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Rory’s Story Cubes – Fun Game For All Ages!

November 18, 2010 By

Sometimes I get something to review that I think will only be for the kids, and then I’m surprised when my husband and I enjoy it as much as they do! That was definitely the case with Rory’s Story Cubes from Gamewright.

Rory’s Story Cubes is 9 cubes, each with 6 simple drawings of familiar items like shapes, facial expressions, animals, and objects.  You shake them in the box and pour them out, then make up a story based on the 9 images that are facing up. It’s a simple idea that is addictively fun!   Aimed at ages 8 and up, we found that we enjoyed both taking turns making up stories individually, and working together to see how funny or outrageous our story could get when we all contributed ideas.   Because my daughter, who is five, doesn’t have experience with making up stories yet, I use the cubes with her to practice identifying objects.

BUY IT: This is the perfect game to take along while visiting relatives this holiday season! It’s a great icebreaker, gives kids something to do while the adults are chatting,  can be played at Grandma’s kitchen table or taken along to a restaurant to play while hungry kids are waiting for their food.  Buy one Rory’s Story Cubes game on Amazon for $9.99, a bundle of 4 Games for only $29.99, or a bundle of 6 Games for only $44.99!

Filed Under: Featured Reviews, Games Tagged With: , ,

Upcoming Release – Nickelodeon Fit for the Wii

June 22, 2010 By

I just found out about a new game coming for the Nintendo Wii that combines characters kids love from Nickelodeon with fun physical activity! Kids can jump rope with The Backyardigans, go river rafting with Diego, leap over hurdles with Kai-lan, and pogo stick with Dora in a new, youth fitness product exclusively for the Wii – Nickelodeon Fit. Scheduled for release this fall, Nickelodeon Fit is a new way for kids to stay physically active as they exercise and engage with their favorite characters, all together in a video game for the first time!

Nickelodeon Fit features 30 exercise games targeting cardiovascular activity, core muscles, upper and lower body strength, balance, motor skill development and foot and hand-eye coordination. Using either the Wii Remote™ or the Wii Balance Board™ accessory, kids engage in several physically challenging activities.

Watch for Nickelodeon Fit for the Nintendo Wii to be available this Fall!

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Shrek Forever After Game and Books

June 18, 2010 By

Did you see Shrek Forever After? I really enjoyed it! It was great to see all the characters come together again for a new adventure. Thanks to MomCentral, I got to play the new Shrek Forever After game for Xbox 360, and also got the Shrek Forever After movie Storybook and a set of Shrek Forever After Mad Libs!

ShrekGameShrekStorybookShrekMadLibs

It’s hard for me to find Xbox 360 games that I enjoy playing, because I’m not at all interested in first person shooter games. I want to solve puzzles, I don’t mind fighting bad guys, but I don’t want splattering blood and all that. Shrek Forever After is a PERFECT family video game because it’s all about solving puzzles in a fun, cooperative way.

In the game, you control four characters – Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, and Puss in Boots. One player can switch back and forth between all four, or up to four people can play at once. Each character has their own special abilities and they will often have to work together to solve a puzzle. For example, only Shrek can carry heavy things, and only Puss in Boots can climb up walls. There is fighting, but defeating bad guys means they go *poof* and leave behind health and coins for the characters to collect.

I’ll confess to having to look up a walkthrough for this game a few times; some of the puzzles require really thinking about which characters need to do what in what order, and there are also times where you can’t do something yet because you haven’t unlocked that ability. So you’ll find yourself going back and forth between the different lands completing tasks as you pick up new skills.

Overall, Shrek Forever After is a video game I recommend for families who game together. It’s available for Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, Nintendo DS, and PC.

Continue the fun by also picking up the Shrek Forever After storybook or the Mad Libs, both are available at Barnes & Noble.  And if you can, see the movie in a theater, it’s really great!

disclosure: as mentioned above, I received products through MomCentral to facilitate this review. As always, these are my opinions only.

Filed Under: Games Tagged With: ,
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