Gaming With Grandma - 23

On Saturday my Mum (Grandma to our kids), Maddie (my daughter who has just turned 6) and myself got together for our weekly gaming session.

First up was Piranha which Maddie selected. Another gorgeous Ravensburger game with all the quality components for which they are well known. It's a dexterity game where you try and hang your piranhas off either the hat or other piranhas. The trick is that there can only be one of each colour piranha hanging off the hat and you can never have a piranha hanging from a piranha of the same colour. It's a fun game which is made even harder when the hat starts to spin. If any piranhas fall into the water on your turn you take them. The person who successfully places their last piranha wins.

It was a close game with Grandma and I neck and neck for most of the time. She ended up winning with me left with only one piranha and Maddie left with, well, the rest of them...

Maddie attempts to place her piranha...

Our next game was also picked by Maddie - Bratz Passion for Fashion. Can you hear the sound of my teeth gritting together? I was Yasmin. 'Nuff said the better. Oh yeah, I won! Take that Cloe and Sasha! Go girl!

Maddie turns the circular wardrobe. Will she find those stylish boots to wear to the party?

Last but not least was my choice - No Thanks! (AKA Geschenkt). This was the first time Grandma or Maddie had played it and I wasn't sure if Maddie would understand the play. No Thanks! is rated for ages 8 and up and Maddie's just turned 6.

In this game each player has 11 chips. There is a deck cards valued in ascending order from 3 to 35. 9 cards are randomly removed (without looking at them) after shuffling so none of the players know for sure what cards the deck holds. On a turn the top card is turned over and players make a choice either to take the card or pass by placing a chip next to the card. The person who takes the card also takes any chips sitting with it. The aim of the game is to have the lowest score when all cards have been taken. Cards are scored at their face value. The trick is that runs of consecutive cards are only scored as the lowest valued card. For example if I had the 23, 24 & 25 I only score the lowest of the run which would be 23 points. Any chips a player has left at the end of the game take a further 1 point each off their final score.

Maddie didn't really understand and she ended up just taking a lot of cards without really knowing what she was doing. Grandma got it pretty quickly and enjoyed it. Three players doesn't really do the game justice though. I ended up winning with 8 points, Grandma came 2nd with 48 points and Maddie came a distant 3rd with, well, lots and lots of points.

The Z-Man Games version of No Thanks!