Double Double Dominoes Review and Giveaway

   Double Double Dominoes is a game for two to four players and takes about an hour to play.

   To set up, lay the board out in the middle of the table.

   Place the score markers on the bottom corner of the board. It is possible to play this game with five to six players, but you need to purchase additional dominoes and score markers.

   Place the dominoes face down where everyone can reach them,

   Next, throw out the insert that comes in the box. I'm only kidding, sort of.

   At least take it out. My dominoes like to fall through the little holes and end up in the bottom of the box. It's not a huge deal, really. I will probably end up putting them in a baggie anyway.

   Once you have all of the dominoes face down, and mixed up, each player draws three.

   Each player then reveals their domino that has the least amount of dots on it. This is the first player.

   You will notice, in the middle of the board, there is a square with a yellow star on it. This is where the first domino is placed.

   At the start of your turn, draw a domino. Then play one on the board. If you can not play any dominoes from your hand, place one face down off to the side. It is now out of the game and your turn is over.

   When placing your dominoes, only one side of the domino that is placed can touch one side of the domino already on the board. It may touch two different lines of dominoes, as long as the numbers match and only one side is touching both lines.

   If you play a double domino, you may chose to play another domino as long as it is played on the double domino. You can keep playing dominoes as long as they are double dominoes that match the previous domino.

   As soon as you play one that is not a double domino, your turn is over. You must use the dominoes you had at the beginning of your turn. When you are done playing, draw back up to three.

   Look under the dominoes you played this turn. If there is a diamond with a number on it, that is how many points you scored this turn. If you play a double domino on one, it is worth double. This player would score four points. They played a double domino on a one diamond which makes it worth two. They then played another domino on a two diamond which gives them two more points.

   Move the score tracker four points. At any time, if a domino is played that has a number that matches where you are on the score track (in this picture it would be a four) you would score three points. Move your score tracker three points and that is the new number to watch for.

   The winner is whoever gets the designated amount of points first. It varies depending on the number of players.

   If you have small children at home, you can use this game as a way to teach math and number recognition. This is my four year old lining up the dominoes and counting the dots. He is big into numbers and he loves playing this game!

 

    This game is a perfect for people who enjoy simple games. It's great for playing with your children as well as an older generation. Most people already know the basics on how to play. The scoring also adds a little more strategy to the game. I think this game is a great way to get those family members that aren't big gamers to play a game. I mean, who doesn't like dominoes??

   If you would like to enter to win a copy of Double Double Dominoes for yourself, here are the rules:
      - This giveaway is open for the US, Canada and UK only.

      - Your game will be shipped directly from Calliope Games.

      - The contest is open from Wednesday, March 25 until Wednesday, April 1.

      - The winner will be announced and contacted on Thursday, April 2.

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Table Top Day Giveaway

   Last year, I designed and made a mat for Table Top Day. I had such a huge interest in them, that I thought I would do another giveaway this year! I have already started it so that it will be ready to mail in time for you to be able to show it off to all of your friends on the big day.

   It may be a little hard to tell, but it is black and a darker purple. It will look about the same as the red and yellow one pictured here, just a bit bigger. I don't have exact measurements though, since it's not finished yet. It will also have the purple trim to finish off the edges.

   Edit: I have finished the mat. It is approximately 20.5 inches by 13.75 inches

 

   The details:

      - The giveaway is from March 18th until March 28th.

      -This giveaway is only open to residents of the US. If you are chosen and do not live in the US, a new winner will be chosen.

      - If you are chosen, you will have 48 hours to reply to my email or a new winner will be chosen so please make sure you leave an email that will allow my emails through.

      - I will check to make sure the winner has completed the winning entry. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Qin Review

    Qin is a tile laying game for two to four players.

   There is a two sided board. They recommend starting on the "bird board" (there are birds in the corners)

   There are seventy two tiles in the game. Some have two of the same colored provinces and some have two different provinces.

   There are four different colors of pagodas. Each player will choose a color. These are your pieces for the game.

