Sat Jul 31 2010
Editor's note: For about 20 years, Sagamore Hills resident Jill Sell has provided games to elementary school students to try out and review during the holiday season. This year's reviews, compiled by Sell, were conducted by Lee Eaton Elementary School teacher Rosa Greisinger's class.
* Guesstimation, Discovery Bay Games; ages 8 and up.
Rachel Kanieski said because this was a guessing game, "it made us laugh at our silly answers." Unlike most other trivia games, players don't have to know exact answers to win. The game also got a thumbs up from Emily Gedeon and Christian Lint. Jake Braschwitz thought it was challenging "because almost everything was a subject I didn't know about."
* Word on the Street, Out of the Box Publishing; 12 and up.
The chance for teams to shout out loud while playing this game had great appeal to Abby Parketny, Nevan McNeal and Aaliyah Houze. Breaynna Merritt likes playing games with "sand timers." Justin Dearth said the game with its street-like board was fun "because I'm good at it."
"Just kidding. I just thought it was fun," wrote Justin, obviously a stand-up comedian in training.
* Ruin, Buffalo Games; 10 and up.
Marissa Rutkai, Jillian Page Bowerman and Joseph Kimber felt the game's instructions were difficult to understand.
But once the students figured it out, they all agreed the game with its three-dimensional board was fun to play. The adventure game involves strategy, skill and luck.
* Jishaku, RSV Productions; 5 and up.
"Jishaku" means "magnet" in Japanese. In this multi-award winning game, players never know when their moves might make a magnetic game piece jump across the board. It's strategy versus magnetic force.
Holly Groff couldn't wait to see who would win the game, and Taylor Pelsoczi thought the magnets would look better painted "the colors of the rainbow." Crystal Pulliam, Halle Buddenhagen and Jacob Gerlich helped in the review.
* Cir Kis, Winning Moves; 8 and up.
Natalie Spadaro and Jake Pestino tackled Cir Kis, a game of follow the leader. Players score points by placing circle and star pieces on the board. The students thought the game was easy to set up and play, but both wanted a little more of a challenge.
* Scabs 'n' Guts, Imagination; 6 and up.
Even some of the "disgusting bodily facts" that the game promises didn't seem to bother or amuse the reviewers, including Andrew Pla, Michael Hirsch and Jolene Teller.
Kyle Neff appreciated the game pieces "in the shape of body parts," but some of the students said they hadn't studied enough anatomy to understand all of the questions. Jack Buddenhagen said he is definitely not interested in a medical career at this time. To improve the game, he suggested it should be "about something other than the body - like sports."
* Guesstures, Parker Brothers/Hasbro; 8 and up; $26
Owen Dobbins called Guesstures "one of the funniest games I ever played, and it kept you entertained and involved." Dominic Natoli, Alexis Sopata, Lauren Strauss and Shivani Patel gave the high-speed charades game high marks.
Sydney Fox wrote, "It was funny to see how my teammates and I acted out the cards. Everyone got along great and we had a good time playing. This would be a great game to play at a party."
The kids had one criticism -- the game's timer and trophy weren't very sturdy.
* Now What?, Patch; 8 and up.
Mary Bradley, who would like this game for her birthday, enjoyed it because you "could make up the most ridiculous answers and they would still count." One player reads a dilemma card and the others have to make up a story to talk their way out of the situation. Tommy Provateare, Santino Ciocca and Brandon Pearl also reviewed the game.
* Shut the Box, House of Jacques; 6 and up.
It's probably unfair to expect kids to appreciate a baize-lined polished hardwood frame for a classic dice game when all their classmates are playing colorful, funny games. Made by the oldest sports and game manufacturer in the world (Jacques of London was founded in 1795), this game is as much art as it is recreation. Akia Dickerson, Evan Sharp, Deric Nichols and Sam Rozsnaki all gave it an average grade. Wait until they are older ...
* Apples to Apples Party Box, Out of the Box Publishing; 12 and up.
Madisson Sawicki, Sara Lowis and Brooke Hirsch all agreed that the addition of a board would have improved this game. In this electronic era, Kiernan Skolnik wished the game included a microphone "to call out the cards" and Danny Streb asked for "an audio controller." More than 1,000 cards ask players to compare people, places, things and events.
* DaVinci's Challenge, Briarpatch; 8 and up.
The "ancient game of secret symbols" takes "minutes to learn and a lifetime to master." But most kids this age don't have that much patience. Some enjoyed creating patterns and shapes more than others. Reviewers included Eric Spaeth, Julia Groff, Nate Groff and Jordyn Durkalec.
* Quiddler, Set Enterprises; 8 and up.
The kids wanted to call it quits with Quiddler. According to Jeff Kainec, Chloe Rath, Derrick Rizzo, Andrew Knipfer and Gregory Curtan, the game was b-o-r-i-n-g. Autumn Richards said there was "no competition and no purpose."
* Set, Set Enterprises; 6 and up.
Taylor Whewell and Maria Maggard thought the card game would be better suited for kids a little younger than they were. But they gave it points for have sturdy cards, unlike some of the other card games that were reviewed. Sam Mannarino thought "a timer so you only had so much time to find sets" would improve the game.
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