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Folding Mancala
by AlmshoeRachy I first heard about Mancala last year, when at a family Easter lunch we ended up playing the Game many times as it was so addictive. No one knows the exact origin of the game, but evidence has been found of this being played as far back as the 6th century in what are now Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is said to be an ancient ... game of counting and strategy. The Manacala board is oblong, with six round pockets parallel to each other on each side and an oblong one at either end which runs the width of the board. There are also 48 stones with the box. To play, four stones are placed in each of the round pockets. The aim of the game is to collect more of the stones in your oblong pocket than your opponent. There are many different ways of playing this game, but this is the version we have learnt and enjoy. You pick up all four stones from one pocket, and putting one in each of the next pockets, including your own oblong one, but excluding your opponents. The numbers of stones in the pockets will then go up and down so the number you collect from each pocket will vary. If you finish your turn by placing the stone in your oblong pocket, then you have another go. If it lands in any other pocket, it is the turn of your opponent. Once a stone is in the oblong pocket, it is not moved again, and the game ends when all the round pockets are empty. One of the reasons I enjoyed playing this so much, was because I kept winning! I found it really simple, but my other half has still not figured it out so can never win! It is not a hugely tactical game when you are playing with someone who doesn't get it, but when you are playing with someone who does, you have to think a few moves ahead and try to anticipate their move, much like in chess. When we first started playing, we used a children's board like the one pictured. The folding ones are best so that it is easy to secure the stones when not in use. Whilst in Cape Verde later that year, we started playing Mancala with one of the hotel reps on one very wet afternoon and brought a lovely wooden carved box complete with shiny stones. Of course, there is 'an app for everything' so this game is available to download and play on your mobile phone. Overall a great game to play for all the family, but you do need a good opponent or it gets boring! Thanks for reading Rachel Read the complete review |
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Pass the Bomb
by ktbainbridge I like games which, are easy to pick up, don't have long and complicated rules, can be played over a wide variety of ages and can be picked up and put down easily. Surely I am not asking a lot?! One of the games which fits all my fussy criteria is pass the bomb and I have really enjoyed playing it. Pass the bomb is available ... from toy shops, online stores, and even some supermarkets and is priced between £15 and £20. It comes in a cardboard box, relatively simple. Inside is a black round plastic bomb. It has small holes for the sound to come out of and a piece of string coming out of it. It takes batteries but in my experience it doesn't run out of these very often at all. The bomb has a small red button which you press to start the game. The game starts with one person picking a card. Each card has a few letters on it. Depending on the card these letters go at the beginning, at the end, or in the middle. You have to think of words with these letters in. Whoever picks the card starts the bomb and shows the card to the rest of the group. The bomb is then passed round the circle with everyone having a guess. You are not allowed to repeat a word someone else has just said. When the bomb explodes (not literally blows up, just goes bang) you lose and keep the card. The person with the most cards loses. When you lose a round, you pick the next card and start the next round. The game is fast paced and can become tactical. You can never really guess when the bomb is going to explode, as it is timed differently every time, but people still try! The game is really good fun. It is harder for people with dislexia, but really good practise for words. A great fun game for all the family-highly recommended. Read the complete review |
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221b Baker Street
by hannahm223 Year Published: 1975 Publisher: Gibson Games Genre: Detective Board Game Players: 2-6 Age: 10+ As geeky as this is to admit, I absolutely love Sherlock Holmes! After having read a short story in the detective series by Arthur Conan Doyle when I was studying GCSE English, I was surprised to discover that I ... was a fan. Many years later I purchased a book of 'Sherlock Holmes' short stories, which I then lent to my mum and converted her also. As this review suggests, our family have also always been something of a board game family, being quite competitive about 'Monopoly', 'Cluedo' and the like. Consequently, when I noticed a couple of years ago a 'Sherlock Holmes' board game, I was thrilled! I knew instantly that this was the perfect Christmas present for my mum so I purchased it straight away, wrapped it up excitedly and put it under the tree until Christmas day, when I handed it to my equally thrilled mum. We played the game as soon as we got the opportunity and, happily, neither of us was disappointed with it (although we were pretty rubbish at it at first!). In fact to this day my mum actually cites this as one of the best Christmas presents she has ever received! Easily pleased? Perhaps. But it is still a pretty great game! WHAT IS 221B BAKER STREET? 