Toys in Motion: General Games

Players have 10 DAYS IN EUROPE. They must chart their courses from start to finish using destination and transportation tiles. With a little luck and clever planning, one player just might outwit her fellow travelers. The game contains a Game Board Map of Europe, Destination Tiles representing the countries, and Transportation Tiles for making connections by plane or boat. It takes between 20 to 30 minutes to play per game and is designed for 2 to 4 players.

The first Anachronism set introduces some of the greatest Japanese, Norse, Greek and Roman warriors, and the weapons, armor and other cards to support them. With every pack historically accurate and ready to play right out of the pack, you can clash steel with your friends right away. You can also mix and match cultures. Find the right match to slay your foes and emerge victorious. Anachronism takes learning to new heights. Students develop skills as they interact in this lightning-fast card game using historical figures from the great cultures of the world.

This double six set includes 28 bone shaped dominoes made of solid resin material. The quality set comes in a handy black velveteen storage bag for easy carrying and storage.

This game brings a superhero twist to the classic fun of throwing dice in male action. Battle Dice, an all-new, collectible gaming platform features over 190 iconic heroes and villains taken from the pages of Marvel Comics. Battle Dice combines patented “pop dice” with action figure role-playing and encourages players to create an unstoppable army based on the powers of each hero or villain. Booster Packs are available seperately for $5.99 each.

The game begins with 17 pairs of tiles that feature the engaging characters from the Cogno games and books series. The object is to find as many matched pairs as possible — while preventing other players from finding them first. In Codebreaker, players use the included dry-erase markers to draw or write something on the backs of the cards they pick. Players delve into their lifetime of memories to create “codes” that help them remember where the game’s characters are hiding. The key is creating codes that others won’t guess … and the fun is guessing others’ codes.
— The original Cogno game was a huge hit for Kate Tanner, owner of Kidstop Toy & Book Store in Scottsdale, Ariz. VIEW ARTICLE The game “is endlessly creative and interesting, because players draw from their lifetime of memories to write or draw secret reminders about the characters in the game. The key is making coded reminders for yourself that other players will not figure out!” Montaldo told TDmonthly. Award: 2006 Dr. Toy's 100 Best Children’s Products — Building on the success of the Cogno games, Codebreaker challenges memory and creativity while adding the fun of secrecy and (best of all) dry-erase markers! Since it’s basically “memory” with some scribbling, retailers can easily teach the game to customers and just as easily ring up the next sale. That winning combo won Codebreaker a TDmonthly Top Seller 2007 award.

Where to Buy: Berkira

This game includes just about everything needed to create your own game: a blank game board, 110 blank playing cards, four dice, playing chips, four colored pencils and more. Players can create whatever rules they want and draw whatever they like on the game board. It´s part arts and crafts project and part challenge of wits. Players that think they have created a stellar winner can submit it to Piatnik where the game has the chance to be published, if deemed good enough.

Debate This! is the board game that celebrates the art of lively banter and creative embellishment. In a test of words and wit, players debate topics ranging from social norms to sports, pop culture to politics, relationships to personal behavior. During each round, teams square off to deliver the most clever, creative, entertaining and persuasive argument to support their position and win points from the independent judge. The judge likes to be amused, entertained and enlightened. More entertainment, more points. The first team to cross the finish line wins the game. But it's the debates that will have people talking the next day. When family and friends get together, Debate This!™ is the game that gives them all a chance to speak their mind.

Wizards of the Coast, developer of the pop culture icons Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, have come up with another new game: Dreamblade. Players act as psychic Dream Lords and summon their creatures to war in the dreamscape. Booster sets contain seven figures. There are a total of 96 miniatures in the first line.

The kit uses interlocking pieces of pre-cut wood to make a basic model on to which electrical and mechanical components are added. Each kit builds into a fascinating machine that is fun to assemble and great to play with. Once assembled, players test how steady their hand is by trying to move the wire loop along the same course as the jagged wire without touching it, which would result in a buzz.

Guest Host, the Celebrity Talk Show Game, allows players to be host of their very own talk show. However, they don't always know the names of their celebrity guests. Players compete to guess the identity of the 500 guests that could be interviewed. Be careful, because the guest could be fictional, nonfictional, past or present (for example, anyone from Adam and Eve to Zorro). The player that reaches the desk by correctly identifying guests becomes Guest Host of his or her own talk show. Featured on the "Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” this attractively packaged game plays extremely well.

