Pop Trivia and Totally Trivia #games @GoliathGamesUS Review

I heart games! I'm an advocate of kids playing some video games, but a lot of card games and board games.

My kids have never had a video game station. No Playstation, or Wii. They do have Kindles with some games on them. Their time in playing with those is limited. They do use their Kindles for other things like watching videos, and looking up things for homework.

What are the positives when it comes to board games and card games? 

• Logical Thinking 
• Reasoning Skills
• Critical Thinking
• Spatial Reasoning
• Social Skills 
• Communication Skills

Mica's always been a kid that does pretty awesome in school, but lacks some skills at home. I think games help him.

Goliath Games sent me Quiz Master Fantastic Pop Trivia - Questions From Every Genre, Every Decade and Quiz Master Terrific Totally Trivia - The Complete Quiz Game to review.

I love both games! 

• They don't take up a ton of room. They stack easy. 
• These are games that are great for the car, and traveling.
• There's 2 games, so each boy will get one for Easter! 
• The games should help Mica with his favorite thing at school - Quiz Bowl.

How to Play:

Both games are played similarly. If you are playing with teams, make sure they have the same amount of people, and are around the same ages. If young and old adults are playing, put young and old adults on each team. 

Roll the die to pick which team/player plays first. This team/player then states which decade or category they wish to venture and rolls the die. The team/player to their left takes one of the cards from the decade or category and reads out the question. 

If the first team/player chooses Rock and Pop and rolls a 6, they will be asked questions 6 on the rock and Pop card. 

If the team/player answers the questions correctly, they keep the card. If not, the card is returned to the bottom of the draw pile. 

Each team/player takes a turn.

As the team/players get different categories or decades right, they don't have to answer any more questions from that, and move on to other categories or decades. 

The game keeps going until all 6 categories or decades have been answered. 

*You could play in the car with just asking questions for fun. At that time you wouldn't play with a die at all. There would be no winner, or loser. Just time would be passed. 

About Quiz Master Fantastic Pop Trivia Questions From Every Genre, Every Decade:

• Contents: 900 Questions | 1 Die
• Answer one question correctly from each of the six decades: 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s
• Topics: Fads and Fashion | TV | Film | Music | Sport | Name the Year
• Cost: $12.99 on Prime
• Ages: 14 and Up

Somehow I skipped the 1950s, but it's certainly an important decade. I'm going to walk you through the rest of the decades.

1960's: Name the year: Mattel's Hot Wheels toy cars are launched; the news magazine TV program "60 Minutes" debuts on CBS; the film "Oliver!" opens in theaters.

Answer: 1968

1970's: What was the 1974 boxing match between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali in Zaire known as?

Answer: The Rumble in the Jungle

1980's: Name the signature dance move that became popular worldwide after Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean" on "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever."

Answer: Moonwalk

1990's: Which brand of water gun went on sale in 1990 and used manually pressurized air to shoot water further distances than standard squirt guns?

Answer: Super Soaker

2000's: Which Lego Technics these became one of the company's biggest-selling properties ever and helped save the company from a financial crisis?

Answer: Bionicle

About Quiz Master Terrific Totally Trivia the Complete Quiz Game:

• Contents: 900 Questions | 1 Die
• Answer one question correctly from each of the six categories: Rock and Pop | TV and Film | Fun and Games | People and Places | Science and Nature | Past and Present
• Cost: $12.99 on Prime
• Ages: 14 and Up

The answer to the question on the box would be Travis and Mica.

Rock and Pop: American rapper Curtis James Jackson III is known professionally as whom?

Answer: 50 Cent

*I guess I knew that, but never follow rap. It didn't come to me until after I saw the answer.

TV and Film: What film stars Liam Neeson as a retired CIA agent who travels across Europe to save his kidnapped daughter?

Answer: Taken

Past and Present: In which year did France perform its last execution by the guillotine? Was it 1957, 1967 or 1977?

Answer: 1977

Fun and Games: Which sport was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith?

Answer: Basketball

People and Places: Where was Sir Isaac Newton burried?