   To set up, lay the board in the middle of the table. Each player chooses a color of pagodas. Count out the number of pagodas you will need according to the number of players. Mix the tiles and deal three face down to each player. Place the rest in face down piles. You are now ready to begin.

   In the middle of the board there is one of each different color of province. This is where you start the game.

   You must place a tile that is touching a province. You do not need to match the colors. If the tile you place creates a province that is at least two spaces, place a pagoda on the province.

   If a player places a card that is adjacent to a village, that player may place a pagoda on the village. The villages can be taken away if another player has more pagodas around the village. Villages do not count as a province, therefor you must build to the villages to claim them.

   If at any time, you province becomes at least five spaces, place a second pagoda on top of the first one. This province can no longer be taken.

   When playing, make sure that you watch what is going on around you. For example, in this picture pink has three blue spaces and white has two blue spaces.

   If pink plays a tile that connects both blue provinces together, pink will absorb white's blue spaces because pink has more tiles when it is combined. This causes pink to have a blue province that is now seven spaces and can no longer be taken away. Play continues until someone runs out of pagodas. Whoever is out first is the winner!

   If you enjoy tile laying games with a lot of strategy, this is a fun and easy game. It doesn't take a lot of time to explain and the rules are simple. Game play is about half an hour so it's a great game if you don't have a lot of time. The art is bright and colorful. The pagodas are made out of plastic and stack nicely. The "dragon side" of the board has water spaces on it. You can not build on the water so it adds another level of strategy. Overall, this is a fun game that works great for either game nights or family time.

Product Review: Weight Gurus Digital Body Fat Scale

 I was given a Weight Gurus Digital Body Fat Scale with Large Backlit LCD and Smartphone Tracking to try out. The scale is black with two metal plates running down both sides. When you weigh yourself, you will stand on these metal plates. Make sure you do it the same time every day. They also recommend you do it bare footed. How it works, is it sends a little electrical current through you. You won't feel this at all, but it does say to not let children under ten or people with certain medical conditions use this scale.

You can program different users into the scale. This is so it can track things such as weight, body fat, water wight, muscles mass and bone mass. When you stand on the scale, it takes a bit longer than your normal scale. It will show you which user is standing on the scale.

After you weigh yourself, there will be different numbers that pop up. This is your weight followed by the other measurements. There is an app you can download for free onto your smart phone. Once you make an account, on the app, you can sync your phone with the scale.

 

   You will see a code pop up after you weigh yourself. Scan this using your phone's camera and the app will automatically log it in for you.

Once you have logged some time on the app, you can go in and check your progress. Under this, there is a bar graph with your weight on it. It keeps track of how much you have gained or lost.

This scale is amazing! It's a great tool at helping you reach your weight loss goals. You can see where you are at and where you need to be. In the manual, there is a chart that shows you where average is for all of the categories. If you are trying to lose some weight and need a bit of help logging, I highly suggest this scale. It's easy to set up and even easier to use. I love it!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers

Product Review: Premium Spiralizer Bundle - Vegetable Review

   I was given a Retseliney, Premium Spiralizer Bundle - Vegetable Spiral Slicer, Pasta Maker to review. When I saw this, I was excited to try a new way to trick my youngest into eating different foods.

   This came in a set. It has a lid that helps get a little bit more after your hands get too close to the metal cutter. It comes with a cleaning brush and a jar opener. There is also a little salad recipe book.

   To use the spiral slicer, simply prepare whatever it is that you would like to cut. Place it in the slicer and twist.

   As you twist, your strands will get longer and longer until they break.

   When you get towards the end, use the lid to help twist a bit more. The lid helps only until the top of the vegetable gets to the top of the blade. You will still have a bit the doesn't get cut up.

   You now have some spiral sliced food. It's perfect for things such as top of salads or stir fry.

   This spiral slicer works great! It's easy to use and clean. My little one even helped me cut it before it got down to low. Too bad he still won't eat it.



I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers