Does your family enjoy family game night? My crew have always loved getting together to play games. There is something special watching our married children sit around with other siblings and enjoy an evening of games. Playing together brings the family closer and builds stronger bonds among the married couples. This Summer we have a new batch of games that have been shaking things up around here. Let me share why our family game nights will never be the same with Blue Orange Games.
Blue Orange Games
Blue Orange Games was founded in 1999 by Thierry Denoual in San Francisco, California. As a company, we are committed to helping family and friends create timeless memories around great games. Thierry named his new business Blue Orange Games, a reference to a poem by French Poet Paul Eluard, “The Earth is Blue Like an Orange”. He felt this name was in line with his vision of a harmonious planet.
Over the last 20 years, Blue Orange Games has sold millions of games all over the globe and our products can be found in over 60 countries. In the US, our games are sold at more than 2000 independently owned stores, as well as large chains like Barnes and Noble, Fred Meyer and Target .
Each year we continue the Blue Orange tradition of visiting our retail customers in person. Taking the time to visit each store has allowed us to create strong relationships with our retail partners. In-store game nights and conversations with customers and players alike play a key role in our creativity, and the interactions inspire new games, improvements, and mutually beneficial marketing actions.
Here are some of the new games for 2019
Beagle or Bagel?
Can you match the dogs and bagels? This fast paced matching game is a hoot. Did you realize that sleeping dogs and bagels could have such striking similarities? The concept is like other matching games, you flip over two cards to find a match. If yours match, you have to tell out “Beagle” or “Bagel” depending on which pair you matched.
Because we have a large range of age and skill sets, we adjusted the number of pairs we used. This made the game open to everyone from our three year old to grandma.
Dragon’s Cave
While trying to strike it rich, this game requires players to out smart the dragon. Each player sends a brave dwarf into the dragon’s cave to gather the golden coins. But don’t let the dragon outsmart your next move because if they do, you must back up and take another path.
This is another game that is easy to adjust the rules depending on the age and skill set of those playing. Little ones will like it because it is simple to play and older ones will be challenged enough to keep them enjoyed too.
Sherlock Express
It’s a mystery game. You will need to help Sherlock figure out who is Moriarty’s accomplice. As you observe the suspects, their alibis are placed for you to review. Can you use your deductive skills to figure out who is the accomplice? If you can figure it out first, you win the round.
As with most mystery games, you need to use your skills to weed through the distractions. Will you be able to help Sherlock catch his man or woman? In this game, everyone is a suspect – until they are proven innocent.
Bears In Barrels
This game requires quick things and well…I was going to say talent but my three year old beat me! The game has two (2) barrels with a bear stuck inside. The object is to flip a barrel so it lands right side up. If it does, you pass the barrel to the next person placing it upside down. They continue to flip their barrel until they can get it upright. This flipping and passing continues until someone ends up with both barrels at their station. They are the loser!
I admit that I am not the best flipper in my family. The little ones seem to master this skill set a lot faster than any of the adults. This is a game that can be played anywhere and is good for a ton of hoots and laughter.
Fishing Day
While the game is called Fishing Day, it involves color and shape recognition and counting skills. Just don’t tell your little ones that it is a learning game! In this game each player turns over a card showing the color and shape of fish that they need to catch. Then the race is on as each player uses their fishing rod and ring to capture the correct shape, color, and number of fish before the other players complete their card.
We adjust the rules in this game by making sure the younger players have the “easier” card to play. We also let the super young ones just match the color and not the shape if needed. Overall, this is a fun game that builds multiple skills in children and is entertaining for everyone.
Slide Quest
Based off a video game, this game take cooperation to a new level. You have to work together as you guide this brave rolling knight through and around adventures. Each of the four (4) players holds a lever and help list, twist, and lower the platform to slide the knight where needed. The goal is to help the knight follow the right path while beating or avoiding any obstacles.
This game evolves up with three (3) levels of difficulty. It takes working together and perfect timing on each player in order to get the knight to safety. The only issue we had with this game was when we had to stop and move it from the game table. No one wanted to lose their position which just shows how much they enjoyed playing it.
Tumble Maze
In this game, gravity plays a huge roll in which direction the balls will fall. After you select where you want your ball to land, you have to build a track of sorts hoping to guide your ball to the intended destination.
My crew enjoy this game so much. They also play a version where they compete and add road blocks to try to stop the opponent. Either way, this game, according to my six year old, “full of challenges and thinking”. Oops.. he may have figured out that most of the games we like to buy are both for fun and learning.
Smaller Travel Games
The following games will have also added to our travel bag. They are the perfect size to pack for vacation or overnight visits.
Dog Rush
If you have ever taken more than one dog on a walk at the same time; this game will be right up your alley. Each player has a (special colored) dog on their leash and all the leashes get mixed together in a pile. Then each person selects the leash handle that they believe is the one belonging to their dog. As you start to pull your leash to free your dog, you may discover that you don’t have your dog at all!
Our little ones like this game so much because there aren’t a lot of rules to follow and strangely enough, they seem to be able to pick their dog’s leash from the pile more often than not. It’s a great game for groups of all ages.
Oh My Gold!
Ready to have a treasure hunt? As each player tries to roll their dice and open the treasure chest to win coins and diamonds, they must make a quick decision of playing on and risking everything or waiting until their turn comes around again. If you are able to correctly roll your dice with the matching keys needed to open the treasure chest, you can then gather the loot. As your “booty” grows, you are on your way to being declared winner.
This is a fairly fasted paced game. The concept is hard for the little ones but most of our school age and up crew were able to quickly master the game.
Panic Island
In this game everyone is rushing around in a panic. The local volcano on your home island is going to erupt. Everyone is counting on you to save them. You will have two (2) minutes to save as many cave dweller, dodos, and eggs possible using the help of the island leaders and Gouga, the island God.
You will need to flip over two (2) cards and hope for a match. If not, they get flipped back over and you select other cards. You are trying to find the Raft and Paddle in order to safely escape the volcano. To make the game more exciting, there is a two (2) minute soundtrack you can download and play as the timer or to increase the fun with sound effects.
Sprint!
Are you ready for the race between the turtle and the hare? In this game you are the turtle, and a tenacious turtle at that, racing against a fearless rabbit. Everyone knows that a rabbit is a lot faster than a turtle, but with good guessing skills; you might just beat that rabbit at his own game.
At your turn, you place an objective card face up on the table. Then you try to pick up the same number of cards from the stack as indicated on the objective card. How closely will you be able to guess? The closer you are without going over, the faster you will move towards the finish line.
TopiCubes
This is a game where players must match words with a starting letter that was thrown on their dice. Each throw of ten (10) dice, 5 with a letter, and 5 with an illustrated topic. The goal is to find matching words that start with one of the letters showing on a die, and must belong to one of the category showing on a dice of a different color. Yes, it is as challenging as it sounds – but so much fun!
Topics include things like Celebs, Television shows, pieces of clothing, ‘’something square’’, or an animal that lives on land. Say for example the topic was a vehicle, you would need to look at the 5 letters showing from the throw and come up with a name of a vehicle that starts with one of the letters showing.
As you can see, our family game nights will never be the same with Blue Orange Games. Add one or more of these fun family games to your stash for the next family game night. They will bring some serious fun to the evening.
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We’ve added Blue Orange Games to our Celebrate Summer Fun 2019 Gift Guide! #MDRSummerFun Check it out here!
