Top That, U-Turn & Pinpoint: Blue Orange Game Reviews
Yesterday the internet was dead.
Not across the world or anything.
Just, you know, in my own house.
It wouldn’t work and it was late and I couldn’t figure out the problem through my many varied methods of trouble shooting. (And by many varied methods I mean call a friend and unplugging it and plugging it back in again.)
Anyway. I couldn’t get my connection to work and therefore I could not complete a blog post. So instead, I finished a novel (Brown Girl Dreaming – so very good) and added a few pieces to the puzzle on our kitchen table, ate four clementine oranges while standing alone in the quiet kitchen at midnight, and then went to bed. (That’s all pretty normal sounding – am I right?)
Today though I am to going make up for the missed post with an overstuffed post.
Our family always gets a new game for Christmas. Sometimes we open the game on Christmas Eve. Sometimes we don’t.
I’ve written about some of our favorite Blue Orange games before. (In fact, it was in writing about this neat company that led me to a fun opportunity to routinely review their latest games.) And that’s what I get to do today. Blue Orange sent me a few games for the kids to play so that I could share with you guys how they worked out in real life at our real kitchen table.
Because it’s Christmas and you might need to decide a game choice for your family’s traditional gift too, I’m going to review all of the games in this post so you can have options. Sort of like Speed Dating, for games. Except, not at all like Speed Dating for games because I have no real comparison to Speed Dating in any capacity. In fact, is Speed Dating a real thing or just a made up contrivance for romantic comedies? (Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. I’ve already typed the words Speed Dating more in this post than I ever care to type again.)
Ahem. I’m pretty certain Blue Orange is not sending games to my house so I can type on and on about Speed Dating! Unless that was a game they were promoting. Which it is not. So. You know.
Blue Orange Games.
TOP THAT!
Top That is an engaging, hands on game where players are challenged to think fast, use logic and act quickly to arrange the items in front of them according to the card turned over.
We quickly found that the younger kids – the seven and the nine year old – loved this game. The thirteen year old was frustrated by this game. But her frustration stemmed mostly because the seven year old kept beating her. Which means this game levels the playing field a little bit and doesn’t show preference to readers over non readers. Sure, the seven year old can read, but not as speedily and adeptly as the teenager, therefore some games he is at an immediate disadvantage. Blue Orange does a really great job, actually, of creating games that challenge all ages of the players without compromising the fun of genuine competition.
Basically, in this game, each player receives a small collection of items and throughout the game players rearrange their items in a specific sequence. The first players to arrange their pieces correctly, wins. In that sense, this game is a little like the Blue Orange game Dr. Eureka.
Like always with me and games, I find myself wishing the game was for six people. I wish all games were for six people.
But, alas, not everyone feels as I feel.
This game has been played frequently, primarily by Otto. He is quick to suggest this game option and happily (and capably) teaches this one to his friends.
U-TURN
So this little game appeals to me immediately based on its size.
It can fit in a backpack, the console of the car, my purse. I like to have games this size in handy locations for waiting at restaurants, in doctor’s offices, at longer than expected meetings the kids sometimes attend with me.
It’s only a two person game, but I don’t mind that so much in these smaller games because I think they are convenient and I think it’s fun sometimes to just grab a buddy and play a simple game together that requires little to no set up and a simple explanation.
Of course, I’ll warn you. I don’t know if I consider this game to have a simple explanation. Yes, the directions are very short. But, for some reason, my brain had a really hard time wrapping itself around the concept of this game. I’m still a little uncertain I’ve understood the concept accurately.
There are two colors of blocks and you are adding to the shape in turns, attempting to trap your colored dot completely. But, for a reason I cannot fully explain, I kept thinking I was trapping the wrong colored dot. Maybe it’s my increasing age. I’ll consider that a possibility. Bergen and his friend picked it up, glanced at the instructions, and began playing immediately. They played several rounds. London jumped in to play the winner. I still sort of watched and asked for a couple of explanations. So – I think it’s me, mostly. (I should also confess that, with games, my preference is almost always to watch someone else play the game first and then I jump in. I definitely learn better and faster by watching as opposed to reading laid out directions.)
PINPOINT
This game feels a lot like our family’s favorite Blue Orange game series ever – Spot It.
Spot It will remain my favorite I think.
But the idea of Spot It is so good that I can see why the company would try to make some additional versions and spins of the game.
This game comes in a cute tin container as well.
And I really don’t ever get tired of games that challenge our ability to pay attention to details, to look for subtle differences, to have a sharp eye and a speedy uptake.
Pinpoint does that for certain.
In this card game you are searching out among the objects featured on each card the original. The one picture that is similar to the others but has NOT been altered.
I’m telling you, it’s hard.
I don’t even know if I have found the correct answer for certain. (There is a website with the answers revealed there for you, but it feels less fun to go online and check them out.)
The kids have played this in several of the suggested variations in the instructions. They’ve also made up their own versions of rules too. They’re happy to play it, but I prefer Spot It over this particular reincarnation.
I do like that six people can play this game so everyone can get in on trying to determine which image is the original. Six different opinions. Like so many other parts of our lives!
If any of these games, or any of the other Blue Orange games I have reviewed in the past, sound like the perfect fit for under your tree this Christmas, you still have time to make that order. You can pick up Blue Orange games locally of course. You can order them online at Amazon and online at Blue Orange.
And, as luck would have it, I just noticed that currently Amazon is having a sale on Top That – almost half off the regular price! So that might influence your decision!
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