Answer: Westminster Abbey

Science and Nature: Who said "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind?

Answer: Albert Einstein

Which game do you think you'd like to own Pop Trivia or Totally Trivia? 

Are you good at trivia games? 

What game do you like to play on game night, and why?

Disclaimer: Goliath sent me these 2 games to help with this review. They in no way influenced what I wrote, or my opinions.

Camp Aim for the Stars

I have to go backwards a bit. A few weeks ago the boys went to Aim for the Stars | Science and Math Camp at University of Nebraska Omaha.

I like that the camp is so parent friendly. What I mean by that is, is that they have a before and after care program, they have a self pick-up for kids that have been to the camp for more than a year - you just drive up to pick your kid(s) up and they get in, their registration is simple and online, you can pay for all of the camp or installments, and the family event is in the evening.

They've been going to this camp for years now. What I like is that they offer different camps within the camp. Examples: Isaak was in Stack it Up! and Mica was in Get Your Game On! The year before the camp names and content was different for the boys.

Family Night was the night before we went on vacation. There are options, so we do things different each year. You can go into the classrooms to check things out. There's also a choice of going into the planetarium for a slightly cheesy movie, or C.A.P.O.W. - Chemistry and Physics on Wheels. C.A.P.O.W. almost seems like a magic show, but it's science. They have their gift shop open. For the camp the kids get a $5 off coupon for anything in the gift shop. We always have gotten something small for the boys there.

Here's their camp t-shirts they got this year:

We actually opted to skip the big fancy presentations, and spent our time in the boy's classrooms this year.

Isaak was so excited to be in Stack it Up! with his cousin Elijah. They built a city with Legos. Isaak had a theater. He had a container where he was collecting fake tickets from people. 

Isaak was really happy that Mr. Miller was his teacher for the camp. He has worked at the elementary school when Mica still went there. He has a boy that's Mica's age and a girl that's Isaak's age. We've had their other oldest child babysit a long while back. We've hung out with them at different times. 

Besides stacking things up with Legos, they also played Jenga and were supposed to have a paper airplane contest, but it rained all day so that got canned. 

Mica wouldn't shut up about Get Your Game On! He was a little bummed that his cousin Evan wasn't with his. My sister Terra signed him up for a different camp. 

Mica's never really gotten into bored games as much as Isaak or I. With his birthday coming up he has been going on and on about games he wants. A few are $45 games! Yikes! He's talked about all these survival games: Risk, Pandemic, Settlers of Catan, and Stratego. 

I bought Risk on vacation to keep them occupied at Travis' Aunt and Uncle's house. 

I got Settlers of Catan on Amazon with a GC I won. 

I've contacted Z-Man in hopes that they'd give me Pandemic to review. I even laid out what kind of a post I'd like it to be. Where I'd go over board games for older kids, and ways they benefit them. I haven't heard back, so I'm betting that's a no go. I kind of wish they'd just email me saying, "Nope", so I'd know to just buy it. I thought with reviewing for ThinkFun, Goliath Games and Tenzi they'd be all over that. My life feels a bit full of rejection these days. Oh well. 

Mica even taught me Othello; saying it would now be my favorite game. It was good he was thinking of me. I did like it.

We spent most of our time in the game room battling it out. 

Isaak got a bit bummed the teacher kicked his butt in Chess. Ha!

What board games do you like the most? Are there any that you've played that we should try out?

Disclaimer: None of these products were given to me to review. I'm only sharing an experience.

@GoliathGamesUS Review

We love games!

The First Game Goliath Games sent us is Googly Eyes - The Family Game of Wacky Vision

It's a fun game for sure! This is the game I liked watching my kids play the most. 

Lenses:

It comes with glasses where you can switch the lens in and out of. They are easy to switch in and out after a few practices.

There are 3 sets of lenses. Each set of lenses are different with how you see. One you can see fairly well, but things are blurry, another is even more blurry and the other is so blurry you can hardly see.

Isaak's eyes are big already, so it cracked me up with each set of lenses he put on. He just looks so cute and funny!

