Walmart and running in every time a truck pulls into the dock. The press release mentions something about the number 50. I am not sure if 50 items are on the list or if only 50 of the items on the list are available for reservation.

Here is how it works:

Toys "R" Us posts their Holiday Hot List here
You go into a Toys "R" Us store BY OCTOBER 31, 2012
Put 20% down
Your item will be ready for pick up BY DECEMBER 16, 2012

This will help cut out those frantic toys your kids just MUST have (as long as they are on this list). It will also put a damper on the Amazon resellers that people always seem to be up in arms about. I remember $50 Zhu Zhu pets a few years back, $1000 Wii systems a little further back, and violently acquired Cabbage Patch Dolls from the 1980s.

My question

How do they do it? If a toy is actually "hot" as they say, how will Toys "R" Us be the one store that promises to have it? I hope it is as simple as if ordered early enough (Oct 31) they can meet the demand.

I REALLY hope they did NOT create their list like this:

Toys "R" Us Exec - Hey, brand X, we REALLY like your toy!

Brand X Exec - Thanks a lot! Are you putting it on your Hot Toys List?

Toys "R" Us Exec - ONLY if you promise to supply us with the quantity we need before you send any to Walmart.

Brand X Exec - Okee Dokie!

But hey! Let's stop being cynical and assume it has nothing to do with exclusivity. I choose to believe it has everything to do with Toys "R" Us wanting to be protect little old ladies and your kids' Christmas lists.

There had better be at least one game on that list, by the way!

Board Games Are My Hero!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 00:17:00 +0000

I love games. I think it's kind of obvious; I run a site called One Zillion Games.

Games are useful. I know this. I have written about this.

But I forgot. Kind of. Maybe it would be better to say that took games for granted.

I was in a funk for the past few days and felt some sort of disconnect, but then it happened; my son asked to play a game.

We kicked out a few rounds of Disney Pictureka and a few hands of UNO.

We laughed and joked and had tons of fun!

My son had so much fun that he used a lot of "do you remember last night when" statements the next morning during breakfast.

I could not have asked for a better night of de-funk-ification.

Thank you, board games for providing the catalyst for a great evening.

Dr Toy 100 Best Toys for 2012 - Top 10 Games

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:13:00 +0000

Dr. Toy (Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D.) has chosen the best 100 toys for 2012.

A few of the many standards for choosing the toys on the list include the following:

Is this product worth the price?
Does it have lasting "play value"?
Is it age-appropriate?
Is it fun?
Does it meet safety standards?

But this is One Zillion Games, so let's get to the meat of the list!

Here are Dr. Toy's top 10 games for 2012.

Game	Ages	Game Publisher
Bag-O-Loot Junior	6y - 12y	Bag-O-Loot
That's Baloney Games	8y - 12y	Edupress
Baffle!	8y - 12y	Flying Rabbit Enterprises, Inc.
The Big Fat Tomato Game	10y - 12y	Gamewright
Talat	8y - 12y	Hutter Trade GmbH & Co KG / HUCH! & friends
Flash Point: Fire Rescue	8y - 12y	Lone Oak Games dba Indie Boards and Cards
You're Invited Game (Clifford the Big Red Dog)	3y - 12y	Patch Products
STRIKERZ Soccer Card Game	7y - 12y	Strikerz Gamez
ROLLICK!	10y - 12y	The Game Chef
Distraction	8y - 12y	ThinkFun, Inc.

To see the full list of 100, click here.

Thrift Store Games - Stuff Yer Face

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:30:00 +0000

As each new month begins, One Zillion Games takes a look back to the games of yore (or, at the very least, the games of the Breakfast Club-era). One of our favorite games - Can't Stop - is a game that we were lucky enough to discover at a thrift store. Who knows what other treasures are hidden in the mysterious world of thrift stores and garage sales? Let's take a look...

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"Clowns are scary!" is the response you will get from most people when the topic of clowns come up. I think they are full of it. It is just one of those things people are conditioned to think. Coulrophobia is the term that was made up in the 1980's to describe the irrational fear of clowns.

