Reviews (1)

Great game for teaching math and strategy
Not enough kids get taught games like Cribbage, I highly recommend it over some of the fancier board games that sell based upon an appeal that soon disappears.

Cribbage is a great game, played with a standard deck of cards and although it's got lots of strategy and thinking, it's simple enough that most 8 to 10 year olds should be able to pick it up with a patient teacher.

This is a two player game, so it's not for parties or family game night, but it's a really good game and lots of fun. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Topple is a three-dimensional board game for the whole family. To play,perch the game board (a five-level, 8-inch square of molded plastic) on top of the 7-inch- high stand, choose your color piece, and agree on what score will win. Each player thenrolls a die and must place a piece on the game board level that corresponds to the numberrolled. Points are scored by completing rows or building high stacks. The round ends andyou get a point penalty if you send pieces cascading off the platform--that is, cause atopple. Younger children can play without scoring, with players being eliminated as theycause topples. --Richard Farr ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Fun game for all ages!
Topple was my childhood favorite and I'm really glad they brought it back! My younger siblings and I can all play this game together (which is rare since we're 19, 11, 9 and 7 years old!) Topple is a game of skill and strategy. Each player gets 13 pieces. Each player rolls the dice to see which tier they have to put their piece on. The strategy is to get 5 pieces in a row without making the game "topple!" It can get intense, especially when you're playing for points! But it can also be a fun game to teach kids the science of balancing things and how to add the numbers for the score. My little brother really enjoys being the scorekeeper since the point values are low (2,3,4) he can add the values easily. While the older versions of the game had a sturdier base and more solid plastic pieces, this Topple game will surely become a family favorite for everyone!

Teaching teamwork
I searched for something that would keep 6 children, ages 4 to 10, occupied. They were visiting their other grandma in North Carolina, and I knew she could use some help in keeping them busy indoors. Topple seemed to be ideal; It could be played by one or six, it was amusing and exciting. The children LOVED it! They played it as individual competition, and also broke into teams. They learned to laugh at themselves and learned that competition could be fun even if you don't win!
The cost was so reasonable too. The box is durable enough that pieces didn't get lost.
Thank you Pressman Toys!
Grandma Cathy

Great Value Game
Topple is a great value for the entertainment that you get fromthe game. For so little you will have many hours of family quality time.

Description: Topple is played by rolling a die which determines where you can place your colored game pieces. Bonus points are scored if you are the first one to complete a row. In addition you get points for each of your colored pieces that are present in the row. As the game progresses, if there is a vertical stack of three or more you will also score points. There is an element of chance to this game, but skill in placement and daring can help you overcome some of the chance. The game is only 15-20 minutes long so you won't be playing all night. One disadvantage is that there are only enough pieces for four people to play at one time.

Rating: I gave this only four stars for durability because you must disassemble the game to store it compactly. There is a small risk to break the stand. Also the game pieces could get lost-there are no extras. But the game is such fun to play. Our family has been playing it at least three times a week for the past month and we still love it! As for educational value, there are better games for that such as Set and Mastermind. However, children can be taught math skills by keeping score with tally marks and recapping the score at the end of the game counting by 5's. Other visual skills such as balancing the board or estimating when one more game piece will topple the board are also learned. ... Read more

Editorial Review

"I'm bored." "There's nothing to do." Frankly, we don't want tohear about it--the Solid Wood Combination Game Set should see to that.Here's an elegant, raised wooden console--resembling a downsized coffeetable--containing all the tools necessary for hours of diverse, classicgame-playing fun, and topped off with a movable woodenchess/checker/backgammon board. Whether your game is the aforementionedholy trinity, cribbage, poker dice, or dominoes played with a set ofdiminutive double sixes, it's all here. This set is a lucky seven.--Tony Mason ... Read more

Reviews (1)

good concept, poor construction
this looked like a nice table top set, however the wood construction is very poor. The box broke the first day. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great For Beginners
The Saitek Travel Chess Computer has many of the virtues of its more powerful cousins at a fraction of the cost. It has a multi-move "take back" feature, 64 playing levels, teaching modes, and a rudimentary stock of openings. It can be slow and, like just about all computers, will make the same tactical blunders repeatedly. Its playing strength is strictly for beginners but at the highest level it can be challenging to the beginner who will soon move into the intermediate ranks. The Saitek is a useful, entertaining teaching tool for the child who knows the moves to the game. It can be a boon companion on a long car trip or flight (it can beat the woeful on-board chess programs) without all the beep-beep and toot-toot of those mindless hand-held computer video games. The manufacturer's suggested age range of eight years and up is too cautious; this game can be both entertaining and beneficial to the child of four who knows how the pieces move. It is not overly daunting. It will build confidence.

improvements could be made
I'm not an excessively strong chess player (at my best I'm in the 1500s). If you're around 1200 or 1300 and patient this will be a fine game to carry when you travel; but it's too slow and even on the highest level surprisingly beatable even by me.

