Gamewright Games Giveaway

We're a game-playing family--I've written before about some of our favorites--so I was pretty excited to be contacted by Gamewright to try out some of their children's games.

I'll say that the timing could not have been more perfect. Summer vacation is cranking along and it's great to have a stash of inexpensive games where you can just point to the shelf and say, "Don't tell me you're bored--pick a box and have some fun!"

I'm particularly partial to non-electronic board games (I'm anti-batteries and anti-screens) and here's a list of what we got to try from Gamewright's 2009 collection:

Ringo Flamingo
You see it pictured here and it's by far the best. As I said it's not electronic but it's all about hand-eye coordination so that not only did our 7 year-old love it but we all had fun playing. It's a little addictive as you try to flip the plastic rings over the flamingos necks. Two thumbs way up on this one.

Pool Sharks
Also a fun game it's table-top pool with a marine theme. Instead of pool cues you have two little plastic trigger-loaded sharks that hit the balls when you shoot them gun-style (though they're not guns, don't panic). The kids liked it though getting the little balls out of the pockets isn't as easy as it could be though that's certainly not a huge issue.

Say Cheese!
A matching game with dice that's good for visual recognition skills with small children. You roll a set of dice then see if the characters on the dice match the cards on the table. If they match you get to keep them and new cards are turned over. Easy concept, but one where you'll find yourself getting beaten by your first grader if you're not on your toes.

Polar Derby
Another dice game but one that is so much a game of luck it didn't go over as well. We tried it out a couple times but lost interest when twenty minutes into it we were still rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling . . . I'd stick with Say Cheese for a better time.

Too Many Monkeys
Another good card game where you try to get all your monkeys in a row but with some fun twists. Like elephants. And giraffes. Oh, and raccoons--we love raccoons. This one has been popular.

Boochie
Another five stars here on this game. You have a multi-sided "boochie" ball that you roll (good for outside or inside) and then players try to throw their bean bags or plastic rings as close to the boochie ball as possible. Once everyone has thrown all their turns you look to see what is written on the top side of the boochie ball then score the game accordingly. It might say that the farthest player gets an extra point or that the player with the closest two items gets two points, whatever. A big hit with Lillian and her first-grader friends and fun for the rest of us too.

Funny Business
This one got mixed reviews here. I didn't care for it and the others didn't really like it but David LOVES it. It's styled as more of a party game for adults where you have a deck of cards, each with the description of a business on it. Say, a recording studio or a dentist's office or funeral parlor or whatever. You draw two cards then are timed as you each try to come up with the best business name that incorporates both businesses. So if you have a bakery and a hair salon you might write down "Cookie Cutter's." Get it? They give you suggestions but I only thought it was alright. But who cares what I think, right? If it keeps my 10 year-old happy it's all good.

This Big!
Another card game where you try to catch fish of varying point values. A good one along the lines of some of Gamewright's other hits like Slamwich or Rat-a-Tat. Though my favorite is still Ringo Flamingo.

But now for the good news! Gamewright has generously offered one winner a chance to own Ringo Flamingo and Hang Four, one of their best from last year's collection. Great summer stuff! Thanks, Gamewright!

Here's how to win:

Before 12 am Monday morning click here to reach the giveaway entry form then enter your name and email. I will pick one of the names at random, contact the winner via their email and publish the winner's first name and home town in next Tuesday's post. See the bottom of the entry form for more details.

This giveaway is open to readers with a U.S. address, good luck!