SmartGames Fairy Tales Themed Games: Activities During Corona

So these games look fun even if they are meant for the youngest gamers. I love the designs, especially the Sleeping Beauty maze which makes me think of garden labyrinths, of course. And is suitable to the tale's theme with the prince trying to navigate the thorns to reach the castle.

SmartGames Sleeping Beauty Board Game Description:

Discover the magic of the classic fairy tale with this original puzzle game. Can you help the prince reach Sleeping Beauty’s castle? Or maybe you’d prefer to help Sleeping Beauty escape on her own? Try to find the path from the entrance of the maze to the castle…without getting lost! Or perhaps you prefer to play as the dragon? Then the object of the game becomes the opposite! Place the dragon in the maze so that he blocks all paths to the castle, preventing and the knight and Sleeping Beauty from reaching each other. Sleeping Beauty includes 48 challenges (24 with the dragon and 24 without). It also features a family friendly picture book with a modern twist on the original story.

SmartGames Little Red Riding Hood Deluxe Board Game Description:

SmartGames Little Red Riding Hood is an enchanting puzzle game for young children. Can you help Red Riding Hood find Grandma’s house in the forest? Can you out-smart the wolf when he appears?

Play Little Red Riding Hood by arranging the puzzle pieces on the gameboard so that a direct path is created from Red Riding Hood to Grandma's house. Then, in the last 24 challenges, players have to create two paths: one for Red Riding Hood, and the other for the Wolf! A great introduction to Spatial Insight, Planning and Problem-Solving skills for kids.

Little Red Riding Hood also includes a family-friendly picture book with a SmartGames 'twist' on the original tale.

SmartGames Snow White Description:

• DEDUCTION FUN! Can you find out where Snow White goes? SmartGames Snow White Game, A Preschool Puzzle Game & Brain Game for Kids, Cognitive Skill-Building Challenges, Ages 4-7
• BRAIN GAMES BUILD SKILLS: Your children can build upon their spatial insight, language, problem solving and flexible thinking while playing the Snow White preschool board game. It’s so fun to play, they’ll forget they’re learning!
• PUZZLE INCLUDES: Large vertical house/game board, Snow White, Seven Dwarfs, Evil Queen, challenge booklet with solutions and a bonu colorful picture book.
• AGES 4-7: Snow White is perfect for kids ages 4-7. With the 4 different skill levels of Starter, Junior, Expert, and Master, your little one is sure to find the perfect challenges to tease their brain and help them think outside the box.
• AWARD-WINNING: SmartGames is the worldwide leader in multi-level, logic-based family fun games. Our award-winning games offer multi-level play from easy to challenging, and we pride ourselves in making family board games that are perfect for players of all ages.

SmartGames Three Little Piggies Description:

Can you help these three smart pigs build their houses? Can you set them up so that the pigs can play outside? If you spot the wolf can you help the pigs stay safe inside their houses?

Three Little Piggies is a great brain game for young children. It features 3 big puzzle pieces that are easy to hold, and kids will be intrigued by the way the pigs fit inside the houses and look through the windows. The game includes a story book with images and booklet with 48 challenges (24 with the wolf and 24 without). Also helps develop early Spatial Insight, Planning and Problem-Solving skills.

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Rumpelstiltskin Card Game

Thanks to the Strategy Board Games Deal of the Day today, I discovered the Rumpelstiltskin Card Game. I wanted to give the game a separate post since there are plenty of images and such to share. I somehow missed this one and wanted to give it its due separate from posting about the sale.

Product Description:

If I want to win our game, I first must guess your true name! In Rumpelstiltskin, you and a friend take the roles of fey folk who have decided to engage in a name guessing contest. You must use your magical mischief to learn your opponent's secret name while protecting your own! Contents 20 Game cards, 2 Reference cards, 5 Victory point tokens Rulebook.

Here's some images of the cards. I was very thrilled to see that another Rumpelstiltskin variant is inside--Tim Tit Tot--usually Tom Tit Tot, but I am not quibbling. Someone actually read a fairy tale or two before inventing the game.

And if you want to see the game in action with a gamer's review, watch this:

Fairy Tales in Strategy Board Games Deal of the Day at Amazon

There is a great sale on Amazon for today--Strategy Board Games Deal of the Day--with a lot of wonderful games. This sale is an annual tradition on Amazon and every year I get a few new games for my family.

The selection of games on sale this year is impressive and I want more than I am purchasing myself. This is the sale that inspired me to buy Dixit several years ago which has become a family favorite. Dixit has some fun fairy tale imagery in it across the different versions. The original version, the one on sale today, is still one of our favorites however.