However, if you're even worse than that, if you just need practice avoiding blunders, the levels are fine. You can move up as you improve; at the highest level you'll need a little positional understanding as well as tactical discipline to beat it consistently. So it's a decent trainer for beginners.

Past that, it needs to be faster and smarter; I suspect there are cell phones that can beat it. I'm not an expert though. Shop around before you buy this one, at any rate.

One final note: the pieces are very small, they are not magnetic and they do not settle very securely into their places on the board. That is, they fall out and get lost too easily. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent but not durable
The entire family had a lot of fun playing with this game,but after 2 weeks of use few of the buttons stop working.I don't recommend to pay $50 for a toy that is going to last for just 2 weeks. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Strong program rated 2200 elo.
This is a really nice chess board computer game- for players of all strengths, though stronger players rated between 1400-2000 elo will probably get the most out of this rather expensive "toy". There are tons of options ranging from choosing different opening books, to various playing levels. to setting whether the clock shows elapsed time or counts down to zero. Everything I need to play against a strong playing partner is right here.
For stronger analysis of chess positions (I read chess books and then run the positions through my Chessmaster 6000 program to get closer to the truth) I recommend Fritz 8 run on a 2 gig processor, but for a strong playing partner that is rated at master level (2200 elo points) then I suggest this top-of-the-line model that was just released in 2003. ... Read more

Editorial Review

With a beautifully designed deck of cards, playing pieces,dice, and instruction book, it's no wonder this card game was nominatedin Germany for Game of the Year in 1997. The game pits two playersagainst each other as rival clans vying for Catan, a territory inmedieval Europe. By using cunning, the resources of their domains, andthe lucky roll of dice, the players compete to see who will be theruler. There are attacks by brigands, knightly tournaments, merchants,spies, and civil wars. Events in the game are presented through eventcards, which can bring plague or prosperity to the clans. Strategy andforesight will win the day, but even the loser will enjoy learningabout the life and culture of medieval times. Young players will needpatience to learn and play. --Lee Strucker ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Great game for a lazy afternoon
We're avid Settlers of Catan board game fans, but always need to find a third person outside of our family to play. Designed for two players, this card game solves the problem. Once you work your way through the not very clear rule book, it's lots of fun pitting your strategy and luck against your opponent's to try and expand your medieval principality to gain 12 victory points to win. The small square cards are designed in vivid color and detail that add sparkle and interest to the game. There are enough devious maneuvers to keep the most avid gamer happy as well as the casual once-in-a-while family player. This is not a quick game. The card game can take several hours to play because it is hard to acquire sufficient "resources", needed to put into play other cards that will get you to your end goal. In other words, a great game for a lazy afternoon.

Great for 30 year olds too!
I just went and bought the expansion card set (five new themes!) and am looking forward to adding these cards into the basic game. A kid at the local game store told me about the board game, but I was looking for a two-person game that I could take on vacation with me & my fiance to Paris. It's a very compact game to pack, but don't try & play it on a plane as space is required to set up the cards. A bed, floor, or table is perfect. Anyhow, this game is a lot of fun and allows various defensive & offensive strategies to be tested (i.e. build knight strength &/or commercial enterprise, build towns & cities, use spies or libraries etc.), includes some luck, and a good memory. Each game I've played has been pretty close, and so it retains its value over time. It takes up at least two or so hours, but the time limit can be adjusted by limiting the victory point total. All in all, a great alternative way to spend an evening at home, or abroad late into the night with your significant other hiding out from nasty (dollar-euro) exchange rates!

One of the best card games
This is a wonderfully balanced card game. Too often games these days seem to encourage finding that one strategy or that one "card" or "position" that wins every time; this seems to be particularly true of video games. The Settlers of Catan card game seems to be relatively free of this. It is true that if you can "memorize" what cards are in what piles you can gain a kind of advantage. But there isn't a single card, or even set of cards, that gaurantee victory each and every time.

My friends and I played the Settlers of Catan and the Starfarers board games, and the associated expansions, for a couple of years before I decided to try the card game. I'm a gamer and I could never get my wife to play video games. But she took to this game immediately and we've expanded our collection to include the expansion and several other similar card games.

There are similarities to the Settlers of Catan board game, but there are alot of differences as well. The rules are relatively simple and easy to learn. If you've played any Mayfair game chances are you'll understand the rules pretty well after one game. If you are new to this type of game it might take a couple of trys to learn the rules.

The basic premise of the game is to build a principality and in the process be the first to reach 12 victory points. You can either chose to expand your principality by building more villages or by improving it with cities and associated buildings. Buildings and improvements are built by gathering the necessary resources of brick, wood, wool, and grain; gold serves a kind of commodity that you can trade for other resources. Various improvements e.g. fleets make trading for other resources more efficient or can even double your land production. Each games takes an hour or two to complete and *alot* of table space.

Catan Card Game. Not as fun as board game.
I bought this game at a local game store. Amazon doesn't seem to carry it anymore.

I am a big fan of the board game and have bought all the expansions. I was hoping this game would be a travel version of the board game, in card form. It is not.

First off all it requires a LOT of table space. Even more then the board game! You need to lay out your cards to build your principality. On top of that there are 10 other piles of cards. You get the idea.

Second, the rules are not as clear as the board game. It doesn't play as easy or clean. It helps to have played the board game. That way you have a basic understanding of what is going on in the game. The rules are somewhat confusing in their terminology and leave questions that occur during gameplay.

It requires a lot more thinking then normal SoC and has an unusual twist; Memorization. Part of the game involves digging through the piles of cards to get the ones you want. If you can remember what cards are in what piles, and additionally where the card you want is, you have an advantage.

Overall it is difficult to play at first, but you soon begin to get the hang of it. It is not quite up to the level of the other Catan games, but then again, what is?

A Wonderful, Deep Two-Player Game
This is a great game for two players (and two players only). The first one or two times I played, it was very, very slowgoing because there is a lot to take in. However, once you adapt to the numerous cards and they become familiar to you, games tend to take about an hour. It's a fairly involved game, so you have to be in the mood for that. There's a lot of strategy and many ways to win. I greatly recommend it for those who already enjoy playing games. It might be daunting for a really casual gamer, though. If you like it, there are now expansion sets available that add lots of spice and variety to the original. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

A Great Entry-Level Wargame
Axis and Allies has been enticing people to the hobby of wargaming for more than 15 years, and this new version should add many more converts. The strategic decisions that each nation faced in the European theatre of World War II are accurately portrayed here. The addition on new troop types (artillery, destroyer) are welcome. The game play is much deeper than in classic Axis and Allies. I've played this game five times, and had differing results. The Allies can win if the Germans strip Western Europe too much in an attempt to knock the Soviet Union out of the war. The key to allied success is in the United States and Great Britain clearing the shipping lanes and applying pressure on Western Europe while Russia trades men and space for time. Germany can win if the navy can deny shipping to the Allies and deliver a killing blow to the Soviets.

The game can be learned in a couple of hours. Set-up is a breeze, and can be done in five minutes. The game pieces are attractive and historically accurate, with each nation having its own version of tanks, planes, infantry, artillery, and naval forces. The plastic figures are a little brittle, especially the German 88mm guns.

A teenager who enjoys strategy games
I bought Axis and Allies Europe with some Christmas money to see if it improved over the original. It does improve in several ways, such as country specific units, a very nice map, and several new units, but the overall strategy is very diminished. Germany has almost no shot at winning unless you are very lucky with your dice rolls. Their only real chance is either to make a huge navy and attack England, or a huge army and attack Russia. Also, since it is only the European theater being fought over, the United States can use all of its production to attack Germany, which is not realistic because they also had to fight Japan. If you do buy Axis and Allies Europe, I would recommend also getting the Pacific version and playing both games at the same time. (or you could just get the original.) :)

Great family fun
Great game. Three generations of my family all played it along with the Pacific version for a world war. We appreciate the extra detail over the original A&A. I understand my grandsons have had it set up since last Christmas {10 & 12}

Great game, if only it was properly balanced
This game is great historically, graphically, and in complexity.
It is more detailed than the original. The striking flaw to the game is the balance, which removes much of the clever strategy employed in the original. The only realistic strategy for germany is to bull rush Russia early. If Germany cannot be stopped, the game is over quick. If it doesnt succeed early there is no hope once the other allies can bring their forces to bear on western europe. I suggest buying the original, Ive played over a hundred games and there are always ways to tweak your strategy, unlike having only one available here.

Excellent
You don't get better than this game.

I have played A&A for about 20 years, with my father originally getting me into it.

From my experience the best thing to do is to keep the initial rules affiliated to piece movement, power and cost but scrape the A&A rules for two sides. This works best if you have five players and then you can just blow the **** out of each over.
Further, you can make pacts with fellow players to be allies, perhaps
defaulting on this as soon as they have your trust and let there guard down.

Truely brilliant. Expect to wait up to an hour for your turn and have plenty of time on your hands - you will not be going anywhere for at least a day ... Read more