Why the modern history emergence of coulrophobia? I have 4 guesses:

Poltergeist (1982)

Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)

It (1990)

Stuff Yer Face

Publisher: Milton Bradley (1982)

Players: 2

Ages: 6-10

Thrift Store Price: $3.00

Stuff Yer Face Rules: http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Stuffyerfacegame.pdf

How does the game work?

You are the puppetmaster to a hungry, hungry clown and you are racing to be the first clown to stuff yer face with 3 red balls. Not so fast. You can't start stuffing red ones in yer face until you have cleared the field of your color balls first.

Here is a video of the gameplay that I found on YouTube:

Why don't yo see this game around any more?

One word = Coulrophobia.

Was it worth the thrift store price?

My son says it was worth the $3. I disagree, but can you really put a price tag on your child's happiness? Yes. Yes you can. $24.99 + shipping on eBay is too much!

Life-Size Morphology 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:42:00 +0000

Well, life-size Morphology 2.0 came and went and I can tell you is keep an eye out for next year's event because it was a blast! The good news is you might not have to wait ALL the way until summer 2013.

I have it on good authority that the life-size Morphology pieces will be taking a trip to Chicago this November 17 - 18 for the Chicago Toy and Game Fair. (I am picturing the Partridge Family bus)

Here are some pictures from this year's event (these are from the Morphology Facebook page since my camera is currently 100 miles away from me):

The One Zillion family has reviewed Morphlogy in the past and even participated in life-size Morphology 2011. All of this has led up to the release of Morphology Jr. (soon to be reviewed).

To celebrate the release, we are giving away a brand-new (non life-size) copy of Morphology Jr. to one lucky reader.

Congrats to Steve S of Columbus O!. Your copy of Morphology Jr is on its way!

FURT - A Befuzzling Eruption of Laughter

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Publisher: Wiggity Bang Games
Designers: Jean and Matthew Rivaldi
Players: 3-8
Ages: 13+

FURT Rules: http://www.wiggitybang.com/furt/furt-learnmore.html
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Wacky! Random! Silly! Sometimes absurd. Did I mention silly? Fun!

There are entire shelves of "party games" at the store. I think that most of them might refer only to the number of players. This is one of the party games that refers to the mood of the game.

The Volcano Has Spoken - For this challenge, you simply announce what the wisdom of the volcano and follow its demand for how to move your pawn. For example: It might tell you (and the rest of the players) that you have hairy armpits and demand that you move one space back.

Straight Faced - It's like a round of "Baby, I love You But I just Can't Smile" on steroids. Instead of repeatedly demanding that "if you loved me, you'd smile" you yell words like "bulbous", "nincompoop", or "sippy cup"

Guess What? - This is the Charades/Pictionary/Password challenge. But you are pulling from the same source of words that you were using for the Straight Faced challenge, so have fun acting out "nincompoop".

Truth or Fiction - The card gives you a prompt and you finish the sentence "In my bathroom you can always find..." It is up to the other players to vote on whether or not you are telling the truth. The more people that guess wrong, the more spaces you get to move.

You Are? - Get your improv skills on. For one minute you need to act out what the card says. And guess what? part of that involves some of the silly words from the volcano. I was the Queen of England (not even close to the first time I have pretended to be the Queen of England) and I was wearing an eye booger hat.

What The?! - This is a Quao-esque challenge. You have a secret task. If you can get another player to do what it says on the card, you get to move ahead. Maybe you need to pretend you are feeling sick and if you can get someone to get you a bucket, you are a success (in the game; there are no guarantees for life).

How do you win FURT? Be the first one to throw yourself in the volcano and survive a Straight Faced gauntlet of course! Think "Joe Versus the Volcano", only with less Tom Hanks and MUCH, MUCH funnier (and you won't feel like you wasted 102 minutes of your life afterwords).

There is a warning on the bottom of the FURT rules which states "If you do not like to laugh or do not have a sense of humor, we suggest you do NOT play FURT and instead go hide in a corner and weep." They make a very valid point here (hidden underneath the immense snark) - If you try to play this game with someone that doesn't enjoy partaking in the occasional non-sense or would find offense with FURT's warning, they will not enjoy themselves. You know your friends well enough to know which one I am referring to.

