Bright Idea Games are designed for kids. They're maybe not complex enough for us grownups. But if the kids are having fun, well, then, they're fun enough. Way more than Chutes and Ladders, let me tell you. Maya (7) and I (63) have played two of these games - Gopher It and Catch the Match - enough times for them to become a cherished part of our personal play stash. Both games are made of cards that are thick enough to withstand bouts of childlike glee. Both are different enough to be suitable for different moods. Gopher It is a game of luck and risk. Catch the Match a game of visual perception.

Of these two, the technology of Catch the Match is maybe the more impressive. There are 15 large, thick cards. On each card, there are 15 images. Given any pair of cards, there are exactly two images that match. Neat, huh. Exactly two. The idea of the game, be the first to spot the match. Easy to understand. Simple enough for a 7-year-old. And me, too. Maya and I have tied twice. What else can I say?

Gopher It reminded me a little of Sid Sackson's Can't Stop. You mish up all the satisfyingly thick cards, face down. There are three suits: carrots, nuts and apples. You can pick up to three cards, but if you pick two of the same kind of card in a row, you lose your turn. So you can't be too greedy. But you can't be too conservative either. As a result, there's just enough tension to keep everyone in play, without taking winning too seriously.

Labels: Kids Games

Yes, one can easily dismiss the Urchin Ball as being a mere variation of the Koosh Ball and of perhaps significant but similar executive playworthiness. And yet, were one to make such an off-hand, out-of-pocket dismissal, one would find oneself, to say the least, remiss. For the Urchin Ball is conceptual finger food of the highest order, raising contemplative fiddling to what can only be called a new level.

Because, you see, at its betentacled core lies a small, stretchy, hollow ball with a small, stretchy hole, and within that hole one can put one's pencil or even one's finger, thus imparting to the Urchin Ball a definite flick-from-finger-or-stick-ability. Indeed, so stretchy is this small hollow ball that one could, should the spirit so lead one, turn one's Urchin inside entirely out.

Obviously, we've gone beyond Koosh here. Yes, the many rubbery, wiggling tentacles are clearly Kooshlike in look and feel. Well, not exactly Koosh-like. More tentacular than rubber-bandish, more, well, urchin-like. But in function, the Urchin Ball is like only unto itself, inviting a different kind of play, leading to the development of different kinds of games. So much can be hidden within the stretchy confines of the Urchin's inner ball that one can only wonder if one could perhaps fit within an entirely other Urchin Ball, such pregant speculation leading to yet further experimentation and mystery.

For some, the Urchin Ball's special baby powder smell engages yet another sense with sweet surround. For others, it means keeping a clear distance between nose and Urchin Ball. Even after it's washed. For any Koosh appreciator, the Urchin Ball is one welcome step beyond.

Sashay is yet another of those beautifully crafted wooden games from the Masterpiece collection, available through Out of the Box games. It's a chess-like strategy game, with a bit of Go, a hint of Stratego, and a touch of Battleship. In addition to the strategic intricacies of the game, there's just enough opportunity for cunning and guile and sheer dumb luck to make the game as fun as it is deep.

There are two kinds of pieces. The "Dancers of Disguise" move vertically or horizontally, like the rook in chess. The "Masters of Masquerade" move like bishops, only they can change directions many times in one move, sashaying, as it were, across the board. They can also swap positions with an adjacent piece. Pieces are captured by being surrounded.

Each of the Dancers of Disguise has a hole in its side - just deep enough to accommodate a tiny wooden rod. At the beginning of the game, players set up a special board to prevent each other from seeing which Dancer is carrying the tiny rod. Pieces are set up in whatever manner players choose, and then, the Battleship-like dividing board is removed.

All you have to do to win is to get your Dancer to carry its rod to the other end of the board.

There are a couple of niggles one needs to be aware of. You have to remember to position your dancers so that the holes are facing away from your opponent. In the heat of the game, this may take more discipline than one is willing to exercise. And those tiny rods are so very easy to lose (luckily, the manufacturer includes spares - even more luckily, you can use a piece of aluminum foil or even a toothpick when you run out).

There is ample, and often quite delicious opportunity to get psychological on your opponent by advancing a rodless dancer or two, while keeping the rodded one shielded from play. On the other hand, the more shielded the Dancer, the easier it is to surround it and remove it from play.

All in all, the movement of the pieces is so interesting, the method of capture so subtle, and the opportunity for subterfuge so compelling that any niggle remains safely niggled for the duration.

Labels: Thinking Games