We love playing games around my house! In an age with technology everywhere around us, I think it’s nice to take a break and play games at the kitchen table as a family. I love electronics, don’t get me wrong. But it’s nice to see their faces and hear their laughs instead of staring at the tops of their heads. The best family games have to be easily picked up, can be played across most of our age ranges, and are fun to play of course! During the shopping season where almost everything goes on sale before the holidays, I try to pick up a few new games to add to our collection. We keep ours in a closet, but you can keep yours in a cabinet, in storage tubs under the couch, or even in the basement, whatever works for you! Here are a few of the titles we’re adding to our game closet this year from Continuum Games to make the most of family game time.
About Continuum Games
Continuum Games, Inc. is a privately owned company with a mission to bring families together through exciting new game concepts that appeal to all generations of game players. First formed by Greg and Niki Hughes in 2007, the company has grown from a small game manufacturing company into a full service game publishing company, distributor and consulting firm. Continuum Games publishes its own line of award winning family games, educational games, party games and travel games and also serve as a distributor to the BEST in class games from independent manufacturers.
In February 2011, Continuum Games joined forces with Around the Table Games, creators of the award winning Family Talk series of products. Around the Table Games founder Beth Daniels has a shared mission to create products that draw families together and appeal to the needs of today’s busy families. Both Greg and Beth are parents who bring a Mom and Dad perspective to the games and products that they create.
In May 2011, Greg, Beth and the team of 3 Creative Design Group joined forces to form Continuum Consulting. Continuum Consulting provides assistance to new and experienced toy, game and novelty product inventors. They help new inventors figure out just how to launch a new game idea or new product concept. The team knows firsthand the challenges that are involved in bringing a product to market as well as the potential rewards associated with a well executed product launch. The goal is to offer a continuum of services to new and experienced inventors to help guide decision making, avoid common pitfalls, and create the best possible pathway to success.
Products:
- uKloo Early Reader Treasure Hunt Game – Help your child learn to read by building sight word recognition as they follow clues the adult hides, leading them to a fun surprise at the end!
- uKloo Riddle Edition – Help kids with problem solving, literacy, and critical thinking as they solve riddles that lead to the next clue. Follow the clues to a neat treat or surprise in the last location!
- Exact Change – Practice math skills and money skills with this fun card game where the first player with no cards left wins the game!
- Perfect Timing – Kids work together to learn how to tell time with this hands-on clock and flashcard set.
- Lightning Fast Math – A fun twist on flashcards as you work to solve a math problem faster than the other player.
- WordQ Jumbled Crossword Brainteaser – A single player game where you match your starting tiles based on your puzzle, then move the letters around until they all spell words like a crossword puzzle!
- Verbal Volley – Each team has the same word to play from as they race to name a synonym or antonym for that word.
- Classic Farkel – This fast paced game has players rolling dice, keeping the ones they need, eventually making all six dice count.
- Personalogy Party – Get to know others in your group by asking questions with multiple choices and see how well you know the one asking the question!
- Personalogy Family – A family game that has one person asking questions while the other players guess what the “host” will answer and why!
My Thoughts:
You probably know by now that my family loves to play games. While we love our technology equipment too, sometimes you just need to slow down and have some face to face fun. And since our family ranges in ages from adults to grade school kids, we need family friendly games that are easy enough for the youngest to learn but still be fun for the older kids. A bonus if we can keep the number of pieces down to a minimum! And when I find a game company that puts out multiple titles we like, then we’re more likely to try their other options, like from Continuum Games.
