Review - Azul Board Game: Great Fun for all the Family

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any affiliate links will be marked with #ad)

During this Coronavirus lockdown, we have been so lucky to have a new game to play. I was first introduced to the board game, Azul (#ad) in February when I played it with a few friends and I was hooked from the start. It seems to retail for around £32 - £35 but I came across a brand new copy on eBay for £12 so I was very chuffed with that. Read on for our Azul review -

Azul is suitable for 2 - 4 players and adapts well to whichever number of players we've tried it with. I think 2 player is probably my favourite though as the gameplay is quicker and feels more exhilarating. It says it is suitable for ages 8 plus, but our friends have it too and they play with their 6 and 8-year-old daughters, so the concept is quite easy to grasp, but they may just need a little help with the scoring.

The box contains:
100 Resin Tiles
4 Player boards
9 Factory displays
4 Scoring markers
1 Starting player resin tile
1 Linen bag
1 Rulebook

The aim of Azul is to score the most points by placing various coloured tiles onto your game board, over a number of rounds. It sounds simple but there is actually a little more to it than that, the skill is in deciding which tile/s to pick up each turn and where to put them to gain the advantage against your opponent/s.

Set-up is super easy and the instructions are clear and give all the details you need. My 12-year-old twins had it mastered after one game and have played it dozens of times since. My 16-year-old has also joined them a few times to play and he plays a more cunning and devious game, as he likes to strategise and project where others might want to go. It is certainly more challenging when he is playing.

The quality of the board and tiles is really good. They are sturdy and feel like they will last a very long time. You get a large bag with the tiles, to hide them whilst you deal them out at the beginning of each round and that it is a bit flimsy and has already lost one of its strings in the first week. I really can't moan though, given the £12 price tag I paid.

Azul has only been on the board game market since 2017 and in 2018 it won the Spiel des Jahres award, making ti the board game of the year, a highly coveted accolade in the board gaming world. This seal of approval means that board gamers the world over agree with me and find it a fabulous fun game for all ages. That engages but is easy to learn and play.

Gameplay takes about 30-40 minutes and again that makes it very easy to play, or you may get hooked like us and still be playing 3 or 4 games down the line. There is also a more freestyle version of the game on the back of the game boards, but we haven't tried that as yet.

As I just had a look on Amazon I was pretty excited to see there are two newer versions of Azul as well - Azul Stained Glass and Azul Summer Pavilion, so I know what I might be buying if this lockdown goes on for too long!

(#ad) Azul is currently for sale on Amazon for £37.36

If you want a good instructional video on how to play Azul, rather than reading the instruction booklet, have a watch of this one, it is clear, concise and very accurate.



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Boom Blast Stix - What A Fun Game!

We've been playing a new game at our house and I can tell you one thing, it has been keeping us on the edge of our seats. The first time the stix ever went boom I screamed so loud my neighbour told me she heard me!

I love the fun and simplicity of Boom Blast Stix. My son described it as a modern take on Buckeroo and I suppose it is, a little! The game play is simple and as such any age can probably play, although the manufacturers recommend it for upwards of 6 years.

You receive the large tub. 32 springs and an instruction booklet and that's it. All you have to do is take turns to lock the spring and then add it to the pile. The red lid of the storage tub is used as the base to stack on and you can either use this alone so the game is closer to the table or floor and is slightly less explosive or you can use the red lid on top of the storage tub and then when the stix go boom they literally go everywhere. We were playing in our dining room and I had to get the kids to crawl round and collect up all the springs.

The springs are pretty easy to lock together and my kids had no problem doing it, I suspect it is this aspect that means there is a 6+ years recommendation on the game. It felt as if different springs had different tensions, so you could never know when they were going to pop open and explode the pile everywhere.

You have to have strong nerves with this game, as it is a waiting game of suspense. You can't be of a nervous disposition to play this game as it is startling when it goes boom! Watch this short clip to see Miss E building up the stix and waiting for the inevitable boom!



I'm really looking forward to taking this game into school in the coming weeks as I know the boy that I coach will love playing this with me. It only takes around 5 minutes to play and it is high intensity with lots of laughter resulting, so it will be just perfect as a session starter when he is having a low day.

You can buy Boom Blast Stix from Character Online for £14.99. It is a good sturdy tub and springs and I think it ill last a long time and provide a lot of fun.

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Disclosure: We received the Boom Blast Stix game free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Mattel's Molehill Mania Children's Game

I have to say that a simple and quick game is always appreciated in our house, whilst it is wonderful to sit down and have an hour game of Junior Monopoly it is not always what my 5 year old twins want.  Fast and furious is quite often the order of the day and Mole Hill Mania fits this bill perfectly.

Mattel sent this game for my 5 year old twins to review and we have all been having fun, gameplay takes literally about 5-10 minutes and their big brother JJ (who is 9) has shown himself to be a champion, much to the distain of Miss E.  Basically you have a little plastic molehill that you fill with coloured moles and then you have two mallets each and the 2 players whack the moles out of their molehill and then use the mallets to gobble them up, first one to 6 moles collected is the winner.

 

There is also a slightly harder version of the game where the two players choose a colour and then have to collect their own colour moles and the sixth mole has to be the only red one. I was chuckling away watching the kids scrabbling around the floor for their moles. Playing it Christmas day with presents and paper still around make for such fun in searching.

Molehill mania is a hit in our house and has become a valuable addition to the family games shelves. I have tried really hard but I cannot think of a con for this game, so I’ll leave you withal the plus points.

Plus points

·        Practically no setting up and very easy for a small child

·        Sturdy plastic toy

·        No batteries required

·        Reasonable price, I found it for £14.97 at Tesco (goof for collecting/ spending the clubcard points!)

