Here are the games that we were sent and played non-stop last night, while enjoying pizza and freshly baked cookies, before we called it a night and snuggled up on the couch for popcorn and a holiday movie.
18 Plastic Monkeys
1 Cube
Simple Instructions
Players: 1-6
Ages: 6 to adult
Skills: Memory, Strategy
About the Game:
Monkeys Up is the flip’em, switch’em, and steal’em game that helps -
- Increase Family Time - A leisurely game of Monkeys Up increases emotional bonding
- Improve Sibling Rivalry - By playing together kids learn boundaries, rules, and sharing
- Build Self Confidence - Kids build confidence learning to speak with their parents
- Reduce Stress - Both kids and adults benefit from a break in their daily routine
- Boost Child Development - Encourages children to become lifelong learners
- Less Gadget Time - Parents and kids benefit from social interaction
- Educational Value for your Kids and Grandkids
My Thoughts:
Kids don’t even realize they are learning when playing Monkeys Up. This game is fun for all ages, especially when looking for friendly competition!
My youngest daughter, Bella, loves monkeys, so when she saw me pull this game to play last night, she was all smiles. She called this for our first game to play and as they took out the monkey playing pieces to set up the game, I couldn't help but smile as I heard Bella giving the monkeys different names and saying how cute they were. I was even impressed with her number recognition and quick adding skills -- things we have been working on in our homeschooling.
As you can see from the picture, there really isn't much to this game. There is no game board. All you do is place the plastic monkey number side down in the middle of the table. Players take turns rolling the die and doing what the dice says.
Options include:
- Switch: Trade 1 of your monkeys for any other monkey
- Steal: Take any monkey and place it in front of you
- Flip: Turn any monkey number-side up
- Reverse: Pass cube in the opposite direction
This game can be played solo or with up to 6 players. The game is also recommended for kids ages 6+ as they will be adding up their monkeys collected in the end. But, if you have a younger child and will help them with the counting, they can join in on the fun.
The game itself it quick - probably took all of 5-10 minutes to play, depending on the number of players. When it was just my two girls playing while I was grabbing the pizza, the game went by relatively fast. Make sure you have sheet of paper with pen next to each player if they are younger so that they can do their addition on the scratch paper.
My family really enjoyed this game. Yes, it was simple compared to other games we usually play, but I think this is why we liked it to so much. I like how my girls can grab this game and play together during the week whenever they are looking for a fun and quick game to play. There isn't any reading needed, except for reading the dice.
As a homeschooling parent, I love the educational value of this game, which will help kids with their adding. I love when I find games that are not just fun to play, but help the girls with their learning, and they don't realize it. My girls were so excited to collect the different monkeys and switch them up and steal one from each other, that when it came to counting up their monkeys at the end, it was fun and not like pulling teeth to get them to sit and work out a math problem. They were eager to see how many points they got and see what their opponents got.
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In addition to the Monkeys Up game from RoosterFin, I was also sent their popular Bouncing Bots game, which was also an instant hit with my family.
Contents:
8 Bot Characters
2 Platforms
Simple Instructions
Players: 1-4
Ages: 7 to adult
Skills: Motor Skills, Hand-eye Coordination
Ages: 7 to adult
Skills: Motor Skills, Hand-eye Coordination
About the Game:
"Bouncing Bots is the board game where players compete to get the best score by bouncing their bots on the highest valued numbers on the target boards. Score the most points to win!"
My Thoughts:
My Thoughts:
The guy behind the RoosterFin games is a teacher, so he thought about his students and the educational aspect of each of the games he created. With Bouncing Bots, he created this game to help kids improve their dexterity, motor skills and hand/eye coordination. This game, like the Monkeys Up game is perfect for kids ages 6+, as well as adults who really get into the game (I wish you could have saw how competitive my husband got when playing this game -- he said out of the three RoosterFin games that this was his favorite).