One of the things I appreciate about this game is the rules themselves. It is one of the few times I have ever seen the directions give a specific suggestion on how to LEARN to play and not just the game rules.

Even though some of the behavior of players resembles that of an 8 year old, the suggested age of 13+ seems pretty accurate. Between the genuine challenge in acting out words like "voodoo doll" and some of the higher-level immaturity (i.e. "booby"), I think you would want to stick to tweens at the earliest. Next month there is a 14 year old girl's birthday, slumber party and the One Zillion Games copy of FURT has already been requested/reserved for the event.

One Zillion Games was provided with a review copy of Furt. The fact that a sample copy was provided, in no way influences our opinion of the game.

Hey, That's My Fish!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Designers: Alvydas Jakeliunas and Gunter Cornett
Players: 2-4
Ages: 8+

Hey, That's My Fish Rules: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/hey-thats-my-fish-board-game/hey-thats-my-fish-rulebook.pdf
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Hey, That's My Fish! is a game of penguins, ice, and fish-gathering strategy.

Quote of the night = "That's a lot of frickin' penguins!"

First off, kudos to the title. How fun is it to exclaim "Hey, that's my fish!" a bunch of times? (with the occasional "Dude, where's my fish?")

The playing field consists of 60 hexagon tiles that are situated in a grid. Each of the tiles has 1, 2, or 3 fish on it.

The playing pieces are your penguins. You must move your army of penguins to collect as many fish as you can. Here is the problem; when you (or your opponent) collects fish, they collect the fish tile. The more tiles that go missing, the fewer paths your penguins have to choose from. This will eventually lead to your penguins becoming stranded.

Once all the penguins become stranded, you count up your fish and he player with the most fish wins!

The amount of strategy that goes into playing this game can get a little hairy (feathery?) if you aren't the type to play your chess games 4 moves in advance. The more players, the greater the challenge - instead of trying to figure out what one player might do, you need to figure out what 3 other players might do before your turn. In other words, there were a lot of "Crud! I didn't see that!"going on in the One Zillion Games house.

We really liked this game as a 2, 3, and 4 player game.

The one thing I would change about Hey, That's My Fish! has to do with the removal of the approximately quarter sized tiles. If your penguin happens to move off of a tile from the middle of the grid, it is a little hard to remove that center piece without mucking up the rest of the board.

My solution? Boogers. Not the mucous-from-your-nose kind. The sticky stuff that you find inside junk mail to hold bits of paper together. I acquired a significant amount of these "boogers" from the latest Kohl's ad and balled them up to use as a tile grabber. The problem with my booger-fix? It got too dirty and too un-sticky too quickly.

My suggestion?

Nerf Dart + Hot Glue Gun + Penguin

=

Mwa-ha-haaaaaaa!!!

One Zillion Games was provided with a review copy of Hey, That's My Fish!. The fact that a sample copy was provided, in no way influences our opinion of the game.

Big Little Games

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Publisher: Patch Products
Players: 1+
Ages: 3+

There are 3 titles in the Big Little Games line of games:
Flingin' Frogs
Spurtle Turtle
Super Shooter Basketball

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First I will talk about the Big Little Games as a group. Each of these 3 games are little and they pack nicely in their sturdy cardboard boxes. I mention "sturdy" as a way to imply that the boxes are very reusable as storage containers.

Assembly for each of the games is minimal and could easily be done by my 7 year old without any assistance.

All 3 of the games are also games the you could play by yourself or with others. I feel that this flexibility is a huge draw.

Yet another draw to the Big Little Games is their price. The suggested retail price for each is only $9.99.

FLINGIN' FROGS

The nesting lilly pads each have a point value for you to fling your frogs into. The higher up and tinier the lilly pad (or flower) is, the more points it is worth. The plastic frogs are easy to flip with a single finger and you can get quite a distance if you work it just right.

