Logic, Strategy & Spatial/Visual Games
The following games are some of the most popular in our range. It is interesting to see that on many occasions, different children perform better with these games compared to the ones in the previous section.
As with all the resources, they can be played in the classroom or at home. The prices do not include postage/delivery and packaging:
Rush Hour: £14
An excellent game to keep both children and adults amused for hours, it has won several awards and requires much concentration from the player. It is a single player game, so the individual can decide to play against the clock, or just attempt to successfully complete each challenge, as the cards get increasingly more difficult!
You are the red car, stuck in traffic, surrounded by four big trucks and eleven other cars. Can you manoeuvre your way though the gridlock and escape the jam? There are 40 different challenges, from Beginner and Intermediate through to Advanced and Expert. This highly addictive American game has won over 15 international awards and is an excellent resource to enable anyone to improve their strategic, forward-planning and sequential thinking skills. Additional packs of cards can be purchased for players who complete all challenges. The three packs - Rush Hour 2, 3 & 4 - can be purchased together for £10.
A Junior edition is also available for younger players at £14, while the Safari edition, for the more experienced player, retails at £18.
Quoridor Kid: £22
Another great strategy game from France that can be played by 2 to 4 players. Each player must manoeuvre their coloured mouse from one side of the board to the other in order to reach their particular piece of cheese, but opponents can also slow your path to the other side. During our turn, you have to decide what to do; move one space nearer the finish line or place a fence on the board in an attempt to slow down your opponent! Lots of strategy is involved in the game, and much more, in your quest to win.
The game is also available in a special Classic edition at £24. Although the Kid edition is especially popular with the children in school, the games enthusiast would probably prefer to purchase the Classic version, which has a bigger board (9 x 9 squares as opposed to 7 x 7) and four additional fences for the more experienced player.
Now firmly established in my workshops, Quoridor Kid is extremely popular with all age groups, despite the name!
Tantrix Discovery: £10
This has become very popular with children and probably even more with teachers and adults! The Tantrix Discovery edition consists of 10 tiles with red, yellow and blue stripes on one side and coloured numbers from 1 to 10 on the reverse. The idea behind the addictive game from New Zealand is to advance through all the initial stages to eventually link all ten tiles by forming continuous coloured loops, not an easy task!
10-tile Tantrix Discovery sets can be combined as many times as you like to produce ever bigger puzzles. You should treat tile 1 of a second set as tile 11, tile 2 as tile 12, and so on. However many sets you combine, the numbers on the back still show you the colour of loop to go for. For example, with 4, 14, 24 or 34 tiles, the solution is always a red loop.
The current British Record is a link of 120 tiles, set by Michael Channin of London in 2003, using 12 sets. This was a World Record at the time, but has since been broken by Tokyo’s Kenzo Ushida, linking an incredible 246 tiles to make a blue loop (see picture above). How far can you go???
Abalone: £22
This superb French strategy game is a two-player game that appears, and is, remarkably simple. Follow the rules and be the first to push six of your opponent’s marbles off the board. However, you will be amazed at how it can stimulate your mind and senses.
It has been used quite extensively in the various ‘Gifted & Talented’ sessions we have been involved with and has become one of the firm favourites with children, and adults, of all ages and abilities. Many schools who have bought games, and set up clubs, as a result of my visit say that this is probably the most popular game with the children!
Tri-ominos Colour Match: £14
Another version of the classic triangular domino game features sturdy plastic pieces with big, bold colours on the corners. Players score points by matching the colours on the 3-sided playing pieces. As with the other versions, Tri-ominos combines strategy, luck and new challenges every time you play. For two to six players, it is suitable for children from the age of 3, but also ideal for players from the age of 7 and older.
The Possible Cube: £2
Our main programme always concludes with the children attempting this famous, and frustrating, puzzle. It is a 2- and 3-dimensional challenge with the objective of making a cube from the six pieces individually; then putting them back into the original frame in teams. Many summer schools and weekend maths schools decide to purchase these as a gift to children who participate in these schemes.
We also give these as a gift to all the participating children in the numeracy competitions we organise. It certainly keeps both children and adults amused for ages! Lots of organisations and companies within the business, industrial and sporting world have also made use of this innovative puzzle. As a promotional gift, it is a brilliant idea that will give loads of fun to anyone receiving one. It will get passed around from person to person and everyone will want to try and solve it again and again!
Colour Magic: £20
This superb game of strategy has been developed as a joint project between ourselves and our Malaysian associates. Many players have likened the game to the now-famous Sudoku as the game board contains seven different colours, each colour being represented once in each row and column. The aim of is to cover all the multi-coloured sections of the game board, except the players’ chosen colour. The board is a 7x7 grid consisting of 49 sections in all.
Using the 14 pieces (seven of which are straight and seven right-angled), the player must cover the whole board except for the players’ chosen colour. It’s very popular and challenging for children and adults alike. The game comes as a twin pack, so you will receive two sets when ordering.
The smaller Travel version of the game is also available and is ideal for use at home. It retails at £10, is housed in a CD case and uses magnetic pieces; also suitable for use when travelling on those long journeys or to even take on holidays!
For further details of these resources, as well as other games and puzzles we stock, please ring or
e-mail us. Also, remember to get in touch if you want us to e-mail our current Order Form to your computer.
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