Games you could get for children's birthdays (1/3)

Soon it will be my birthday (yaay) so I thought it would be a good idea to write a series of blogs gaming stuff you should buy to bring your little infants up to be gamers! Today I will be writing abut games you should get for children who are 0 to 4.

For children who are 0

Buy them a cuddly Cthulhu, and watch it drive them mad!

For children who are 1

Buy them some D&D baby clothes (there's loads of them out their if you know where to look) and just watch the looks the other parents will give you.

For children who are 2

Buy them some massive foam dice - not only are they cool, but they are also educational, teaching your kid to count.

For children that are 3 

Buy them some matching games, soon they will be beating even you (you have been warned).

For children that are 4

Buy them basically any of the games made by Orchard Games, Orchard Games are amazing at this kind of stuff. Although don't get any games that the child will like to much, or you maybe in for days of playing the same game over, and over again (and believe me, it is not pleasant). 

Jungle Speed

Jungle speed is basically an adult version of snap that is fun for all the family.

In Jungle speed, you turn over cards one at a time (just like snap) until one of your symbols match with someone else's ,once you you have spotted the match, it is a race to see who can grab the totem pole in the middle of the table first. The person who grabs the totem pole first, gives their pile to the loser who then has to put the other persons pile and their own pile back under the flipping pile. The winner is the

person who manages to get rid of all the cards in their pile. You may think this sounds easy, but if you make a mistake and grad the totem if it isn't a match(and some cards look very similar) then you have to take everyones pile and put it in your flipping pile. Also to complicate things more there are some special cards, like a card where you all have to flip over a card at the same time, or a card where you switch to colour not symbol. But my favourite card is where you all have to grab the totem pole at the same time, which normally leads to mass havoc.

Jungle speed is a really good game for older kids who have grown out of snap and want something a bit more exciting. I have heard about a variant ,if it isn't already exciting enough for you, where you put the totem pole in a really awkward or far away position, so if you spot a match, you have to leg it all the way to the totem pole. This is a great game for clubs in schools, as a lot of people are quite restless and this game perfectly satisfies their needs. So all in all I would give it a 9 out of 10.

The top 3 games for beginners

For the last few months, I have spent time playing games with people who have probably only played Monopoly, and maybe Top  Trumps, if you're lucky. So I have realised the importance of games that are suitable for beginners.

And in 3rd place is… Jungle Speed 

Jungle Speed is a bit like complicated version of snap for when it gets a little bit boring and you want to spice things up. Just like snap you have to look for a match but, unlike snap, when you see it you have to grab hold of a totem pole. This normally leads to violence as it turns into a tugging match to see who

can get the totem. It is pretty simple and easy to learn (which is a great advantage, as you don't have to spend hours  teaching easily distracted players long convoluted rules) and keeps players focused, as a critical match could appear at any time.

And in 2nd place is… Snake Oil

Snake Oil is a really funny game, that will get everyone laughing until they burst. The game itself is very simple, you combine 2 word cards from your hand to make a new bonkers invention - and then try and sell it to a customer. It is great for beginners as there is nearly always something entertaining going on at

all moments. In fact, this is definitely a must-have in every household, whether you are a hard core gamer or a light weight one.

And in 1st place is… Dobble

Dobble is a very simple and easy to learn game, that even a person who has never played a game before in their life could play! The main aim of the game is to match different symbols on different cards. The great thing is that there will always be at least 1 symbol matching on every card (go and look for yourself if you don't believe me) and even if you get bored of 1 variant, there are many more variations suggested in the rules. This replay ability makes it a fun game to come back to countless times.