Not since Blue Orange have I found a company with a suite of games that are all fresh, smart, fun, and great for all ages. Foxmind makes a group of solitaire, thinking, and spatial logic games. I opened 3 of the games at our Magic Beans store in Hingham today: Equilibrio, Zoologic, and Meta-Forms - [...]
Archive for the ‘For Older Kids’ Category
A whole new dimension for Set
Monday, February 25th, 2008I became a fan of the game Set during my senior year of high school when our college guidance counselors kept it on hand for distracting stressed-out students during free periods. Long after our letters had come, we still hung out in their basement office, playing that addictive game.
If you’ve never played, Set is a [...]
Funkey Town
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007The latest entry into the virtual-toy-that’s-also-really-a-toy category is about to hit the market. Funkeys are quirky little vinyl creatures who come to life on your PC. Unlike Webkinz and other similar products, Funkeys is not web-based. It actually comes with a CD-ROM for your Windows PC, and a large Funkey docking station that plugs into [...]
Clek is here!
Tuesday, August 21st, 2007I loved this booster when I saw it at the JPMA show, and we’ve finally received our first shipment. Now that I’ve had a chance to spend some time with it, I’m particularly impressed with the padding on the seat. It is very thick and amazingly comfortable (I sat on it myself). I think it’s [...]
How Mao? Try Quao.
Sunday, August 19th, 2007Fourteen summers ago, I came home from a teen tour obsessed with a card game I had learned — Mao. If you aren’t familiar with this diabolically fun game, Mao has no rules. Or at least, none that can be explained. But in this day and age, you can find everything on the internet, including [...]
Retro Cool
Wednesday, August 8th, 2007Look what’s back! The Snoopy Sno Cone Maker has been rereleased by Sababa Toys, and it’s exactly the product you and I remember so fondly. Originally released in 1979, this was a runaway bestseller and a summer fixture in millions of homes (mine included). If you never had one, basically you pop some ice cubes [...]
A-maze-ing
Thursday, July 5th, 2007Let’s talk about marbles for a minute. Marbles are so simple, but they’ve been a cornerstone of playtime for centuries. Set them in motion and you’ve got hours of entertainment. There are countless types of marble run construction toys out there, and many different interpretations. The newest one is Q Ba Maze. This marble construction [...]
Ty Girlz are here
Wednesday, May 9th, 2007I mentioned at Toy Fair that a lot of toy companies have been, ahem, inspired by the immense success of Webkinz to create their own plush toys with online tie-ins. How does the old adage go? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? Well, I’m sure Ganz (the company behind Webkinz) isn’t exactly enjoying the [...]
How’s your poker face?
Friday, April 20th, 2007At Toy Fair, we picked up a sample of Spy Alley, a game that is not new, but we’d heard great things about it. The reputation is well-deserved - I thought it was a really nice game. Very well thought out and unique, fun to play and appealing to a wide age range. Although it [...]
Strategery in Phoenix
Friday, April 20th, 2007I’m back from my vacation - thanks for bearing with me while I took a break from writing. While we were kicking back in Phoenix, I took the opportunity to do some toy testing with my kids and my family. We are big time game players, a trait that seems to be genetically hardwired, so [...]
