Showing posts with label Ideal Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ideal Games. Show all posts

Sunday 19 April 2020

Rubik's Cage from Ideal Games - A Review

Over the past couple of weeks, we have written reviews on some of the great family games available from Ideal Games. However, as much as we have enjoyed playing these together, we also love a good puzzle. My eldest son has always been a fan of Rubik's and as had various original 3 x 3 cubes over the years. He still hasn't managed to successfully complete it yet, but has certainly enjoyed trying and he has definitely got closer than me in his attempts.

We were therefore really excited to learn more about the Rubik's Cage, where unlike the original cube that is for a sole player, this puzzle can be played by 2-4 people at a time. It is a 3 in a row strategy game, which although sounds easy, it is definitely not as simple as it may first appear.


The box is quite small, so it is easy to take away with you and use as a travel game and there is a clear window at the front, so you can see the product inside. It is bright, colourful and certainly eye catching, with the phrase "Drop It, Twist It, Flip It, Win It" written across the bottom. The rear of the box provides some brief details as to how the game is played, along with some supporting images and a list of contents.

On opening the box, we found it included:
  • 1 x Rubik's Cage
  • 24 x Cubies
  • Instructions

Setting up the game is really easy and you simply start with the Rubik's cage empty. The number of cubies each player has, depends on whether you are playing a 2, 3 or 4 player game. We played a two player game first, so this meant that each player selected three different sets of coloured cubies. For example, I chose red, blue and orange and Riley chose white, yellow and green. In a two player game, each person should have 12 cubes. 

The object of the game is to be the player who manages to align three of their coloured cubies in a row on one face first. This row can be vertically, horizontally or even diagonally, which might sound simple, but once the game is in play, anything can change.


Each player must take it in turns to make a move, which can be any of the following:
  1. Drop a Cubie - This is when a player places one Cubie into any of the eight sections.
  2. Twist the Cage - This is when a player turns one layer of the Rubik's cage 90 degrees in either direction.
  3. Flip the Cage - This is when a player turns the cage upside down by rotating it 180 degrees.
It is also important to remember that you cannot simply reverse the previous players move, no matter how much you may want to!


The winner is the person who manages to get three of their Cubies of the same colour in a row on one face of the Rubik's cage first. If the game continues until all pieces have been played then it is classed as a draw.

Overall we absolutely loved the Rubik's Cage and felt it was a great addition to the Rubik's puzzle range of toys. It is really easy to understand how to play, but we loved that you needed to think carefully about your move to prevent your opponents from winning, making it the perfect family strategy game. With an RRP of £19.99, I think that it offers good value for money and can definitely keep you entertained. It is available to purchase from toy retailers including Smyths Toys, Asda and Amazon and I would happily recommend this product to others.

If you would like to find out more about Rubik's or other products in the Ideal Games range, then you can visit their social media pages on the following channels:



*Disclaimer - We were gifted this Rubik's Cage puzzle for the purpose of writing an honest review of the product and our experience. All opinions and thoughts are my own, unless otherwise stated. This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.

Monday 13 April 2020

Junior Rummikub from Ideal Games - A Review

During the Easter Weekend, we have continued to enjoy playing some of the games that we were kindly sent from Ideal Games. Today we have decided to review Junior Rummikub, which is a fast paced numbers game for the whole family to enjoy.

The front of the box is a lovely bright red colour that features some fun graphics including a cheeky monkey, a cute blue rabbit and some vibrant colourful stars. It is really eye-catching and also shows you some of the game pieces. The top right hand corner identifies the game as being suitable for children aged 4+ and that it can be played with 2-4 players.


The rear of the box provides you with a brief overview of the game, which gives you a good idea of how it is played. There are also some images of the actual contents that are included, along with a list. The box contains:

  • 40 Tiles (1 to 10 in 4 different colours)
  • 4 Joker Tiles
  • Star Counters
  • 4 Tile Racks
  • 1 Instruction manual

We carefully removed all the items from the box and began to set up the game. The instructions were relatively straight forward and it was very simple to get everything into place. Once we were ready to play, I read out the instructions to the rest of the family and although a couple of my children didn't quite get it intially, this all fell into place once we began to play and in just a few minutes it all made sense.


The aim of the game is to collect as many stars as possible by creating Runs of numbers or adding to them. A Run has to comprise of at least 3 tiles and these tiles must also be in consecutive number order. In addition, all numbers in the run must be the same colour.

