More Holiday Games

Around the World: By rolling the dice and circumnavigating the board, kids ride the Channel Tunnel through Paris, walk through the streets of Bangkok, visit temples in Nepal, and dive among sea turtles in Australia as they voyage the board game’s primary categories of People and Places, Culture, World Bank, Geography, Language and World Wonders and attempt to answer questions about those categories. Questions answered correctly earn tokens; the ultimate goal is to fill up one's Global Scorecard. The Ultimate Global Board Game is lauded by teachers, librarians, parents, travelers and students. This product is a 2007 Dr. Toy Best Children's Product Award winner.

Apples to Apples: Bible Edition is a wild party game that provides instant fun for everyone. Players select the card from their hands that they think is best described by a card played by the judge. The player whose card the judge picks wins that round. Each round is filled with surprising and outrageous comparisons from a wide range of people, places, things and events from Christian history. Launch date: October 15, 2006.

"Toads of Fun" is a game to help children develop cognitive skills and learn more about colors and numbers. Players move their toads around the lily pond catching flies based on matching a color and number on the spinner to the same color and number on the lily pads. This game also develops manipulative skills as the players spin the spinner and move the game pieces. Memory skills are used as rules of the game are applied to situations that come up. Analytical thinking skills are used when players control the bumblebee and consider different places to put the bee and what consequence each choice might have. Instructions are provided in English and Spanish.  "Toads of Fun has a wide age appeal,” Theodore Fiala of Dad’s INK told TDmonthly. "There's nothing I enjoy more than playing the game with a family and  seeing that it holds everyone's interest." Watch Games Expo Video

Roll ’n Multiply, the game of multiplication, strategy and fun, assists younger children in basic multiplication skills and challenges players who are proficient in multiplication. The game’s unique 10-sided dice enable students to multiply as high as 100. Simply roll the dice, and with the help of the multiplication table and the opposing player, multiply the numbers together. Corresponding game pieces are then strategically placed on the playing board. Four in a row wins the game — but watch out! A playing piece may be captured and flipped to the other side. For novice students, winning depends on luck and strategy. Students who are more advanced in math challenge each others' strategies and multiplication skills and assist beginning players. “This award-winning strategy math game comes with unique 10-sided dice and double-sided playing pieces; the concept of flipping and moving the playing pieces to get 4 in a row brings so much excitement for the children, they enjoy themselves and do not realize that they are actually getting practice with skills,” Katy Tee of Emines told TDmonthly.

Your Best Life Now, the best-selling book, is now a board game. The game gives players the means to enlarge their vision and develop a healthier self image while discovering the power of their thoughts and words. It's the first family board game in which play extends beyond the board into real life. Your Best Life Now brings an “I’ve never seen anything like this” factor to game play, Brian Turtle of Endless Games told TDmonthly. The game “continues long after all of the moving pieces are put away.” Launch date: January 2006.

With the award-winning Christmas Gamesake(R), friends and family create a fabulous and hilarious board game with favorite family memories. Simply jot down your favorite memories on cards (Dad backs car into garage, miss 1 turn to repair it. Love, Kate) and race opponents to the North Pole (the board can be personalized too). Winner of The National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval and a Creative Child Magazine Preferred Choice Award, Christmas Gamesake(R) is sure to be a beloved family tradition.

"Hunting, Fishing, Camping" Trivia is a great camp game that challenges all participants in their knowledge of traditional outdoor sports. It is educational in terms of small and large game species, fish species, archery, outdoor hardware, first aid, camping, hiking and more. Dennis Delmastro of Mountainmen Enterprises told TDmonthly the game “is the only outdoor sporting goods trivia game on the market.”

Cluzzle is an award-winning game in which players try to sculpt poorly. No one wants to be too good an artist because the trickier the sculpture, the more points earned. Cluzzle inspires creativity, social interaction, and heaps of laughter. It has received six awards as one of the best family games on the market, and About.com rates Cluzzle in the Top 5 Drawing and Sculpting Games. Founder of North Star Games Dominic Crapuchettes told TDmonthly that it’s “one of those rare games that is fun to play for both the parents and the children.”