Game:

This game is more fun with additional players. I should have gotten it out at Isaak's birthday party. Teams work great! Is a drawing game. The more players on a team, the more people to guess a drawing.

Players take turns drawing different things with their switched lenses. The first team to reach Finish wins. For 4-16 players, ages 7 and up. We played with just taking turns.

Game Contents:

• Colorful Game Board 
• Tablet Timer 
• 162 Challenge Cards 
• 1 Die 
• 1 Pair of Glasses 
• 3 Changeable Lenses: Easy, Medium & Difficult

 

The Second Game Goliath Games sent us is Mastermind For Kids - Codemaker Vs. Codebreaker

I couldn't find a direct link on their site for this game. It is in a lot of retail stores. 

This game was Isaak's first choice to play! 

Game:

Use matching, logic and destructive reasoning skills to locate the jungle animals in this challenging Mastermind For Kids game from Pressman Toy, an awesome opportunity for a truly tense duel. For 2 participants Age: 6 years & up.

Game Contents:

• Plastic base featuring Rocky Mountain Tray
• 72 Jungle Animal Pieces Spanning 6 Varieties of Colors
• 15 Red Scoring Pegs 
• 15 White Scoring Pegs 
• Game instructions 

This game had the least fighting going on. Have I even mentioned that my boys have some of the same interests, but they are 2 1/2 years apart. There is power struggles, and somethings one child can do better than the other. It helped that this game was in fact for 2 players.

The Third Game Goliath Games sent us is Build or Boom - Build it Fast Then Make Theirs Blast

This was Mica's first choice to play! 

Game:

The big boss is looking for the best builders! In my house the best builder is Mica.

Build your structure quickly yet carefully on your platform according to the card chosen. Mica was steady, and Isaak would go too fast, only to have it crash down.

Once it's built SMASH your boomer to send your opponent’s structure tumbling.

Ages 4 and up. Helps build STEM skills such as analytical thinking and shape recognition. Doesn’t need batteries!

Game Contents: 

• 4 Boards 
• 4 Blocks 
• 4 Triangles 
• 4 Arches 
• 4 Cones 
• 4 I-Beams 
• 4 Barrels 
• 2 Builders 
• 30 Blueprint Cards 
• 2 Platforms 
• 2 Boomers 
• 2 Air Hoses 
• 1 Card Holder Complete Instructions

Which game do you think you'd like to play the most?

Disclaimer: Goliath sent me these 3 games to help with this review. They in no way influenced what I wrote, or my opinions.

Brick Logic By Think Fun

Brick Logic is a new fun game by Think Fun!

Brick Logic is a challenging one player game.

It makes the player think in 3-D.

How to Play:

1. There is a set of 60 challenge cards. Each challenge is different.

2. Once the challenge is picked, the player then tries to build it with the 5 brick pieces.

Challenge 1:

Challenge 2:

It's not as easy as it looks. Some of those bricks are already connected. It's all about moving the bricks around to match the challenge. I have 58 challenges to go. Ha!

Brick Logic, as part of Think Fun special collection of STEM games:

• Science
• Technology
• Engineering
• Math

It really expands the mind with all that variety of spacial thinking. I think games like this are fun for kids and adults. In fact many of these puzzle type games help reduce one's risk of getting Alzheimer's disease. This game is for ages 8 and up. I think Isaak will enjoy it. I plan on giving to him for Christmas.

As explained in her book, Mindsets in the Classroom, Mary Cay Ricci implemented a Growth Mindset Project that inserted Think Fun games into 53 classrooms.

Mary Cay Ricci writes: 

These games, in partnership with growth mindsets lessons, showed unexpected results in just 7 months. Not only did the teachers report increased motivation and persistence, but the data showed growth in reasoning abilities All 6 schools averaged growth of 8 percentile points in analogical reasoning and 7 percentile points for quantitative reasoning.

Cost:

$14.99

Bag:

The game Brick Logic also comes with a bag to make it easy to transport.

Disclaimer: I got this game to review. Think Fun in no way expected me to write this review. I wrote it because I love Think Fun, and their STEM friendly games.