Our 2012 Boxing Day Game; Rummikub

Each year we Santa get the girls a board game to go in their sacks. They often play them after Christmas lunch when we adults are all lazing around with our full tums, and as a family we play them on Boxing Day.

When looking for a game, I firstly look for something age appropriate and that can just be played by the two girls without any parental help. It also important to me that the game is challenging and educational so that they are learning something. Mindless games are a waste of time and the kids soon lose interest. At the same time and really very importantly, it has to be fun.

 

This year my choice was Rummikub by Kod Kod International Games which is aimed at ages 7 and up and is for 2- 4 players.

It is a strategic game with numbered tiles and the object of the game is to be the first to place all your tiles from your rack onto the table in certain formations (groups or runs). When the first player to empty their rack calls "Rummikub"  then the other players add up their remaining tiles and everyone gets a score. That way you can continue to play again if you want as some games are quick and others can take a while to play.

The only change we made was, that you are supposed to be only allowed a certain time limit, they recommend 60 seconds, when it is your time, so that you aren't waiting for ages for a person to take their turn. We didn't do this as we were all new to the game and were often explaining moves to each other. We have since decided that we'd give Agent Smelly 120 seconds, The Fashionista 90 seconds and The Papa and I would get 60 seconds for our turns, the next time we hold a Rummikub competition. It's actually a shame that they don't put an egg timer, or something similar in the box, for you to use for timing.

The girls picked up the game rather quickly and to my surprise were winning some of the games in no time at all. And no we weren't letting them win ... we are terrible parents like that, we play to win in this house! Some of the Fashionista's moves were really amazing, and both the Papa and I were blown away by her rearranging a few groups at a time in order for her to get rid of more of her tiles. In fact she seems to be the best at this game and had the lowest score by far. 

This game could easily be played with a deck of cards and also online at www.rummikub.com

All four of us enjoyed the game. It wasn't too simple for we adults, in fact we had to think quite a bit about our moves, and the kids enjoyed the challenge of it too. So if you are looking for a good, fun, challenging game then I would recommend trying Rummikub. It's a keeper.