To begin, we each selected a playing rack and 6 stars, before turning all the tiles over on the table face down to create a tile pool. I then told each player to select 6 tiles at random and we each placed them on our tile rack, whilst ensuring that our opponents could not see which tiles we had selected.

The oldest player then starts off the game play by trying to lay down a run. If they are unable to go, then they must pay the bank one star and pick up a tile from the pool. The person to the left then takes their turn. Once a player is able to lay down a run, then the next person has the choice to add another tile or tiles to the run laid out, or alternatively they can start a new run of a different colour.


To help you to earn stars there are a series of rewards and for every tile that you manage to lay down, you can claim one star. If you manage to lay a run then you can also claim another star and on the last tile played which clears a player's rack, then this also entitles you to a further bonus star.

For example if I was to lay down a new run consisting of the numbers 3, 4, 5, then I would score 4 stars. It is very simple to pick up once in play and as soon as we had finished our first round, my children immediately requested to play again.

There are also 4 Joker tiles that can be drawn and these are very useful and valuable tiles, due to the fact that they can be used as any colour or numbered tile in a run. You can also use two or more jokers in the same run which can make the game quite exciting.

The game is complete once a player manages to successfully lay down all of their tiles from the rack. The remaining players must then each pay the bank one star, for each tile that they have remaining. The winner is the player with the most stars, but in the event of a tie, then the winner can be determined by who managed to put down all of their tiles first.


Overall my family and I really enjoyed this game. Whilst I initially thought it would be most ideal for my youngest son Riley, it ended up being something that we could all enjoy and it has been a great addition to our family collection. Everyone picked up the idea of the game very quickly which meant that no one got frustrated trying to understand how to play. I particularly liked the fact that it was helping my youngest son with his numeracy skills, as well as encouraging him to use logical thinking. With an RRP of £22.99, I think that this is great value for money and I would definitely recommend Junior Rummikub to others.

Junior Rummikub can be purchased from toy retailers including Amazon.

If you would like to find out more about Junior Rummikub or other products available from Ideal Games, then you can visit their social media pages on the following channels:



*Disclaimer: We were gifted this game of Junior Rummikub for the purpose of writing an honest review of the product and our experience. All opinions and thoughts are my own, unless otherwise stated. This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.

Wednesday 8 April 2020

Brightening Up Our Day with Triominos Sunshine - A Review

We have another fabulous review for you today, this time covering the wonderful game of Triominos Sunshine, which is a bright and colourful version of the classic game Triominos. It is a fun variation of the well known Dominos, however instead of rectangular pieces, these are triangular shaped instead and if used wisely, you can create various formations and gain some extra scores too.


It instantly appealed to me from the outset, due to its portable size and handy travel bag packaging, which means that we will be able to take this with us on our adventures and holidays in the future. It can be played by 2-4 players and is recommended for children aged 6+ which I would agree is a suitable age.

The contents of our game included:
  • 1 x Handy Travel Pouch in Orange and Yellow
  • 56 x Triominos
  • 1 x Instructions
The aim of the game is simple and you must try to get as many points as possible by strategically matching the Triominos. Each Triomino is unique, so it is wise to think carefully before using a piece in the hope of achieving some extra points. The aim of the game is to be the player who scores the highest number of points and this can be done in a number of ways, by simply placing a piece down to adjacent numbers, or laying your pieces to create a shape such as a bridge or a hexagon.


We played this game initially with 4 players which meant that to begin we placed all the Triominos face down on the table and mixed them all up. We each then chose 7 random Triominos each and placed the remaining tiles at the end of the table to create a 'pool' of spare pieces. If you are only playing with 2 players then you each draw 9 Triominos instead.

In order to decide who begins, each player selects a Triomino from the pool and adds up the numbers on the tile. The person with the highest number gets to go first, which I think is a very simple way to select the starting player and also prevents any arguments.


The first player then places any Triomino of their choice on the table and adds up the value of the numbers. The next player must then try to place one of their Triominos next to the tile that is already on the table by matching the numbers on one side. This might sound easy but as the game progresses it can become quite difficult and requires some thought into your chosen move. Only one Triomino can be placed down per go and if you are unable to use any of your existing tiles, then you must select a spare from the pool. If you are still unable to go, then you can take a further tile from the pool up to a maximum of three times. For each Triomino that is selected this way, you must deduct 5 points from your score. If you select the maximum three pieces and still cannot place a tile then you lose an additional 10 points. This means that you can lose points just as quickly as you can earn them.

