Because of our move and settling into our new place, we postponed having Rae’s birthday party until a week ago. Her birthday was October 4th, but we had cake and gave her gifts last weekend. One of the gifts from us was the game Lucky Ducks. I always loved the duck game at the fair where you picked up a duck from the water. This game reminded me of that, so I thought it might be something she would like even if she is only two. After all, she loves ducks.

Lucky Ducks is a huge hit. She loves placing the ducks onto the pond and then picking them up. The premise of the game is pretty easy. Players have a shape assigned to them like a red square. Then they must find the three ducks in the pond with that shape before their oppoents find theirs. It’s a simple game that makes it perfect for pre-schoolers even toddlers. The ‘pond’ is turned on by the red button in the middle of the action and is turned off the same way.

Lucky Ducks will be a lot of fun for her to play with her cousins. For right now, she just enjoys toting the ducks around and taking them out of the pond.

Bingory is Bingo and Memory rolled into one. It’s a fun all-wooden board game from the company Blue Orange Games.

Each board piece is made up of four squares that feature pictures of different items. Players take turns trying to find those items on the matching tiles. When they have made a match and it’s an item on their board, then they place those pieces on it. When they have matched all four items, they win the game.

Bingory is easy enough for very young children to play. Even if they don’t get the game, they will have fun playing with the sturdy pieces.

I’ve been playing the Monopoly game at McDonalds online, thinking I might actually have a chance to win something. The first few rounds went well, and I quickly had 3 railroads. One more and I win. It hasn’t happened yet.

Now all of my rolls land me on spaces that I already own. It’s very frustrating, just like playing the regular McDonalds Monopoly game. I guess I will continue to play online although it takes a while for the website to work.

It would be nice to win some cash. I know my chances are slim but it’s free to dream.

Have you seen the Monopoly Electronic Banking Edition? It looks pretty cool. All money transactions are handled through an in-game debt card, so when you have land for sale you will swipe your card to receive money from the sale. You will also swipe your card when you pay for land, buy a house, or pay taxes.

The paper money in Monopoly has always been very cumbersome for me to manage. It always seems to shift under the board when I have it laid out in stacks. It becomes quite unbearable, so I am glad to see this new “twist” to Monopoly.

I don’t get to play Monopoly that much but this electronic banking edition really has me looking forward to playing it again.

Sunday night we had a board game night with some new friends. It was wonderful to get together just to play board games. One game that we played was Settlers of Catan. It was a lot of fun and not too complicated. Best of all, it didn’t take hours and hours to play.

In Catan, you play settlers of a new island and can share resources to build a new civilization. You build roads, setltlements, and cities. The first person to have 10 points wins the games. Settlements are worth one point, cities are worth two, etc. We played with five people but the game is usually played with 3 or 4 people. There are special rules for a two player game.

Settlers of Catan was very fun and didn’t take that long to catch onto how to play. Placing your settlements and cities will determine which resources you get on which die roll. Players roll two dice on their turn. Sometimes you may have a lot of sheep but no wood, so you can trade at the end of your turn with other players. When a player rolls a seven, they move the thief to a spot on the playing board. Then the player can take one card from a settler who has a settlement on that spot. The thief shuts down production of the item on that die roll. So, if you gain a sheep on a roll of an 8, when an 8 is rolled, you gain nothing as long as the thief is on that spot.

Settlers of Catan will be our next board game we buy. It was a lot of fun. There are also expansions to it, which I can’t wait to play, too. You can also Play Catan online but it’s in German. Settlers is a game from Germany. I just found the English version of playing Settlers of Catan online. There is an online version at MSN but also a download demo of the game to play offline.

Jackpot! the board game is a great game for puzzle lovers. The board resembles a casino slot machines. Players take turns moving around the fruit markers to make a match to one of their Jackpot cards.

Players roll a die to determine how many moves they get. If they make a match under the moves, then they are under par and are allowed to discard that many number of cards. If they are over par then they must draw that many cards from the discard pile. Each player starts with 10 cards that make up their draw pile. The rest of the cards are used as the discard pile. The first person to get rid of all of their cards wins the game.

Jackpot! is a great game for family night since no reading is required and even the younger family members can get in on the action. It’s a fast game, taking less then 20 minutes to play. Jackpot is for ages 7 and up and is for 2 to 4 players.

The next game night for my Moms group will be the game Guesstures. I’ve never played the game but I hear it’s like charades. I’ll have to decide if I can make it or not. It was hard leaving Rae for an evening but I know it did us both a lot of good.

I even have a copy of the game. I could read the rules and figure it out before going. I’m not sure I’m feeling that proactive. It’ll be easier to let someone explain the rules to me.

I might check it at BoardGameGeek.com to see if it is something that I want to play. Of course, I’m always up for game night with the girls.

Thomas and Friends Mix and Match Bingo Game is a fun starter game for preschoolers. It’s easy and games can be short enough so they won’t lose interest.

Players as young as three can play. Each player has one bingo card and nine same colored chips. Players take turns rolling three speciality dice. When one of their squares is an exact match the dice rolled, then they mark the space with a chip. It must match in color, border, and picture. When they have three in a row, they win.

Players can play cooperatively with one board and just try to get three in a row. There are a few other variations where players look for matching squares on other players’ cards and a version where all bingo cards are placed together.

Thomas and Friends Mix and Match Bingo Game is fun stuff, if you are a young gamer. Older gamers might not find it quite a challenge. It’s best to play with younger siblings or your kids.

My husband picked up LOST the game last week. I don’t know if we play or not. He liked it because it is about LOST. So, last night he finally opened the box and pulled out the instructions. The quick rules lasted for 8 pages! I don’t think he made it through the first page.

There was a nice Dharma coin in the box that he was smitten with, so if we never play the game at least he got a cool coin from the deal. We will probably play it though. Usually rules give a lot of examples of game play, so hopefully we can get the idea of the game without having to read through 8 pages of dry text.

Zimbbos! is a game that can be played by children as young as three years old. Players take turns stacking elephants onto a pyramid. The person to place the 10th elephant wins the game.

Elephants are numbered 1 through 10. Besides the elephants, there are specialty animals that must be placed on the pyramid if they come up on the die roll. Zimbbos! is made by Blue Orange Games and features colorful playing pieces. Kids can learn coordination, patience, and their numbers since elephants must be stacked in numerical order.

Zimbbos! is a nice game for the very young since it’s simple and features tasks that they can do.