·        Really quick and simple game to play

Suitable for age 4 upwards.

I'll leave you with Miss E's face when JJ won yet again!  Yes I did have to step in and play with her in a less competitive way....

 

Disclosure: We were sent this toy free of charge by Mattel for the purposes of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: UNO Roboto game

Have you ever played UNO before?  Because if not I seriously recommend it, JJ and I have been playing it for a couple of years or so and we have great fun.  He particularly likes it as it seems to be a game that he wins, often!

It had never occurred to me to get my twins to play as well as I just assumed 5 was too young but it appears not, especially when Daddy is around to give them a helping hand. We sat down as a family to play UNO Roboto a couple of Sunday's ago and I wondered how much the funky little Robot would add to the regular card game but it does add to the fun.  The kids liked recording their name on the robot and the 'house rule' we could add made it a laugh too. We choose to sing a nursery rhyme while hopping on one leg, I can safely say the kids have far better balance than I do.

Roboto takes a good game and makes it even better, every 10 goes or so it will add in something random, like 'Miss M change all your cards with Miss E' or 'all players, touch your nose and the last one has to pick up 2 cards'. The Robot seems to be able to dish out the fun pretty evenly so everyone gets to be involved.

The instructions were clear and easy to read, although there is a quite a few but as we know UNO anyway it was good as we already had some familiarity. The robot is not the loudest or clearest when it speaks so you do have to listen out or you can miss it amongst the raucous of fun. The repeat button comes in handy!

UNO Roboto is perfect for adults and children alike, it is really nice to have a game that JJ can just play with his smaller sisters when I am buys cooking dinner or such. He seems to enjoy taking charge and ensuring all the rules are followed.

I would happily recommend this as a good buy for Christmas and it is currently retailing for £19.99 at Argos.

Game Information
For 2 - 6 players at a time.
Suitable for 3 years plus, recommended for 7 years plus.
Requires 3 x AA batteries, which are not included.


Disclosure:  We were provided with this game free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review & Giveaway: Swingball All Surface

Congratulations to Dolly Daydreamer (@d_daydreams) you are the lucky winner.  Please DM or email me your name and address details.  Many thanks, Mich x

So what do you think when I say Swingball to
you?  Personally it took me right back to being in my back garden in the early 80's when I was about 10 years old.  It was definitely something that was part of my upbringing, banging that ball round as fast as I could to see if I could bash my little brother with it! I now see that was probably not the idea of it though...

A couple of years back JJ was given a Junior Swingball (the same but smaller) and I admit that I thought it was a rubbish present, it stayed in the garden and when my Mum got a dog he took a liking to it and bit the ball up so it never really got used properly but what I know now was that we did not give it a chance, I made a judgement call before we even gave it a fair shot.

So a few months ago when I was helping at our Church's youth group and they got out a full size Swingball, it was really interesting to watch all these 12 - 16 year olds playing with such zeal, they had so much fun and then I had a game too and I had fun and you know what it was so energetic.  Exercise in the form of fun - perfect!  So when I got an email asking if I would like to review a full size Swingball set I jumped at the chance and I was right to do so, the kids all loved it.

As my kids are still fairly young I constructed the swingball minus one of the lengths so it is a short version, I love the fact that it is versatile to be able to do this. It meant that both my 4 year olds could
play and even though the bats were big for them they were able to hold them and gently bash the ball around.

JJ and I played a more ferocious game and really had some fun.  Next time we meet friends for a picnic day at the park I will definitely take this along so we can all have some fun together, you could even have tournaments like you might in snooker.  The winner stays on and plays the next person....  well until they are too tired!  JJ was in his element batting a ball at high speed towards his Mum!

Take a look at the all surface swingball we were sent HERE, you can watch a video to see how it works in practice if you are not sure.  The Swingball game is produced by Mookie Toys, who are a classic brand with a heritage stretching back more than 30 years and Swingball is officially one of the top ten best-selling toys of the last 10 years.  What they say about Swingball: The fully portable game is perfect for outdoor events, holiday fun and picnics. With its unique lid and base construction, all the game components can be stored inside and the integral handle makes it easy to pick up and play... anywhere!  It’s fun, interactive and great for all age-groups and genders.

It is true, it really is very portable, setting the swingball up was easy and quick and I was able to pack it all away again too, something that companies often boast about but is practically impossible to do. Not so with Swingball the promises they make seem honest.  We used some old rubble to fill our base to make it sturdy but they advocate water or sand. It just shows that all sorts work.

If you are interested to buy a Swingball for your family they are available from all good toy retailers or you can purchase from Amazon for the great price of £22.99 currently.  The RRP is £29.99 which I think is good value for a game that will last years.  However if you don't have any spare pennies at the moment you can enter my giveaway to win an All Surface Swingball just like the one we have.

How to Enter

• Mandatory:  Follow my review blog by any means that suits you - Google friends connect, subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe by email. All the gadgets are in the right side-bar. Leave me a comment to say you have done so and a way of contacting you if you are the lucky winner.
• Extra entry - Tweet 'I am in to #win a Swingball set from @MookieToys in @MichelleTwinMum's #giveaway http://bit.ly/qgr4uW'

Terms and Conditions

• The winner will be chosen at random
• Open to UK residents only
• Giveaway closes at 12 noon on Friday 9th September 2011
• The winner will be contacted within 3 working days of the competition closing
• The winner needs to contact me within a week of my announcing the winner or I will draw again
• The prize is not transferable and there is no cash alternative
• The Swingball set will be sent direct from Mookie Toys

Good Luck!


This is a review and giveaway post, I was provided with a Swingball set to review.  I was not instructed what to write, my opinions are my own and I remain honest.