Bonus points can also be scored if you manage to create a shape such as the following:
  • If you form a Bridge you can score 40 extra points
  • If you form a Hexagon you can score 50 extra points
  • If you form a Double Hexagon then you can score 60 extra points
  • If you form a Triple Hexagon then you can score 70 extra points


The game comes to a conclusion when a player manages to place down their last tile and they then score a bonus of 25 points. In addition they can also add the total of all the points the other players still have on their racks.Each player then simply adds up their score and the person with the highest number of points is the winner!

Overall I really liked this game and I am pleased to have found a fun new game that is small and portable enough to come on our travels with us in the future. The handy zipped pouch is ideal for keeping all of the pieces safe and I loved the bright and vibrant colours. I would have liked the addition of a little score pad, so that you can keep a note of the points as you play, but we have simply used a small spare notepad instead. It is a strategic game that really encourages you to think and my youngest son Riley particularly enjoyed this game and working with numbers. With an RRP of £14.99, I think this is a very fair price for an enjoyable family game that can be used both at home and away and I would gladly recommend this to others.

Triominos Sunshine can currently be purchased online from Amazon, but if you would like to find out more about Triominos Sunshine or the other products in the Ideal Games range, then you can visit their social media pages on the following channels:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IdealGamesUK/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/idealgamesuk/


*Disclaimer - We were gifted with the game of Triominos Sunshine for the purpose of writing an honest review of the game and our experience. All opinions and thoughts are my own unless otherwise stated. This post contains and Amazon affiliate link.

Tuesday 7 April 2020

Family Fun with Othello - A Review

You will have hopefully read our recent post about a fabulous bundle of boredom busting games that we were sent from Ideal Games UK to help us keep busy and entertained over the coming weeks. My family and I had a wonderful selection of both classic and new games sent to us, which we shall be putting to the test over the next few days.

There was a little debate as to which game we should try first, but after having a good look through the games on offer, we decided to start with Othello. All of us enjoy fast paced strategy games, so this seemed the perfect choice to begin our family games night with.


Othello is a two player game, where the object is to trap and capture your opponents disks, whilst strategically placing yours on the board. If you trap the other players disk, then you can flip this over to match your colour, but of course they can also do the same to you, so it helps to try and think ahead before placing your next move.

We hadn't actually played this game before, so we each had a good look at the box and read through the instructions before starting to play. The front of the box has a large image, which shows a green playing board along with black and white disks. There is a caption that runs along the bottom that states "A Minute To Learn.... A Lifetime To Master!"

The rear of the box provides much more detail, along with a brief explanation of how to play. There were numerous images that gave examples of the game in play, which were also accompanied by some short sentences of written instructions. Once we had all taken a look at the box and the enclosed guidance, then we were ready to play and began to set up the board.

On opening the box we found the following contents:
  • 1 x Instruction Manual
  • 1 x Playing Board
  • 64 x Reversible Disks
  • 4 x Playing Board Feet
There isn't much assembly involved in this game at all and the only preparation you need to make is inserting the 4 playing board feet into the base and lining up your disks in your players row. Each player has 32 disks, with one person playing the white colour and the other person the black. The object of the game is to be the player with the most disks of your colour at the end. 

To begin play you both start with 2 disks placed in the centre position as shown below. Each player then takes it in turns to place down a new disk, whilst also trying to outflank your opponents disks. Outflanking means to place a disk on the board that traps your opponents disk at either end. If you outflank their disk(s), then you get to flip them over to your colour and the game continues.


To outflank a disk(s), it must be in a continuous line but can travel in a number of directions including vertically, horizontally and diagonally. This means that if you carefully observe the board, you could place your disk to actually outflank your opponent in a number of different ways.

If at any point there is no possible move for you to make to outflank your opponent, then you must forfeit your go, however if there is a move available then you must take your go, even if this would not be to your advantage. Once it is no longer possible for either player to make a move, then the game is over and the player with the majority of their coloured disks is the winner.