221b Baker Street is a detective game that pays homage to Arthur Conan Doyle's popular series of short stories and novels about Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Watson. The game is basically a cross between 'Cluedo' and a crossword puzzle, with each player taking on the role of Holmes and using their powers of deduction to solve intriguing and complex cases by visiting various locations around London (not literally, of course) and picking up cryptic clues. HOW TO PLAY At the beginning of the game, each player must choose their playing piece from a selection of coloured, mini, plastic Sherlock Holmes figurines, and then place it at 221b Baker Street, which is the starting and finishing point for each game. Each player must then be given a 'key' card (the rest are then stored at the Locksmiths), a 'lock' card (the rest of which are stored at Scotland Yard) and a Solution Checklist. Once everything has been allocated, a case card is then chosen from a pack of forty and read out. These cards tell you the storyline of the case you are to solve, in varying detail. Although the level of detail initially given is different with each case, some of the things which may be detailed on the case cards are the background of what has happened so far (what crime has been committed), what evidence has been collected, who has been arrested or suspected (if anyone), what characters are involved (and their many complex relationships and motives), and any key locations which were involved in this case. It is important to bear in mind that some of these details will be actual clues while some will be red herrings to lead you off the scent. The intriguing cases, which were written by professional mystery writers and which adhere closely to the atmosphere and themes of a Holmes story, are numbered from one to forty. I believe you can play them in any order you like, but we have always played them in chronological order so far, to keep track. At the end of each case card, there will be a list of the things which you - as Holmes - are required to solve. Depending on the case there may be only a couple of things to solve or there may be several (the maximum is six), but some things you may have to solve to win the game are, for example, who the criminal is, what their motive was, what they used as a murder weapon, where they hid the jewellery they stole, etc, etc. The solutions you are looking for are as diverse as the cases but will be listed at the end of each card for you to make a note of on your Solution Checklist. Once you are fully acquainted with the characteristics and background of the case (it is recommended you read the case twice out loud before beginning, but you can refer back to it at any time) you can begin your attempt to solve the crime. By throwing the dice and moving around the board (or taking a Hansom Cab to any location if you drop by the Carriage Depot) you will begin to pick up various clues to help you solve the case. THE LOCATIONS There are 15 locations in total on the game board. Some of these locations have special features, which are listed below. Also some of the locations may be more pertinent to the case you are solving than others (for instance, if a murder took place at the hotel, you will inevitably get a bigger, more revealing clue at the hotel than you will in other places). You can choose to travel to the places in any order you like - whether you decide to visit the places that are listed on the case card first or head to the places that are nearest is up to you. As a side note, some locations will occasionally have no clues there once you get to them, so it's up to you to do your best poker face and not let on to the other players if you encounter one of these! The locations are as follows: * Bank * Boar's Head * Carriage Depot - from here you can get a Hansom Cab, meaning that you can move to any location on the board you like as one turn * Chemist * Docks * Hotel * Locksmith - the key cards (to be discussed below) are kept at the locksmith. You can pick one up whenever you are here, although you are only allowed to have one key card at any time. * Museum * Newsagents * Park * Pawnbroker * Scotland Yard - the lock cards (to be discussed below) are kept at Scotland Yard. You can pick one up whenever you are here, although you are only allowed to have one lock card at any time. * Theatre * Tobacconist * 221b Baker Street - there are no clues found at this location. However, this is where you start each game and also the place you must return to to make your guess when you think you have solved the case. THE CLUES When a player arrives at a location, they must consult the case card to find the corresponding number for the clue at that location. They must then look up that number in the 'Rules, Clues and Solutions' booklet to find their clue. They can then make a note of the clue next to the location on their Solution Checklist. Some "clues" will be red herrings, while some will be actual clues to the case. Some clues will be vague and refer to the entire case, while some clues will be more specific and relate to the solution of one aspect of the case only (eg. the murder weapon). Also, some clues will provide factual information; hints and/or background information to the case which you must deduce answers from. Others, however, will be given in a cryptic crossword style, giving you a clue that, once you have worked out, will reveal the answer to one (or part of one) of the solutions THE KEY AND LOCK CARDS Each player starts the game with one of these cards. They can pick up more as they move around the board, but they can only ever have one of each at one time. With the lock cards, players are able to close off any location by putting their card down over the location's entrance (providing nobody is inside) as they leave it. Once an entrance is locked off, nobody can enter it without using their key card, which should be placed over the lock to nullify its effects. Both cards should then be restored to the Locksmith and Scotland Yard, and the place is free to enter again. It is worth noting, however, that some places have more than one entrance, meaning that they are more difficult to close off. Players are also not allowed to close off the Carriage Depot, Locksmith, Scotland Yard or 221b Baker Street. However, these cards can be useful for either closing off a location with a particularly good clue, or closing off locations with no clues as a bit of a double bluff to other players. WINNING THE GAME Once a player thinks they have found a solution to all the elements of the crime they are required to solve, they should try to get back to 221b Baker Street before any other player. The first person to get back to 221b Baker Street and solve all parts of the crime accurately (the correct solutions are listed in the back of the 'Rules, Clues and Solutions' booklet) is the winner. WHAT I LIKED One of the best things about this game is that the cases are often quite intriguing and are generally very well written. You can tell with most of the cases that they are written by professional mystery writers as they are intriguing, interesting and complex cases - often with a number of different possibilities and suspects and an abundance of colourful characters - yet the background stories are also simple enough to get the general gist of (after a few reads). The cases, clues and techniques required to solve the cases are also incredibly diverse. In some games you may need to solve lots of crossword style clues, while