Hive is a board game with a difference: There is no board! The pieces are added to the playing area, thus creating the board. As more and more pieces are added, the game becomes a fight to see who can be the first to capture the opposing Queen Bee. The soldier ants battle to control the outside of the hive, while the Beetles climb up to dominate the top. Spiders move into holding positions as the Grasshoppers jump in for the kill. Each piece has its own particular way of moving, as in chess, but the moves mimic the way the insect itself moves. For instance, the Grasshopper is the only piece that can jump. Hive has been on the market since 2001 but recently underwent cosmetic revisions to make it more durable and marketable, said SmartZone co-owner Zeev Zahavi.

InStructures is a family/party game in which two teams race to build a structure with building blocks. However, only their "Foremen" get to see the blueprints. Good verbal communication is the key to winning.
— This game turns block-building into a competitive sport.
— The high-quality wooden building pieces make the game aesthetically pleasing, too.
— MarBan took “tons” of pre-orders for InStructures at Toy Fair, said vice-president Jenna Banks. The game will be available in June 2006.

Experience a whole new level of fun! Play a card from your hand, place a chip on the board. Stack up three of your chips and it´s a crown. Play two rows of three crowns and you win. Use your strategy to stop opponents and crown your chips first.

Part of an English/Spanish storybook series of dual-language books for children. "Lola" is the tale of a chicken who learns that following the crowd is for the birds. This hardcover book teaches children the important lesson of being true to ones self; and not to settle for less than their heart's desire. This book will appeal to English, Spanish, and bilingual speaking families, and retail/specialty stores looking to attract a greater portion of the growing Hispanic population throughout the United States.

This magnetic mind game for 2 or 4 players consists of 24 magnetic polyhedrons and a 6-color die. Players roll the die and then place a shape and color matching piece on the start piece, adding to the clone at every turn. Although it’s okay to turn or flip the CLONE! To locate a matching side, if the CLONE! Falls apart, the player moving it loses. The play continues until one side uses up all their pieces – and wins! The game can be played at two levels: younger players can use the pieces to build a cube. Older players can build a cube that displays all 4 colors on all 6 sides.

Players get 10 wooden building blocks, a timer ticking per the number rolled and a card showing players what to build in that time. When the time is up, players total the points on their completed building cards and collect tokens. After four rounds, the one with the most points is the winning builder. The game comes with an expert version as well.

This is a perfect game for kids who like to be grossed out. Kids are afraid of the monsters under their beds, but they should also be afraid of other gross and gooey things that sometimes get stashed there … such as dirty diapers. In this yucky-fun game, kids have to pick nasty things out from under the bed without disturbing the monster, or else they lose! "I think the kids will absolutely love it!" Ricki Block, owner of Ariel’s Child in New Windsor, N.Y., enthused to TDmonthly Magazine. Right after Toy Fair, buyers from Tree Top Kids in Washington, D.C., were also eagerly anticipating this new game's release. The game won a Toy of the Year Award from Family Fun Magazine in 2006.

Picture+This is a picture-word guessing game where players solve picture puzzles that range from simple fun to highly challenging brain-teasers. With four categories: people, places, clichés and entertainment (television or movies), both player and clue givers select cards randomly and give their best clues to help their team solve the picture-word puzzle. The graphics for the puzzles are uniform so that as players learn the picture words they become better at solving the puzzles.

This battery-powered, handheld game allows players to "catch ´em all" in an underwater setting. The player uses two air jets to direct Pokemon game pieces through the water, and an electronic timer challenges the player to collect as many as possible before time runs out. Batteries are included with the package.

Snake Eye is a fast-paced game of luck and skill for two or more players. Just roll the dice and build up points; the first player to reach 10,000 points wins. The set includes complete rules and six green specialty dice in a convenient velveteen carrying pouch, all contained in a whimsical package.

This simple game puts children in the middle of a feeding frenzy, as a roll of the dice determines which fish the players must "catch." With ten wooden fish (including one menacing pirahna), the combinations provide unpredictable excitement for 2-4 players.

Nostalgia is the flavor of the day with this product, which harkens back to that ever-elusive "simpler time." Packaged in a collectable tin box, this version of the classic game for 2-6 players comes with six shooters and 36 winks, as well as a 20 page historical handbook that traces the origins of the game.