Overall we really enjoyed this game and to be honest I liked it more than I had expected to. My first impressions were that it would be a very simple game and it would be over in seconds, but in fact it requires quite a lot of thinking and consideration of your next move or strategy. Riley is only 7, but he picked up the concept of the game really quickly and I liked watching him take the time to think out his next move. My two older children aged 12 and 13 also found this game to be really fun and it was great to see them playing against each other in such a calm, yet competitive way. As it is only a two player game, it wasn't possible for us all to play at the same time, however we turned it into a family championship instead and did a series of rounds, semi finals and finals until crowning our Ultimate Othello Champion!

Othello is a game that is simple to learn and enjoyable to play. It has an RRP of £22.99 which I think is a reasonable price for this game. It can be purchased from retailers such as Argos and Amazon.

If you would like to find out more about Othello or any of the other products available from Ideal Games, then you can visit their social media pages on the following channels:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IdealGamesUK/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/idealgamesuk/



*Disclaimer - We were gifted the game of Othello for the purpose of writing an honest review of the game and our experience. All opinions and thoughts are my own unless otherwise stated. This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.


Monday 6 April 2020

Boredom Busters From Ideal Games

We are all going through worrying times at present with the current pandemic and for children in particular, there has been a lot of change and uncertainty created. Like most parents, we are trying our best to stay positive and encouraging our kids to continue with their school work, take some time out in the garden, speak with their friends regularly and talk to us if they have any worries. They have been absolutely fantastic these past couple of weeks, however it is only inevitable that the boredom will gradually start to creep in for all of us.

We have therefore been looking for some boredom busting games and activities that we can enjoy together, make us laugh and help us to take our mind off current events, if only for a moment. We were therefore absolutely delighted (and a little overwhelmed) when the lovely team at Ideal Games sent us a fantastic selection of products to keep us busy over the coming days and weeks.

For any families out there that enjoy board games, I intend to write a full review on each game pictured and I will upload a new one every couple of days throughout April. This will not only help us to keep busy as a family, but I also hope it will help to provide other families with some ideas and inspiration of games that they can also enjoy together.

Be sure to check back in the next couple of days to see our latest review, we just need to decide which of these great games we are going to play first!

If you would like to find out more about any of these games, then you can visit the Ideal Games social media pages on the following channels:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IdealGamesUK/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/idealgamesuk/


*This is a collaborative post and we have been gifted the games featured in this image for the purpose of writing an honest review. 


Monday 14 October 2019

Win the Electronic Game of Bank Attack from John Adams Toys - Competition

Bank Attack is a brand new game from Ideal by John Adams Toys, which is sure to get families working together to crack the code and win the prize. This highly innovative and different play experience is both challenging and rewarding, but can you become criminal masterminds to break the vault and release the hidden gold inside?

Each player must pick their role in the group from Hacker; Money Man; Look Out or Explosives Expert and then use your special talents to break the bank. You can also select a difficulty level, then follow the spoken commands without delay: grab the right tools, pass them on at the right moment, use them quickly and grab the millions.

You can see how we got on when we recently played this game in our full review here.


Bank Attack is recommended for ages 7+ and has an RRP of £24.99. It is currently available to buy now from Argos, Smyths, Amazon and The Entertainer.

To find out more about Bank Attack or other games in the John Adams range, then you can visit their website and social media on the following channels:

Website - www.johnadams.co.uk
Twitter - @JohnAdams_toys
Facebook - facebook.com/IdealGamesUK
Instagram - @johnadams_toys
YouTube - JohnAdamsToys

We are delighted to be able to offer our readers the chance to win their very own copy of the electronic Bank Attack game and we have a fantastic competition for you to enter below. One lucky winner will soon be able to take on the Bank Attack challenge and see if you are able complete the mission!

If you are feeling lucky, then simply read the terms and conditions and enter using the gleam form below.

Win a Bank Attack Game from John Adams

Terms and Conditions

  • There is 1 (one) prize of a Bank Attack Game from Ideal by John Adams.
  • Entry is open to UK residents aged 18 years or over.
  • Competition closes on the 31st October 2019 at 23:59
  • A winner shall be drawn from all eligible entries within 7 days of the closing date and notified via email.
  • The winner will have 14 days to confirm their acceptance of the prize before an alternative winner is drawn from the remaining eligible entries.
  • No bulk or third party entries
  • The winner's details will be shared with the promoter for the purpose of prize fulfilment and permission shall be obtained from the winner prior to doing so.
*Disclaimer - This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.