Wiggles 3D – Triple the Fun! Giveaway!

Our kids love to play games. We’re trying to make Fridays into a Game Night at our house. You know, chips, crackers & cheese, juice, and, oh right, games! It’s exciting when the kids get old enough to actually play games with us (or rather we play games with them!). We have multiple games like Monopoly Junior and Uno that the kids are enjoying more and more as they get older and can “do it all myself!” But you know what’s even more fun!? NEW games! New is always funnest! (And yes, that’s a word. In my house, anyway!)  I was pretty excited when Wiggles 3D said they’d send me some games to review. Yup, still a kid.

The first game we tried was Bellz!  The first round was rather comical. You see, in theory, this game is very easy. You have 10 bells in 4 colors. Pick your color. You
have a two-ended magnet. The big doozy end for grabbing a bunch of bellz and the smaller, delicate end for gently picking up bellz. Uh huh. Easy-peasy, right? Ooooooh nooooooo! First off – that big doozy end? Yup, it works really well. As in, do you want to scoop up half the bellz? Your color and all other colors? And did I mention that if you get another color, you lose all your bellz? There were lots of laughs and we rapidly switched to the small end of the magnet. The magnet is a great size – it works fantastic for both little two year old hands and big Daddy hands! Once the kids figured out how to gently sneak bellz away from neighbouring ones or grab one then use it to grab more, things got a little more competitive! There were lots of groans when one wrong colored bell attached itself to the bell train. There were lots of cheers when someone managed to get 4-5 bellz in one attempt. I think Daddy lost because he was too busy trying to collect 7 bellz every time! And you know what I really like about this game? It’s just as much fun for adults as it is for kids! The kids can be excited about getting just one bell, because it’s one bell closer to 10. However, the game becomes much harder if you always try to get “just one more bell.” Overall, this game is a bell, I mean ball of fun and is often requested!

After a few rounds of Bellz, the kids were eager to try out Fingertips. These are the cutest cards you’ve ever seen! First, each card is shaped like a hand. On the end of each finger is an animal. Cute animals! This game is extra fun because there are actually three different games included in the instructions. In each game, the aim of the game is to match the animals on the fingertip of one hand to the fingertip on another hand. Mad Rush, the speed match one is a bit too hard for our littlest, but our older two quite enjoyed it. My husband did suggest one minor house rule change though – the kids can’t match the same animal more than once in a row. You know how it’s easier to just look for one animal rather than to look at all of them? The kids really enjoyed Hide and Seek because it’s a new way to play memory! You start with the thumb animal on your card and try to find a match (on any finger) of the hidden cards on the table.  The last one is Hot Dog. This one takes quite a lot of table space but is super fun as well. One hand is placed in the middle of the table and everyone takes turns matching any animal on their card to one on the table. However, only the fingertips can touch! Needless to say, it gets a bit tight sometimes and spreads out across the table. I love how even my two year old gets excited when she finds a place to match her animals! The only downside to this game is the cards – my hubby’s speed shuffling and dealing doesn’t work! Ha! He’s finally been brought down to my speed! 😉 They are a bit harder to stack up, but the kids love stacking the cards so that’s an easy solution. They are also a tad bit thin, so we do have to encourage the kids to be gentle with them so as not to bend them. Otherwise, it’s a fantastic game that improves memory and matching without the kids even realizing it! That’s a win in my books!

The last game we received is called Lexigo Rush. Ever played Boggle? This is similar, but with a twist. A fairly major twist, at least that’s what my brain keeps telling me! You see, I’ve played Boggle since I was a kid. It had one very definite rule – no going back to the same letter in a word. Well, Lexigo Rush blows that rule out of the water! They encourage you to go back to the same letter. They even throw in blanks to make it more exciting. And then add a different layout and some score doublers and wowzers, my brain is taxed! I love word games. I love the stimulation they provide to the brain, I love the pressure of finding as many words as possible in as little time as possible and I love trying to find longer words than 3 letters. I’ll be honest though, lots of my words are just three letters cuz they’re the easiest to find! This game is also played in three rounds, so I always have several rounds to try to beat my husband! And guess what! If you want to play on your own without digging out the board game, Wiggles 3D offers Lexigo Rush as an app for on your smartphone!  They also offer an app called Game Box that can be your timer, score keeper, rule-reminder, and argument solver – in other words, it has a dictionary!  My only complaint with Lexigo Rush is that it takes a bit longer to set up the board because of the layout and while I’m flipping over the tiles, my opponent can be sneaking peeks and forming words! 😉 I love the packaging – it looks really nice – and once it’s opened, you simply recycle the cardboard and the rest becomes your “game box”. While plastic may not be the most environmentally friendly, I have enough broken-and-retaped-and-broken-and-retaped cardboard game boxes that I’m quite happy to have a tougher plastic container!

Wiggles 3D is based in London, Ontario and I’m really excited for them. They have won awards on at least six of their games! I’ll be watching for their games as they have quite a few others that look really intriguing. Also, if you play games on your smartphone, make sure you take a look at the other apps they offer. I’m really enjoying doing my QuoteSlide each day. Again, it’s a word game and I like stimulating my Mommy-brain afflicated brain! 😉 You can find their board games at Mastermind Toys, Scholar’s Choice, and other independent toy stores.