Reel Deal Casino “High Roller” makes the world’s largest variety of games exciting and realistic. America’s favorite casino game changes things up again this year with an all-new Prize Vault system. Players can experience the new “Grand Master” tournament path as well as the new casino game, “Craps – Roulette,” which combines the action of two popular casino games into one. Never-before-seen slots round out the game. Launch date: September 1, 2006.

In this original game of rock balancing, players race against the clock to balance rock formations and score points. Skill, luck and strategy determine the winner. “RUKSHUK is a brand new concept in board games and promises to be a popular choice as it is a very simple and intuitive concept based on a thrilling and, dare I say, ‘addictive’ activity,” Malcolm Bisiker of Zabazoo Corp. told TDmonthly. This product is a 2007 Parent's Choice Foundation Award winner, a 2006 Neighbourhood Toy Stores of Canada Gold Star Award winner, a Dr. Toy Top Ten Games Award winner, a Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products Award winner and a Family Review Center Platinum Award winner. Launch date: June 2006.

Questionary is setting new standards of entertainment in the board games arena. Every player has vouched of never having had so much fun before. The concept is simple: A team has to guess a word in 90 seconds by asking as many questions as they wish. But answers can be only "Yes" or "No." Passionate involvement of all rather than performance of one sets this game apart. And the aspect that will appeal to specialty retailers? This attractive boardgame is simple to play, generates outrageous fun, and promotes strategic thinking. Spark Games provide “extreme fun for all. Even shy people love to play again and again,” the company’s Arun Pandey told TDmonthly. This product received a 2006 Preferred Choice Award from Creative Child Magazine.

This set of card games is perfect for sleepovers, camp bunks, the school bus or any other place where best friends hang out. Games also include Spin the Nail Polish, Fashion Fill-ins, Fashion Cootie Catchers, and MASH Prom. Owner Ron Solomon of Swingset Press told TDmonthly that the products have “extremely unique and fun content and really capture what the tween girls are all about.” Launch date: September 4, 2006.

Sudoku, a worldwide craze, has a worthy addition in Picdoku, which features 60 reusable Sudoku puzzles with a twist — there’s not a number in sight. On one side of each puzzle are animal images, and on the other are geometric shapes. Each game of logic includes 30 double-sided boards, two complete sets of reusable tokens and a solutions book. They range in difficulty level from 1 to 5. Launch date: July 2006.

The evil Piraka have invaded the island of Voya Nui and are now on the hunt for the powerful Mask of Life. Players take up the Toa Inika mission to find the Mask before the Piraka. They must traverse the island carefully and be prepared for battle. The game includes six exclusive collectible Toa Inika game pieces, a double-sided game board, a Protodermis ball launcher with Zamor sphere, a Piraka target, 50 Quest cards and a die. Launch date: August 2006.

Packed with art and imagery of the Grateful Dead and the times they defined, this game takes players on a multi-sensory trip celebrating the group’s music and history. Players travel through time and collect concert tickets along the way by answering interactive and trivia-oriented questions. The team that collects the most tickets wins. Launch date: October 2006.

Petfolio will delight children and their parents with its simple-yet-fun introduction to the pets and animals they love. In this fast-paced and quick-play game, children collect pets and, along the way, have fun imitating the pets’ unique sounds and gestures. But players need to be careful not to lose their pets, which happens when a player lands on the "Empty Net" space. The first player to build his or her Petfolio wins. Petfolio is a child's first pet game that is adorably fun. “Petfolio is unique in quality design, graphics and components: After its use, the puzzle characters could be framed and hung on the kid's wall,” a representative from Weskel Games told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2006.