SUPER SHOOTER BASKETBALL

This is your basic catapult-action basketball shooter. Play this one against a wall or you may need to warn passer-bys. I like the trial and error of this game. Too short? Move closer.

SPURTLE TURTLE

This one was my son's favorite:

- He got to put all the stickers on

- He is better at matching games than I am

- Spurtle Turtle shoots the discs out REALLY far if you slam down on his button

The Big Little Games line of games are simple, inexpensive, durable, and ready to go in a pinch. I would recommend them for your 4-9 year old or as a great gift on your way to a birthday party.

One Zillion Games was provided with review copies of each of the Big Little Games. The fact that sample copies were provided, in no way influences our opinions of the games.

Life-Size Morphology 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:28:00 +0000

Are you going to be anywhere near Minneapolis, MN this weekend (August 11, 2012 between 1 and 3 pm)?

If you are, you need to make your way to the Walker Art Center for the 2nd annual life-size Morphology competition. Here is a link to more information about the specific event (maps, registration, etc).

If you are unfamiliar with the game Morphology, here is our review of this fun, creative, party game.

Some pictures from last year's life-size event:

The game parts

The view from above

I think he was making a tent

The winning team

If you can make it to the Walker Art Center I will see you at 1pm. If you won't be able to make it, I will be sure to post some pictures from this year's events.

Thrift Store Games - Stranded / Isolation / Cliffs of Insanity

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 13:10:00 +0000

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This month, we will actually feature a set of games made by different publishers, but are essentially the same game found in 2 different thrift stores in the same week: Stranded and Isolation.

Stranded
Publisher: Hallmark Games(1976)
Players: 2
Ages: 8 +
Thrift Store Price: $0.50

Isolation
Publisher: Lakeside Games (1978)
Players: 2
Ages: 8 +
Thrift Store Price: $1.50

How the games work

You control a pawn that moves on a grid of tiles, one tile at a time. Here is the problem: Your choices of tile paths keep disappearing. On your turn, you move your pawn to an adjacent tile and then remove a tile currently adjacent to your opponent. Then your opponent moves their pawn and then removes one of YOUR adjacent tiles. And so on. The goal is to keep moving longer than your opponent. Do you use your limited amount of moves to try and play it safe? Or do you go on the offensive and try to trap/strand your opponent?

What makes them different?

The rules are the same, the number and layout of the tiles are the same, the strategies are the same.
So how are they different? Flare.

In Stranded, you simply remove the old tiles from the game by picking them up. In Isolation you push them through the board, leaving you with an Indiana Jones-esque playing board where your pawns are elevated while trying to navigate through treacherous dangling tiles.

Why don't you see these games around any more?

I like these games. They are simple, quick, and fun. Here is my guess of what the main problem is, as stated in a rudimentary mathematical equation:

Set up time > play time ≠ worth it

The key element of the game - the disappearing tiles - take too much time to set up compared to how long it takes to play a round.

Was it worth the thrift store price?

Absolutely. If you can find either of these games in a thrift store and you are willing to take the time before purchase to count out all the tiles to make sure they are all there, then I would recommend either (Isolation before Stranded). Or you can just play with this printout that One Zillion Games has whipped up that we like to call THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY. Grab a pair of tokens and use a pencil to cross off tiles. The only setup required is printing it off.

50 Games Down!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 19:20:00 +0000

It may be a long way from one zillion, but we have now reviewed 50 games here at One Zillion Games!!!!!!!!

Want to check out our list and peruse our reviews? (I like how that rhymes)

To celebrate this milestone, we are giving away $50 worth of gift certificates to Funagain Games!

2 people will win $25 Funagain Games gift certificates. Winners will be chosen on 8/15/12 at noon CST.

1 winner will be chosen from people that like our One Zillion Games Facebook page and shares the giveaway post.

1 winner will be chosen from those that fill out the form below. You can enter the form below 1 per calendar day per person.

Congrats to Diana G - the winner of this $25 GC! An email has been sent!

Congrats to Bellkeyce M - the winner of the Facebook $25 GC. We are waiting to hear from you!