The Beetle Game

The beetle game is an old classic game where players are trying to collect a complete beetle before anyone else does. You do this by rolling a dice and then seeing what corresponding body part you get for that dice roll. Ones get a body, twos get a head, threes get an antennae, fours get an eye, fives get a mouth and finally sixes get a leg. If you get a body part that you can add to your beetle, you get to role the dice again to see if you can get another piece. At the start of the game you have to first get a body and then get a head before you are allowed to collect pieces of any other type.

The beetle game is a game you can play with basically anyone who can role a dice, meaning it is good with small children as long as they can be trusted to not put everything in their mouth. Also you can play it when you are shattered as you don't have to think much at all. The game can get quite tense near the end when two people only have one bit to go. However it can get really boring at other times when you roll the dice but find out that you already have the piece which you rolled. Similarly, the start of the game is really boring as you have to get a body first and if you roll anything else you don't get anything. And to make matters worse once you've got the body you've got go through the same process again with the head! This rule means that if you are unlucky you will be left in the dust as other people are busily building their beetles when you are still trying to get your body. Having this game in 3D is really quite fun as if you are bored you can play with the parts (or put them in a Halloween display) but you can play this game on pen and paper. Personally I would give this game a 3/10 and only recommend it to people who have young kids.

Smallworld

In small world you are the leader of a race of fantasy creatures, trying to conquer as much territory before your race goes into decline and eventually dies out. However their are more than one race about and this world isn't big enough for all of them.

In Small World the aim of the game is to collect the money by conquering and holding regions on the board. You do this by placing special cardboard counters that represent your fantastical race on the board to conquer your chosen region. However some regions cost more troops to get into, your normally need at least two plus however many cardboard pieces there are in the region(these could be other peoples troops or mountains for example). In Small World one of the main tactical decisions you will have to make is when to go into decline. As you get further on into the game you will soon find that your pieces are spread very thinly and you can't do much at all. However all hope is not lost as you can plunge your race into decline and take a new at the start of the next turn. Races that are in decline can't take over new territory and can have the maximum of one counter on each region (making them easy to take over). Each different race has their own unique power and a random other power which can make or break a game.

Small World is a really fun game and I really enjoy the simplicity of the rules makes it easy to play and learn. One of the things I love about this game is when you take over a really heavily fortified section controlled by one of the other players on the table, and watch their face slowly crumple as they realise that their unconquerable fortress has indeed been conquered. Another thing I enjoy is the special powers and how they can really dramatically change the way you play. However the  game is not without its faults, for example when you go into decline you basically lose an entire turn which is really boring as although turns aren't really long, it might be awhile till your next turn in a five player game. Also if you are playing this game with younger children they may get upset when they get attacked so it is probably best to stick to the age guidelines of eight and above (although every child is different). Overall I would give this game a 7/10.

Cortex Challenge

Cortex Challenge is a fun party game for up to 6 players that challenges your brain in a variety of different ways.

In Cortex the aim of the game is to finish your cardboard brain (made up of four pieces) before any of your competitors. To claim a brain piece you need to collect two cards of a similar type by completing the challenge that is on it. Each turn your draw one of the square cards. An example of one challenge you might have to complete is spotting the animal that appears twice on the card before any of your fellow players find the match or a challenge where you have to figure out which object appears the most times. If you are the first to complete a card you can collect it and hopefully cash two similar cards in for a brain piece.

Cortex is a really quite fun party game where everyone gets stuck in, trying to out-compete each other to collect those precious brain pieces. It gets particularly exciting near the end of the game when everyone is desperately trying to claim those cards and win their fourth bit of brain. It is also not like a general knowledge quiz as their is no pre-required knowledge. However, one bad point about this game is that there are some special touch cards. I didn't like these, as when you draw one, only the person who won the last round gets to guess, by touch alone, what the textured picture underneath is.  So if you are not very good at Cortex you never get a go at the touch challenge. However apart from that, Cortex is a very good party game which would work perfectly for a games club at school. I would give Cortex a 7/10 overall.