ages 6 and up – Whole Heartily

How to Play – Guess Who?

Part of the fun in raising Zoey is finding things that delight and educate her; I want to find fun, creative board games to play with her during our family game nights! This week we played Guess Who? for 2 players!

This game was a little tougher for Zoey because she is just learning to read, but she wanted to play and when there’s a will there’s a way! She ended up winning our second game together after she got the hang of asking questions and flipping down faces. She made her guess by asking if he was a ship captain with a name that starts with an “E” (for Eric); she was correct!

So let’s play!

IN THE BOX

2 plastic game boards
48 plastic frames
48 face cards
24 mystery cards
Scoring pegs

INSTRUCTIONS

The object of the game is to guess the mystery person on your opponent’s card by asking one question per turn, and eliminating any game board faces that don’t fit the mystery person’s description.
Each player chooses a game board and places it on a flat surface with the mystery card slot facing them.
Both players flip all the frames upright by tipping the game board away from themselves, then settling their game board flat again.
- Notice the differences among the 24 faces on your game board. Hair, facial hair, eye color, hats and glasses. As you play you’ll notice several other differences among your “suspects”.
Shuffle the mystery cards, then each player chooses one card at random and places it into their mystery card slot so that the mystery person faces you (do not let your opponent see your card)! Set the unused mystery cards aside.
The youngest player always goes first.
Ask your opponent one question per turn and each question must have either a “yes” or “no” answer.
- For example, “does your person have white hair?”
After your opponent answers, you may be able to eliminate one or more suspects.
- For example, if their mystery person has white hair, flip down all the faces that have black, brown, red and yellow hair. That leaves only the white haired people as suspects after your question.
After you ask a question (and flip down as many faces as you can), your turn is over.
When you’re ready to guess who the mystery person is, make your guess on your turn, instead of asking a question. Don’t use your turn to guess the mystery person until you’re ready! If you guess wrong, you lose the game!
- To guess the mystery person, say (for example), “The mystery person is Paul.” Your opponent must then tell you whether or not your guess is correct.
If you guess correctly, or your opponent guesses incorrectly, you win the game!

ENJOY!

How to Play – Mancala

Zoey needed a little guidance, but she was able to grasp this game even though she’s under the age recommendation of 6 and up! And she won! Go Zoey!

When I’m researching the rules for these games I’ve played since childhood, I am discovering that I’ve been playing them differently for years! For example, I had not put the “captured” stones in our stores, just continued playing with them! Either way is still fun though!

So let’s play!

IN THE BOX

48 stones
A game board

INSTRUCTIONS

Place four stones in each of the 12 pockets on the game board.
Each player has a store (or Mancala) to the right, on their side of the Mancala board.
The game begins with one player picking up all of the stones in any one of the pockets on their side.
Moving counter-clockwise, the player deposits one of the stones in each pocket until the stones run out.
f you run into your own Mancala (store), deposit one stone in it. If you run into your opponent’s Mancala, skip it and continue moving to the next pocket.
If the last stone you drop is into your own Mancala, you take another turn.
If the last stone you drop is in an empty pocket on your side, you “capture” any stones in the pocket directly opposite. Place these captured stones into your Mancala.
The game ends when all six pockets on one side of the Mancala board are empty.
The player who still has stones on his/her side of the board when the game ends captures all of those stones into their Mancala.
Count all the stones in each Mancala, the player with the most stones wins!

ENJOY!

How to Play – The Fantasyland Game

This adorably nostalgic game was originally released in 1956, but I picked up the re-release in 2005 and now wish I had bought the whole set! There are also Adventureland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland and a straight Disneyland one! Zoey was a little under the age range for this one, but could still grasp the numbers and movement. It also helped to point out the artwork for the different rides she saw when we visited Disneyland!

So let’s play!

IN THE BOX

5 game pieces
A game board
Star cards
Ticket cards

INSTRUCTIONS

Each player selects a game piece and places it on the “Start” space.
Shuffle the ticket cards and place them in a pile with the number sides down.
Shuffle the star cards and place them in a pile with the number sides down.
To start the game, the youngest player draws the top ticket card and moves the number of spaces indicated on it.
- This first ticket is a “free” ticket to begin the game, after each player has had their first turn, tickets can then only be obtained by landing on the spaces marked “ticket”.
Play then passes to the player on the left, and so on (a player may land on the same space occupied by another player).
On a player’s second turn and thereafter in the game, they move their piece as shown on the space on which their piece rests at the start of this turn. They do not draw a ticket or a star unless they land on a ticket or star space.
- The star and ticket spaces are special spaces. A player landing on one of these spaces draws a top ticket or star as indicated and immediately moves the number spaces shown. They continue to move in this manner as long as they land on either star or ticket spaces, and their turn does not end until they land on one of the regular numbered spaces.
- A player always keeps their tickets and stars, as they determine the winner of the game.
There are two places on the board where the player may follow the regular path or may turn off on a side track to collect extra stars which will give them additional points.
- Once a player has turned off the main track, they must continue on the turn off until they get a star, and then must return to the regular track by the same route.
- A player reaching the space which gives them two stars entitles them to move the total number shown on the two stars they draw.
The game ends when a player reaches the “Finish” space; the player with the highest number of stars and tickets wins!

ENJOY!