in others you may be piecing the case together based on background information, and in others still you may be solving secret codes to find the solution. Every case is different which makes the game more interesting and fun. Basically there is a lot to this game, which makes it a good step up for fans of 'Cluedo' who fancy a longer game with more complexities, clues and more of a storyline. It is also the perfect mix of luck and skill, which makes it easy to follow yet satisfying to play (and win!). I am not really a fan of games which require no skill at all (not least because I like to gloat somewhat on winning!) so I liked that there is an aspect of skill involved in this game. For instance, although it is quite "lucky" if you find the right places to go first, quite a few times when I have played, all the players (including myself) have made it round every location but are still completely flummoxed about the case, as it also takes skill to crack the case. As a big 'Sherlock Holmes' fan, I also like the authenticity of the game. I love the locations listed, the mention of Hansom Cabs, the language used in the booklets and on the case cards (each card ends with the sentence 'The Game is Afoot' and the losers are referred to as "Watsons"!) and the intricacies of each case. Because one of my favourite aspects of the game is the Sherlock style deducing of clues, I also love the cases where the clues are mostly given to you as factual information, revealing hints and background information which you then must relate to the case. I prefer these types of clues to the crossword ones as they are harder to deduce, require a lot more skill and seem more relevant to a Sherlock Holmes style game. I also love that there are red herrings scattered around so that you have to actually use your powers of deduction (a la Sherlock) quite frequently. You really have to get into a Sherlock frame of mind in order to solve the cases, which makes the game more fun and authentic. WHAT I DISLIKED Although I absolutely love this game, one of the things that lets it down a bit is that, while most cases are intriguing, intricate and well thought out, occasionally you come across a case that is bit, well, rubbish. The background of the case is sketchy, the clues are easy to decipher, and when you reach the end it merely gives you one word solutions without any real explanations. Although these cases are rare, they do pop up so often and are just not as satisfying to solve. Also, there are a lot more crossword style clues in the cases than personally I would prefer. Although these are still fun to work out, I prefer the factual clues as, as I mentioned earlier, I think they are more authentic (I don't remember Sherlock ever being given his clues in a crossword form!) and also, in a lot of cases, you need quite extensive general knowledge (which I don't have) to solve the crossword clues, meaning that often I simply can't solve the case because I don't understand the meaning of a word in one of the clues or something! However, the types of clues given are mixed up enough for this not to have ruined many cases in this way for me. Another minor problem with this game is that the board is really hard to get around quickly. The locations are all quite far apart, there is only one Carriage Depot (from which you can take a Hansom Cab) and there is only one dice used in the game. Consequently, you spend an awful lot of time between locations, and, especially when there are a few people playing, turns and turns can go past without anybody looking at a clue. To counteract this, however, my mum and I have implemented the "double six" rule you encounter in many games, where you get another go if you throw a double six, and this helps to speed up the game a little bit. Because of the distance of the locations, however, I also found that the key and lock cards were not a very useful feature with only two players. Because there are only two people playing, if one of you locks up a location, the other one can easily unlock it with their key, and it will take the first player so long to get to Scotland Yard for another lock that in the end it is not really worth doing! This feature of the game is consequently often something that is neglected when we are playing as just two players, however I think it would be a fun aspect if there were more players involved. Aside from any features of game play, however, one thing that is undoubtedly a disadvantage of 221b Baker Street is the longevity of the game (or the expense if you wish to make it longer!). Unlike with most board games, you can generally only get a limited number of games out of this game, simply because the game only includes 40 cases. I suppose if you don't play the game very often, or if you don't have a very good memory, this is no problem as you can simply repeat the cases once you have finished the pack, but as I have quite a good memory this is no good for me. The good thing is that once you have finished the 40 case cards provided there are a further 180 cases available (sold in groups of 20 cases), however, as these are no longer being produced, they are quite hard to get hold of and are quite expensive also. The pack I bought I got from ebay and it cost about £25, which is quite a lot for only 20 cases! PRICE AND AVAILABILITY This game is available from a few online games stores and is also generally up for sale somewhere on ebay, however I purchased my game from amazon, where it is currently on sale for £17.95. RECOMENDED FOR: Fans of 'Cluedo', cryptic crosswords and/or 'Sherlock Holmes'. MARKS OUT OF 10 FOR: STORYLINES - 9 ADDICTIVENESS - 8 FUN - 9 SKILL INVOLVED - 8 INNOVATIVENESS - 8 LENGTH OF SINGLE GAME - 8 LONGEVITY OF PRODUCT - 5 OVERALL GAME - 8 Read the complete review |
Gibsons Games Board Game |
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1 review Brand: Gibsons Games / Type: Board Game |
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9 reviews Board Game / - For up to 30 nail-biting minutes, players' nerves are tested to their limits by the threat of the infernal ticking bomb. Players live on a knife edge as they struggle to find a suitable word and pass the bomb on before it goes off! Not suitable for those with a nervous disposition. For ... |
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2 reviews Board Game / Manufacturer: Gibsons Games - The finest detective game ever devised! Features forty individual cases specially written to recapture the spirit of the original Sherlock Holmes stories. |
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