When the youngest of our group wants to spend time with the whole family, we try to break out the games like Exact Change or Perfect Timing. Exact Change works with money flashcards where you want to get rid of all your cards first to win. You have to make exact change, based on the last card played. You can play a card with the same color or same amount of money, or by making EXACT change. This is great to get them to think about how different amounts of change can equal the same amount. Yes, most things in life are digital now, but sometimes you need to figure it out in your head or help the cashier who relies on their machine to figure it out. Plus it’s a fun, fast paced game and you have to watch the other players to make sure they are playing the right cards. And with Perfect Timing, the kids can help each other by setting a time on the analog clock face, then moving it forward or back, based on the instruction card they draw. It’s a great way to get them used to telling time, but also the “other” parts of telling time, like what it means to say “ten past the hour” or “at the top of the hour”. It’s a fun game where everyone can participate together, not necessarily against each other.
When I only have the younger kids at home or if we’re having an adventure day, I’ll break out the uKloo Early Reader Treasure Hunt Game or uKloo Riddle Edition. Both of these games have your child or children follow clues that eventually lead to a treat or a surprise that you, the adult, have set out. The clues in the uKloo Early Reader Treasure Hunt Game have several levels, depending on what your child’s reading skills may be. They include things like “look under the couch” or “check next to the bathroom sink”, places around the house they can go explore to find their next clue waiting for them.
And if your treasure hunter gets stuck, there’s a helpful chart you can put on the fridge that has pictures demonstrating the sight words they can look at for extra help. And the uKloo Riddle Edition has the kids solve riddles to find their next clue. And again, there’s a helpful guide if they need hints on solving their riddle. These titles are really for groups of players, but I think having younger kids team up is perfect, especially if one can help the other.
As we start including the older kids in our game sessions, we tend to move on to other titles like Lightning Fast Math, Verbal Volley, and Classic Farkel. Lightning Fast Math has teams using math flashcards until a team matches the color and symbol, they try to solve the problem created by the cards on the table. The first team that says the correct answer wins the cards; the team with the most cards wins the game! It’s basic math for sure, but the repetition and timing aspect definitely encourages learning. Verbal Volley is another great team game where a word card gets played face up, then the teams have to come up with a synonym or antonym for that word to win the point. There are several levels you can choose from so you have some flexibility depending on your age ranges. Warning, it can be hard for the adult brains to switch back and forth like the kids do! And who doesn’t love Classic Farkel? There are a bunch of versions out there now, but the classic one is our favorite. Everyone rolls six dice and you use different combinations to earn points. Then it’s the next player’s turn. It’s a fairly fast paced game but it does use some basic math skills so keep that in mind when the little ones want to play.
Finally, when we have a large mixed group or our players are running a little older, we like to break out some of the other games. Personalogy Party is good when you have adults as some of the questions can be a little adult in nature (nothing dirty, just not what I want my six year old to ask me about). The host asks a question with multiple answers, while the other players guess at what they would answer and why. It’s a great way to get to know other people or to break the ice. Plus since it’s a deck of cards, you can easily take it anywhere you go, even in the car! Personalogy Family is the same type of game, but better for a mixed age audience. The kids can come up with some of the best answers based on their reasoning skills. My son even called me out on a few answers he disagreed with! And finally, a single player game is my favorite, but we still break out it and take turns in the group; WordQ Jumbled Crossword Brainteaser. You get a puzzle board with letters and you set the tiles up to match your board. Then you have to rearrange the letters to make words that fit together, like a crossword puzzle. There are no clues to solve, you just have to make sensible words that all fit together in the 3×3 puzzle board. Great for folks who love word puzzles, Scrabble, and crosswords.
So whether you’re looking for games to play at family gatherings or want something that doesn’t require electricity in order to spend time with friends, be sure to check out these awesome titles from Continuum Games. I love the great selection they offer, including educational games that get the kids moving and learning while they think they’re just having fun. And it’s nice to hear all the laughter and see the smiles from my friends and family as we have a good time together. Family game time is a wonderful way to create memories, whether for Christmas or any other time of the year. Pick up a few titles for yourself and maybe gift a few to other family members to start their own collection.
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We’ve added Continuum Games to our 2018 MEGA Merry Christmas Gift Guide! Check it out here!
