North Star Games: Wits and Wagers Family

"How many different Webkinz stuffed animals have there been?"

"How many feet are in a mile?"

"How many different colors of fruit loops are there?"

Don't know....then you had better get a copy of North Star Games latest party game, Wits andWagers Family! If you love trivia, if you love family friendly competition, or if you just long for a another board game that the entire family can play together and enjoy, you will want to get a copy of Wits and Wagers Family.

As a member of the Old School house Homeschool Crew, I received Wits and Wagers Family in exchange for this honest review.

Our family is larger than average with six "children" ages 21-6. Because of our size and age span, we don't often find games we can all play together and enjoy. We are pleased to announce after our test marketing experience during a recent snow day, that Wits and Wagers Family has been placed on our short list of fantastic, fun and family friendly games for everyone!

Wits and Wagers Family is easy to set up and takes less than an hour to play to completion. Not good with trivia? Never fear, because the beauty of Wits and Wagers Family lies in the fact that guessing is encouraged and anticipated. No one is expected to know the answers to the trivia questions, but everyone (ages 8 and older) is expected to play.

The game consists of a simple scoreboard, five color coded mini answer boards, Meeples (one large and one small for each color) and a generous supply of trivia question/answer cards. The scoreboard and answer boards are coated with a slick surface allowing players to use dry erase markers to record and change information easily. Mini dry erase pens are included with the game.

Meeples are small wooden people shaped place markers used in the

game; a design borrowed from a European board game, "Carsonne" by Wits and Wagers Family designer Dominic Crapuchettes. All game pieces and parts are well designed and constructed guaranteeing many years of use and family fun. North Star Games prides themselves as producing "games with personality" making the game appealing from the moment you open the box.

Wits and Wagers Family is designed to be used by 3-10 players ages 8 and older. We chose to play with 7 players placing our two youngest players on "teams". Due to the nature of the game everyone could easily participate and enjoy all aspects of play. After I read the brief instructions for the first time, we dove into the game eagerly. I served as question reader and assisted my 9 year old with some trivia answers, but for the most part watched and observed for the purposes of writing this review.

Play begins by reading a trivia question, having players/teams write their answer to the question on their answer boards and then laying the boards face down on the table. Next, the boards are turned over for all to see and Meeples are placed on the answers assumed correct in an effort to garner more points. Points are awarded based on the closest correct answer with a

total of 15 points winning the game. The questions are so unique that 3rd graders can easily compete with college Seniors, Graduate students, Mom or Dad.

Here's what the reviewers thought:
"It was fun. It was very competitive if you want it to be."- Courtney, age 21.

"The questions were very entertaining. It's a good party game."- Jonah, age 16.

"It was enjoyable to play. It's a great way to create healthy competition for a family game night. I think it's a great game to play with people of all ages." - Sammi, age 19.

"I liked how strange and funny the questions were. I especially enjoyed it because I got to guess answers I didn't know. It didn't really matter if I didn't know the right answer. I could guess and still have fun." - Micah, age 13.

"I liked the little dry erase boards you get to write the answers on." - Aidan, age 6.

"It's really fun with the dry erase boards, markers, and Meeples. It can be a really great family game because you can play as a team. If you get stuck on a question you can ask your team mate for help." - Sierra, age 9.

"It's been ages since I have played a game with all of my children at once! I can think of no better way to spend an afternoon than with Wits and Wagers Family and my children. Thank

you North Star games!"- Mom of six/ reviewer.

To learn more about North Star Games visit their website at www.northstargames.com. Tell the facebook world you're a fan by visiting their Facebook page or keep current with updates by accessing the company Twitter page. Wits and Wagers Family is available at Target, Borders and most specialty toy stores.

Super Star Speech Homeschool Games

When the book work is done it's time to play! Super Star Speech offers 11 educational games designed for homeschool families ready to play. Our family received six of the games for free in exchange for our review.

All games are available as an instant download from Curr Click and retail for $3.50. Created by licensed speech therapist and homeschool Mom Debra Lott, the games are simple old-fashioned board games focused on specific topics. Currently, Lott offers:

• Silly Snail: A parts of speech game for grades 3-6

• Road to Revolution: A game to understand the events, times and people of the American Revolution for grades for grades 3-8

• The Inventors Game: a game designed to review inventors and their inventions for grades 3 and older

• Colony Quest: Designed around the 13 American Colonies for grades 3-5

• Climb the Vine: A question/ answer board game about plants for grades 3-6

• All About Animals: An animal classification game for grades K-5

• Explorers of the World: Focused around 24 different Explorers for grades 3-8

• Covering the Continents: Questions, answers and maps about the seven continents for kids aged 6-10

• Exploring Egypt: Centered around Ancient Egypt this game is appropriate for grades 3-8

• The Insect Game: Designed for children in grades 2-6

• Planet, Moons and Stars: A trivia based game perfect for grades 3 and up

Although each of the games has a slightly different objective all of the games my family played were easy to use with simple instructions and very little set up time. I printed my downloads onto cardstock for durability and stored pieces in labeled ziploc bags. The small investment of time reassured me that if pieces got lost or destroyed I could easily print off new ones without a hitch. Because the pieces including game boards were no larger than 8 1/2" by 11" pieces of

paper the games were easy to take on the road to be used during boring "wait" times. I love the simplicity and quality content of each of these games!

I am a firm believer in the power of educational games. I know my children learn more when the experience is relaxing, fun and just a bit competitive. A game format also helps me see new strengths and weaknesses in my children that would never show up with ordinary school work. For example, while playing All About Animals my 5 year old blew me away with his ability to recognize complex vocabulary words and classify his animals. Apparently, he had been "eavesdropping" on his older siblings recent science lessons.

