Game University: Screwball Scramble

 

We are pretty sure a version of Screwball Scramble by Tomy has been around in one form or another for a few decades. In a race against the clock, players try to navigate a metal marble through a series of challenging obstacles. Just getting past the first bridge can be a huge hurdle for even the most adept players. If you manage to conquer that task, several more await!

Fun to play alone, or compete against others to see who can get the lowest time, Screwball Scramble will test the limits of your hand-eye coordination. Looking like a cross between the game Mousetrap and a Rube Goldberg contraption, the game board features 7 tests of dexterity, skill and patience.

Screwball Scramble appeals to all ages (even adults in the store find themselves sliding the kids out of the way to try their hand). Fun for ages 5 to 105, make sure the parents give the kids a chance to play too!

Game University: Scrambled States of America

Quick! What's the capital of New Hampshire? Now, name a state whose capital has four or more syllables. What state has ten or more letters? If you, like me, can always use a bit of geography practice, then Scrambled States of America from Gamewright games is an absolute must.

Scrambled States of America Game is based on the award-winning book of the same title by Michigan-based author/illustrator, Laurie Keller. It’s a whimsically-illustrated and funny way to learn about all fifty US states.

Each game includes four US maps, a deck of state cards and a deck of scramble cards. To begin, shuffle each deck of cards separately and place them in the middle of the playing area. Then deal five state cards face up in a line in front of each player. Take a moment to read your state cards and become familiar with where they lie on the US map.

When everyone is ready, the first player takes the top card of the scramble deck and places it face-up and reads it aloud. There are two types of cards in the scramble deck, Find-It and “Go the Distance!”

The Find-It cards have different questions relating to the states. They range from simple color matching to the complexity of finding a hidden words. Some cards include grammar terms such as syllables, vowels and consonants, which sneaks in a little reading practice while at play.

The first player to identify the answer to the question with one of the states in their line, slaps the state card and shouts their answer. If the answer is correct, the player earns that state card as a point and places it in their home pile. The home pile is where each player keeps the cards they've earned from winning a round.

If a Go the Distance! card is drawn, flip the top card of the state deck over and find the state in your line that is closest. Pull it forward in your pile so the other players can see. The player whose state is the closest wins. The winner gets both state cards as points. When the state card pile is depleted, the person with the most states in their home pile wins.

Scrambled States of America Game is typically recommended for players ages 8 and up. However, early readers and younger players can join in too. Just modify the rules to eliminate the race aspect, and have each player earn a point for correct answers they have in their state line.

Have more geography fun with the Scrambled States of America 150-piece puzzle and book set. The game, book & puzzle make the perfect combination for any budding geographer or curious kid in your life. As with many of Gamewright products, all items in the Scrambled States of America set are made in the USA.

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Game University: Sweet Treats

Oftentimes, the simpler the concept, the more engaging the game. This is true of Sweet Treats by Beleduc, one of our favorites at aMuse. I first learned of Sweet Treats from other local moms whose preschools had it on their recommended list of games. It’s a color recognition game that you can learn to play in a matter of seconds, but that's challenging enough even for adults to enjoy. The color combinations and patterns on the pieces are very complex and become chaotic when placed next to each other. Your brain must learn to recognize information, categorize similarities and dissect subtleties all under the pressure of an unknown time constraint. It’s a challenging task for any age player.

The game includes 41 colorful wooden sweets, 3 dice and one circular blue cloth. As with all good games, Sweet Treats offers three different play variations. To set up the game, randomly spread the treats on the blue fabric with the colored sides facing up. To make it easier give the pieces room to breathe, and to make it more difficult, have the pieces overlap one another. Decide who will go first and hand them the dice.

In the first variation, players choose the number of sweets one needs to collect to win the game; i.e. the first one to collect five candies wins. Each candy has a different color combination, with up to three different colors on each piece. The first player rolls all three dice to begin the round. All players look at the rolled colors and simultaneously seek the candy that matches. When a player has found the matching piece, they show it to the others to verify it’s a match. If it’s correct, they add it to their candy pile. Players collect candies until someone earns the predetermined number of pieces to win.

The second variation is similar to the first except an adult player keeps score. When a player finds the correct sweet they point to it instead of adding it to their candy pile. A time limit is set to the game, i.e. ten minutes, and the person who scores the most points in ten minutes wins. This variation is especially good when playing with a lot of players.

The third variation begins by distributing the candy evenly among the players. The object of the game is to discard your candy onto the blue cloth by matching your pieces to the color combinations rolled on the dice. The first player to discard all of their pieces wins!

Sweet Treats is perfect for one to eight players ages four and up.

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