Games make great whole-family gifts, and JAX makes some great family games.  Most of these, my daughter said looked boring when she first saw them, but we have thoroughly enjoyed every JAX game we’ve played.  Some of them I’ve already reviewed in an earlier post, but let me tell you about Doodle Dice, Link-O, and How Tall Am I?

Doodle Dice

Doodle Dice is somewhat reminiscent of Yahtzee – and yet quite different!  It consists of a handful of dice with “doodles” on them, and a deck of picture cards.  The object of the game is collect six picture cards, by rolling dice to match the pictures.  This is much harder than it initially seems!

On each turn, you get three dice rolls.  Between rolls, you can keep as many of your already-rolled dice as you like.  You’re aiming to match one of the picture cards on the table.  The catch?  The number of dice required to make the pictures ranges from 1-6, and you may only have one of each.

You may have noticed from the pictures another side benefit of the game – the colors are all written in English, Spanish, and French.  This is just an added perk, as it helps our children learn these foreign words.

Link-O

Link-O finds its roots in dominoes but, again – it’s different!  Link-O is played with tiles and a game board.  The tiles, like dominoes, have numbers at each end.  (Except for the Link-O tiles, which are like “wild cards.”)  Each tile is printed in one of four colors.  The game board has four colored rings on it, and the tiles must be played in their appropriately-colored rings.  Like dominoes, tiles must also be played adjacent to matching numbers.

I haven’t really had opportunity to play this one yet, but my husband and daughters have played it a number of times already.  They really enjoy it, and it’s very good for building their math skills.

How Tall Am I?

Unlike the other games I’ve talked about, How Tall Am I? is more of a children’s game than a “family” game.  No reading is required to play.  The crux of the game is a set of “body parts” – hats, heads, upper torsos, lower torsos, legs.  Players must attempt to gather the pieces to construct one complete person.  When they’re finished, they measure their completed people, and the player with the tallest character wins.

This serves its purpose well, but doesn’t get as much play in our house as the others, because it’s not as exciting for the older, reading members of the family.

Other JAX Games

See my review of Bible Sequence, States and Capitals Sequence, Chips, & Match ‘Em.

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Disclosure: JAX provided me with copies of the games described above to facilitate this review.  All opinions are my own (and those of my family).