Have you ever tried to bounce a ball into a cup, or bounce a coin on a table in hopes of getting it into a cup? If so, then you will love this game, which has you bouncing the plastic Bots on the table in hopes to get them to land on a number square on the chipboard target. Sounds easy? Well, it isn't. And, this makes the game so much fun and will have everyone laughing and sharing their so-called strategies to how to bounce the bots to get them land on the platform.
This game can be played solo, or with up to four players. Like Monkeys Up, this is a relatively quick game to, and with simple instructions you can expect to jump right in and start bouncing your bots. You may want to practice bouncing the bots before you jump into the competitive, yet fun, game play mode.
I found that my youngest was a little discouraged at first when she couldn't get her bots to bounce well and land on the platform. But, after a little practice she got the hang of it, and ended up being the most competitive of the four of us playing this game. :-)
This game is played until a player wins 3 rounds. This is done by getting two bots onto the target platform and and yelling out "Bounce" to claim that round. This really is a fast paced game that will have everyone out of their seats trying their best to bounce their Wobbly Widget Warriors into their target. My husband kept talking about strategy, while I thought this was more of a luck game. Whatever way you look at this game, be ready for a game night filled with laughs and a lot of fun.
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Contents:
16 Plastic Cubes with clear plastic storage tray
12 Stack Challenge Cards
Simple Instructions
12 Stack Challenge Cards
Simple Instructions
Players: 1-4
Ages: 6 to adult
Skills: Memory, Reaction Time, Motor Skills
About this Game:
"The game of quick, quirky, cube stacks! Lumpy Cubes™ Hero Edition is a quick-play stacking game designed to improve your memory, reaction time, and motor skills. This game is fun for all ages, especially when looking for friendly competition! The unique feature of this game is that each patterned challenge card has only one way to be correctly stacked. If you find it and stack it first you win!"
My Thoughts:
This is yet another quick game to play that looks easy to play but has a challenge to it. The game really does challenge your memory, reaction time and motor skills. I shared the instructions with my family and they were like, "yeah, yeah, let's jump in play."
But, when they started playing they realized it was a hard game, but that is what made it so much fun, as they were rushing around to correctly stack their cubes. Lots of laughs are had with this fun game, perfect for ages 6+. Like the other RoosterFin games, this game also be played solo or with multiple players (up to 4).
Game play is simple. Each player chooses a patterned challenge card and then tries to be the first to correctly stand their cubes -- but there is only one correct way to stack, so you have to be fast if you want to win. We really had so much fun playing this game.
Not only were the Hero Lumpy Cubes silly looking, but trying to get them to stack was a challenge, especially when you are moving so quickly to be the first one to stack them to match your pattern correctly.
I can see this game being enjoyed not just with a family with kids, but also for an adults only game night and even for college kids looking for a fun distraction from school and their studies.
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I had so much fun introducing my family to the above mentioned RoosterFin games. Not only were they fun to play, but they each had educational aspects to them, which I personally loved. With simple instructions and limited game pieces, game setup and play was quick and easy. My girls really got into these games and didn't want to stop. And, this AM after they had breakfast, they pulled these games out again to play. I loved that I didn't have to be there to help them play. It was really nice to see them playing nicely together and having fun which these great games. We will definitely be playing these games again at our next weekly games night, and I know the girls will continue to pull them from the shelf to play on their own or when they are looking for a quick game to play together.
If your family loves playing games together, or you are looking for non-toy gifts to put under the tree for your kids to enjoy this holidays season, you will want to head on over to RoosterFin and check out their line of games. With over a dozen games available, you are bound to find games that your family will enjoy time and again.
Stay up-to-date on all things related to RoosterFin including new game additions, special offers and promotions and more by following their social media channels below:
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About RoosterFin:
RoosterFin game company was created by Joe RoosterFin. His degrees in mathematics, coupled with his experience teaching, allow him to make unique game engines that kids, parents, grandparents, and friends enjoy playing together.
Game inventor, Joe RoosterFin, creates games that are unique, encourage social development, math skill building, and friendly competition through play. He is committed to creating great games for you to enjoy.
Disclosure: I was sent samples from the vendor in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.
Those Lumpy Cubes look so funny! That must be a great game to play!
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