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Box Copy

Players take turns completing color sequences by placing red, blue, and yellow playing pieces on one of twenty-five fabulously colorful game boards. With two possible levels of play to choose from—so that it’s easy enough for a toddler to grasp, but complex enough to challenge older siblings and adults—this engaging game delivers hours of entertainment for the whole family.

Review

We loved the books this game is based off of, so when I saw the game I knew we had to have it. We didn’t own a lot of little-kid friendly games when we got this, so I thought it would be a good opener into the world of game night for Madeline.

What I love about it is how adaptable it is for her skill level. The cards come with two sides: one with three dots and one with six. Younger kids use the three dot side, and that is plenty for her right now. You can also adjust how many cards you have on the playing surface at one time. We use six. It allows her a greater chance of finding an open dot and winning a card.

I love that the skills this game caters to are not necessarily the same old thing. Rarely do I find a game that leans toward the artistic side of the brain, so I especially love this one for that. Rules are based on whatever you decide works best, visually, for a given card. If you want the dots to cover the spaces only in places where the other two colors meet (say, red can go where the yellow and blue meet, so blue goes where red and yellow meet, etc) you can do that. If you prefer to match the dot color to the color surrounding the space, you can do that, too. It must have logic to it, but it’s an artist’s logic. We once filled a black and white board with two blues and a red because it looked like a face, so blue for the eyes and red for the mouth! There is definitely also a layer of strategy involved, but only so much as chance allows. Honestly, I use the strategy aspect more than Madeline, as I’m often finding roundabout ways NOT to win cards, so that she won’t pout about me being too good and then quit playing. (She’s still learning how to be a gracious loser. Some days she’s better at it than others).

How to Play

Essentially, the object is to fill a card’s blank spots with the correct color dots, and then you win that card. Whoever puts the first dot on a card gets to make the rules about that card. Some are straightforward, but others can get pretty imaginative. It all depends on the colors and shapes presented on the card itself. To win a card, you must be the last person to put your dot on the card. So sometimes one player will draw dots that basically set up several cards to be won, and the other player will draw dots to win them. This happens quite a bit, which can annoy the less patient of players (aka the kids). But new cards, and thus new chances, are added any time a card is won, so there’s always a good chance of being able to bounce back if you get behind. We play to first person with six cards wins, but that is also adjustable. To see the full rules, simply zoom in on the photo above!