I want to let you know about a Haba game, Castle Knights, that my family is loving these days. Unlike games that pit children against each other (not that I think Candyland and Chutes and Ladders are Machiavellian, but sometimes one of my kids has a really hard time not winning and it takes the fun out of the whole thing), Castle Knights is cooperative. It also consists of a really cool 3-dimensional world made out of delightfully illustrated cardboard and wooden blocks. Pull a card–it tells you which blocks you need to build a particular tower. Together, you have to use an elastic rope dealio to pick up the blocks, place them on the board, and stack the others on top…before the king arrives home (an hourglass marks the time). Part of the instructions: to declare, “Together we are strong” as you begin. Laura and the kids played it while I was making dinner–it kept those hungry munchkins distracted while I got that hash slung.
How great to hear that refrain instead of “Nathaniel knocked over my building!” “She pushed me into it!” etc. You so know how it is.
(By the way–these aren’t my kids–this is a stock photo from maukilo.com)
Ages 5 and up.
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Oh, I thought for sure it would be a game I recently got my Haba – also castle themed. In the game I have, the booklet gives you an illustration for setting up a puzzle. Then, there are different shaped pieces you can move and stack in different ways to help the knight reach and save the princess. The nice twist is that in half of the puzzles, the princess needs to save the knight!