Kids love discovering small prizes inside the chess pieces — that´s the magic of this award-winning kit, which includes everything needed to learn and play chess. It features 32 prize-fillable chess pieces and a 3D-illustrated, 54-page book providing 10 easy lessons for kids and their caregivers. Incentive charts, WonderFiller sticker prizes and a 15" chessboard round out the fun and effectiveness. WonderFiller prizes are customizable to best meet the values of a particular family and they allow both players to experience winning. WonderChess received the 2007 Mr. Dad Seal of Approval as well as three awards in 2005: NAPPA Gold, Dr. Toy's Best Children's Vacation Products and Creative Child Magazine's Preferred Choice Award.

Kotsuku is a grid-based game with an added competitive dimension as players vie to be the first to complete a word in the grid. Players take turns placing letters in the grid one letter at a time. Each letter in the alphabet may be used once per game. The object is to be the first person to complete a word of three or more letters. Words may be vertical, horizontal, diagonal either frontward or backwards. Use your letters wisely and be sure not to leave an opening for your opponent!

If you had to choose... would you rather (A) be breathtakingly beautiful but have to go to prison for five years, or (B) always be plain looking but never go to jail? If you had to choose…would you rather be stuck in a one room cabin for two weeks during a severe snow storm with (A) George Bush, or (B) Michael Jackson? It’s is a party game that really makes you think, but in a fun way, by asking thought-provoking questions about life’s priorities, such as love, money, relationships, spirituality etc. Players will predict (by betting with chips) how others will answer and then attempt to persuade them to change their minds in intense discussions. Through answering, predicting, persuading and discussing, players will have eye-opening revelations about themselves and others and also have a great time in the process.

A hilarious send-up of the classic game with a similar title, Candyman! is a mad dash to escape that magical land. It seems the king is shipping off all of the candy to be eaten by children, so the gingerbread men are making a run for it. The winner is the first to make it past the border, with plenty of candied collateral damage along the way. Smirk & Dagger Games have “the ability to bring families back to the table to play together. Our thematic edge and ‘gotcha’ game mechanics … leave kids talking,” Curt Covert of Smirk & Dagger Games told TDmonthly.

Adults can fly into Las Vegas on vacation, travel along the world-famous Strip to downtown, visit the casinos and gamble along the way. But they must survive to be able to gamble back to the airport for the trip home. Much of the winning strategy involves defeating other players in Blackjack, Craps, Poker, Roulette and the Slots.

In Winner’s Circle you are right in the middle of a classic day of racing. Which horse is the favorite? Does the long-shot have a real chance? How high are the betting ratios? Which bet promises the highest profit? Once the field is announced you must place your bets. You then take turns rolling the special die and moving the horse of your choice. Will you advance the horse you are backing or impede those horses backed by the other players? While having multiple players back the same horse improves its odds of winning it also lowers the payouts, and there are still no guarantees of victory. At the end of the running the best bets payoff, and after 3 races the player with the most winnings is triumphant.

In this tile-laying board game, players assume the role of a species — reptiles, dinosaurs, mammals or man — striving for dominance on planet Earth. Play takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes. “Our games have simple, elegant mechanisms with a surprising depth of play that appeals to all ages,” vice president Lawrence Whalen Jr. of Face2Face Games told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 1, 2006.

A Word game for poker players

This is a challenging contest that will have you reaching for you chips AND your dictionary! This game follows the same basic structure as Texas Hold'em (combine the cards in your hand with the face-up cards in the "flop" to make the strongest poker hand), only the playing cards also have letters on them. You must use your cards to spell a word, and then make the best possible poker hand using only the cards in the word.  On The Spot Games feature intuitive game design for quick learning, engaging play with a pledge of “guaranteed fun,” face-to-face interaction, and portability, Rob Mathewson of On The Spot Games told TDmonthly.

With this affordable, interactive game, children can emulate their popular NASCAR heroes and experience the excitement and joys of driving. Featuring Tilt Sensor Technology, this LCD car game gives players total control over the race. Just as if they were actually driving, they can simply turn the wheel to the left or the right to steer around the competition. High Speed Run is an affordable way to enjoy a popular play pattern. Launch date: February 2006.