One of the games I did purchase today is Rumpelstiltskin Card Game. I feel like I should give that game--since I just discovered it thanks to the sale--its own post. So I will. But I do recommend checking out the sale if you like games at all. I highly recommend Dixit, obviously. And Ticket To Ride - Europe and others!

Fairytale Gloom

Fairytale Gloom, by Atlas Games, is part of their Gloom series but is standalone and doesn't require the other versions of Gloom or familiarity with them. Here are some of the game cards. There are definitely familiar fairy tales included.

The biggest criticism I am seeing for the game is that it is better to play with creative people. That is my same observation with my beloved Dixit. It's my family's favorite game but when I tried it with a bunch of teenagers, it wasn't as successful. Not a failure, just not as creatively fun as when my family (ranging in ages from 8 to 69) plays it.

Game description:

The Game of Grim Incidents
and Unhappily-Ever-Afters

A fairytale toad in a prince's crownLet's face it: Fairy tales are awful. Wolves and old women eat children, giants fall from the sky, and even young girls break-and-enter to steal porridge from unsuspecting families.

In Fairytale Gloom, custom collections of fairy tale characters like Jack, Gretel, Puss in Boots, and Little Red Riding Hood do their best to stay happy, but circumstances conspire to rain woe on their sad, benighted heads.

These heroes become beasts, give up on Grandma, and cry wolf once too often. Even though they look into magic mirrors and kill golden geese, most end their days living in giant shoes… or worse.

Eventually, enough Unhappy Endings come to pass that the game ends. And then? The most miserable collection of characters wins.

Fairytale Gloom is a stand-alone game that's also compatible with all existing Gloom core games and expansions.

In Fairytale Gloom…
Each player chooses their own collection of fairy tale protagonists.
Modifiers add or subtract points. You could play "Dwelt With Some Dwarfs" on "Rapunzel," for example.
Unhappy Endings lock in points for good or ill. Perhaps "Goldilocks" "Cried Wolf Once Too Often."
It's all about storytelling: Players weave tales around what comes to pass. What happened, exactly, when "Joe the Giant" "Married a Murderer?"
With transparent cards, the points you can see are the points in play — it's that simple!

Designer: Keith Baker | Artist: Jaume Fabregat
Stock Number: AG1332 | ISBN: 978-1-58978-158-0 | MSRP: $24.95 US
Format: Two decks of 55 transparent cards, and a rules sheet in a tuckbox
Release Date: June 2015

Today Only: Enchanted Forest Game and More on Sale

It's that time of year when there start to be all sorts of wonderful sales on things for the holidays. Today, at Amazon, one of the deals of the day is Up To 60% on Ravensburger Puzzles and Games. This happens about once a year and I always mention it because one of the best ever fairy tale inspired board games--one that use to be a cult classic and hard to find even--is usually on the sale list. It is back again. Also, be sure to order early if you are interested. This one-day offer is valid on November 16, 2014, or while supplies last. Which means that once the sales quota on an item is met, the sale price is gone and the item is removed from the list. I've been burned by that before during similar sales.

Some of the embedded image feeds are not working today, so follow the links to see the games and puzzles if an image is missing.

The game I refer to is Enchanted Forest - Children's Game, on sale for $12.49. This is different than the Ravensburger Enchanted Forest - Family Game which was on sale last year. It's apparently simplified just a little for younger children players. The Family Game is not on sale and is recommended for ages 6-15. The Children's Game is recommended for ages 4 and up.

Game description for Children's version:

• A magical treasure hunt game in the land of fairy tales!
• Ages 4 and up
• 2-6 Players
• Playing Time: 30 minutes

Game description for Family version, not on sale, but still a fine price, gives you an idea of how the Children's game plays:

• A magical treasure hunt in the land of fairy tales.
• The king's castle reveals the treasures you must search for throughout the forest.
• Roll the die to determine the distance you move, making your ways to the trees to see what treasures are hidden under them.
• Once you've found the treasure the king has requested, make your way to the castle so that you can announce where it is.
• The first player to correctly announce the location of three treasures wins!

Neuschwanstein Castle 2000 PiecePanorama XXL Puzzle is on sale. Neuschwanstein Castle is the inspiration behind Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle and has many fans, including me, as just a stunning fairy tale castle.

Ravensburger Neuschwanstein 3D Puzzle (216-Piece) is on sale.

The Castles Of Burgundy, originally a French game, is also on sale.

Finally, if mythology is your interest, too, Ravensburger Labyrinth is on sale today. I bought this during last year's sale but we have been so addicted to Dixit in my family that we haven't played it enough to be familiar with it.