Find It Deluxe is a game built around another game – a whole genre of games, actually, called “Find Its.”
Every Find It is a cylindrical sea of tiny, multi-colored beads, in which float a selection of little toys and household objects. Aside from a pad of sheets that people can use to keep track of what they’ve found, the game (which is as much a toy as it is a game) is completely self-contained. If that colorful little pad is lost, players can refer to the list printed on one of the ends of the cylinder.
Finding things in a Find It requires more than careful observation. You have to ever-so gently shake, tilt, and twist the Find It, and, occasionally, shake, tilt and twist with a certain amount of controlled, and quite satisfying violence, to make everything appear. There are some mysterious physical principles at work, making heaver things harder to find. Which is why every Find It has a penny in it, and a place to go online to register if you are skillful and/or lucky enough actually to manage to get the penny to surface.
There are many kinds of Find It games, distinguished, for the most part, by the objects you are trying to find. The Find It on the right is called Find It VeggieTales, and in it you will hopefully find a collection of figures and toys from the children’s TV show, VeggieTales. This is one of eleven different Find It game/toys currently available – more, doubtlessly, to come.
Because Find It games are almost completely self-contained, they are excellent companions for extended trips, and highly recommended for library and school collections. They help children exercise their skills of observation, self-control and patience. Find It games lend themselves equally to solitaire and social play.
Find It Deluxe is a game built around a special Find It. The Find It features a wider variety of objects. The game set also includes a deck of 123 cards, each showing an object to be found and the number of points you get for finding it; a spinner where you might increase your points or lose a turn or reverse directions or change cards or get more cards, a three-minute sand time; and, of course, a pad to keep track of your finds. You can play with any or all of the components, or, of course, with just the Find It. The cards and timer add significantly to the game play, making the Find It a true social toy. There are five different games described in the rules, all of which involve both the timer and the cards. The score values on the cards help you appreciate some of the physical properties of the Find It – the higher score objects being more difficult to find. Playing each of the games, at least once, helps establish the permission to play the game any way you want to, as long as it is fun for everyone who wants to play. This greatly adds to the attractiveness of the game concept, and significantly extends its appeal to different ages.