No matter when the occasion to give a child a gift comes up, consider giving the gift of strategy, mental growth and timeless fun. All of these can be found in games created by local companies. Here are a few of the newest:
WonderElla
Ages 3 and up, $19.99
WonderElla is the newest game from Seattle-based WonderChess, LLC, makers of the award-winning WonderChess game. WonderElla is a matching game that also has prizes inside the game pieces for fun surprises. Winner of Dr. Toy’s Top Ten Games of 2010 award, the game helps young children develop concentration, memory and basic math skills while playing a fun game, and there are a lot of opportunities for parents to teach their children colors, animals, numbers, and addition by playing WonderElla with them.
You can find WonderElla at Dragon’s Toy Box (1525 1st Ave. No. 2A, Seattle) or online at www.wonderchess.com.
Dr. Seuss Matching Game
Ages 3 and up, $5.99
Local, award-winning I Can Do That! Games incorporates your kids’ favorite Dr. Seuss characters from The Grinch, The Cat in the Hat, and more into a fun game of picture matching. Players flip over two tiles to reveal their characters. Do they match? If so, keep them in your scoring pile and take another turn. The player who collects the most pairs wins the game.
The Dr. Seuss Matching Game is available at Izilla Toys (1815 N. 45th St., Seattle) or online at www.icandothatgames.com.
S’Quarrels
Ages 7 and up, $12.99
Store up acorns for winter with this card game by Lynnwood-based Home Lantern Games. If your kids like card games, they will love the twists and turns of S’Quarrels, from ambushes to quarrels to hoarding. The goal is to store the most acorns before winter. Get the Golden Acorn but watch out for the Rotten Acorn. The first player to reach the determined number wins the game!
S’Quarrels is available at Top Ten Toys (104 N. 85th St., Seattle) or www.squarrels.com.
MythBusters, Hit the Target Trivia Game
Ages 10 and up, $24.99
Join the MythBusters craze and test your science trivia knowledge with this new game from locally owned ZimZala Games. Can a penny kill someone if you drop it from the Empire State Building? Do sharks really go for blood? Answer a question correctly and you get to launch Buster, the team’s crash test dummy, from the catapult to try to hit your targets. Hundreds of trivia questions add up to hours of myth-busting fun for kids ages 10 and up – and their parents.
You can find MythBusters at Blue Highway Games (2203 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle) and online at www.amazon.com.
Oh, Really!
Ages 10 and up, $20
Created by Issaquah’s Find It Games, Oh Really! The Lively Game of What Matters Most is a brand new game for the holiday season. Opinions count as players try to guess how their friends really feel about the topics on the board. The game reveals players’ true feelings about everything from “deodorant” to “emotions” to “football.” In this humorous game, players rank five random items based on their own priorities. An easy-to-learn game you can play in 20 minutes.
You can find Oh, Really! at Clover (5355 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle) or online at www.finditgames.com.
Amy Hatch is a Seattle-based freelance writer, devoted godmother and mom-in-training.