In an age of so much electronic media, Super Star Speech's Homeschool Games are refreshing, affordable, and extremely engaging alternatives. My 15 year old, 8 year old and I played Climb the Vine using only the questions and answers while sitting in a parking deck waiting on my 5 year old to finish his nap. A potentially wasted hour of our time was spent laughing, learning, and building a quirky, fun memory because of our portable, adaptable game.

After playing All About Animals I polled the test market group for their honest opinions. "It's so exciting!" said Aidan, grade K. "I like the questions and I like the pictures on the board", said Sierra, grade 2. "I learned a lot from the facts about the animals", said Micah, grade 7.

Although Homeschool Games are listed for specific age groups, many are adaptable for multiple levels of play. Because the content and vocabulary are rich, the games engage older secondary aged siblings creating educational family fun. Their unique design and affordable price make them perfect for any size homeschool.

For more information about Super Star Speech Homeschool Games visit the Super Star Speech website, www.superstarspeech.com. Everyone needs to play during their day. Homeschool Games offer families a chance to play a little while they learn.

Life on the Farm by We R Fun

A few months ago my college aged children convinced me to start playing a new Facebook game, Farmville. Many of my grown up friends make fun of me, but Farmville brings more to my life than organizing cows, pigs, chickens and crops. Playing this virtual game is another way I can connect with my grown up kids who all have very busy lives running in directions opposite of mine.

When those same college aged kids were young I deliberately planned board game days during school hours. Rolling dice and counting the dots, counting the spaces on boards, reading

directions, clues, keeping track of scores, etc.; board games provided endless learning practice in a variety of disciplines without the pressure of filling in all the blanks of a worksheet. The best kind of learning builds memories. I hope my older kids remember fondly our long afternoons of PayDay, Clue, Uno and Yahtzee.

When I received We R Fun's Life on the Farm board game to review for TOS Review Crew

my heart filled with warm memories of game days past. Board game days have sadly disappeared from our schedule as a regular part of school curriculum

and Life on the Farm reminded me to bring back the fun. I received Life on the Farm as a gift in

exchange for this review.

Life on the Farm is designed for 2-6 players aged 8-108. It won the Teacher's Choice Award from Learning Magazine in 2006 and 7 other awards from various organizations. Ranking Life on the Farm against previous board game experiences I found it to be of superior quality in construction, easy to set-up and capable of promising hours of family fun.

The object of Life on the Farm is to "retire" by building a herd of 60 cows (long game) or 30 cows (short game) plus have all the money you originally start the game with. The money distributed with Life on the Farm comes in 1,000's with cows on the face, 500's with sheep, 100's with chickens, 50's with pigs, 20's with geese and 10's with dairy farmers. It is organized neatly on rows of a plastic tray for banking ease throughout the game. Cows collected are represented on small cards much to my little kids disappointment. They were hoping for small plastic cows, but I was secretly relieved not to have so many tiny parts to care for over time.

After spending about 15 mins. to unwrap money and read the brief playing instructions I recognized that Life on the Farm played like a distant cousin of Monopoly. Instead of collecting property and railroads, however, my empire would consist of cows while attempting to hold on to some sort of income as I experienced thrills and spills of life on a dairy farm. My test marketing team of Micah, age 12, Sierra age 8 and Aidan age 5 assisted me, but after one hour of playing time Sierra and Aidan wandered off to other interests. Micah and I continued play for another half hour before stopping for lunch still far from nearing the end of the game. Micah collected 14 cows and was rolling in money, but I had only 10 cows and I think, $40.00 to my name. Life on the Farm is tough for some.

Players begin the game by rolling two dice and moving the appropriate number of spaces. Instructions along the game path direct play and can include things like, "A Hunter cuts your fence and you have to pay both neighbors $10 per cow". Once players have found their way around the board they simply begin another round with the benefit of collecting "milk money" or $100 for each cow in their possession. Besides collecting milk money, players earn income from Farm Income cards stacked neatly on the board and played when directed. One quickly learns that Life on a Farm is often difficult and full of tough decisions. For example one income card states "slaughter one cow and collect $300. Remove one cow from your herd". In addition, Farm Expense cards can be played which include financial penalties for things like electric bills, tractor repairs, and fertilizer purchases.

I tend to have bad luck with board games and true to form I constantly landed on depressing scenarios for my dairy farm which cost me money and cows. I thought most of the scenarios were excellent learning opportunities giving players a glimpse at the reality of farm life. I was

not prepared however for the discussion which evolved from one Farm Expense card stating, "Pay artificial inseminator to breed your cattle. Pay $100 x roll of 2 dice". Surprise! It was time for a quick biology lesson too involved for the 8 and 5 year old to understand.

When asked for their review of Life on the Farm the marketing team enthusiastically gave Life on the Farm two thumbs up.

"Life on the Farm is really fun. I like how you get the cows. There are many things in the game that are different like getting paid for the milk and losing a cow. It's kind of like a real dairy farm, but its a game. I liked the different animals they made on the money. I hope I can play it again with my family soon", said Sierra age 8.

"It was good. I liked it very much. I liked when you get all the cows and got some money. I want to play again some time, like tomorrow", said Aidan age 5.

"Life on the Farm is a fun twist to a plain old Monopoly game. I didn't mind spending lots of time playing the game, because it felt very productive. You could sell cows, buy cows and each turn brought new experiences. I definitely want to play this game again and would highly recommend it to all my friends whether city folk or farm people " said Micah age 12.

Life on the Farm retails for $25.00 on the company website. A pre-school version requiring no reading skills and color matching practice is available for only $20. Based on my family's experience I think it is a good investment for hours of educational family fun. If you need to find a new "udderly delightful" learning experience for your homeschool, you should play too.