This weeks game is Castle Keep; a strategy game for young players ages 8 and up. The object of the game is to be the first player to build your castle. Plain and simple. Well, it would be if others couldn't tear down your walls at the same time!!The castle walls are built by matching the color or shape of towers and walls, with a keep in the middle. BigJ thought he needed the added protection of WW1 flying aces! Walls can be torn down by matching an opponents piece exactly and all pieces of the same color go along with it. So you don't want all your pieces the same color otherwise you will be too vulnerable to attack.
Here is the winning castle.

This is a fun game that the whole family can play together. Even my teens like playing!

Game of the Week

I love a good educational game and my criteria is simple: The kids want to play it because it's fun, not educational!

And this is definitely a fun one.

Mad Dash!

The rules are simple: 3 minutes to connect your state cards in order. What's the order? Any order, as long as they share a border.

The game comes with 50 cards, one for each state, and 4 maps. Each player receives a map for reference, and all the cards are dealt out. When the timer starts, line them up in the longest chain possible. Hawaii and Alaska are wild, since they are not in the continguous states, and if you are able to go from coast to coast, extra points are scored.

When the 3 minutes are up, we each share what we have, checking to make sure the borders connect. The points are tallied and the person with the most points is the winner. It's that simple. Just the way I like 'em. It's great for geography and math review, but most of all it's FUN!