The Race is On: A Review of Camel Up

The race is on in Camel Up, an easy, fast paced game for all.  The goal is to win the most money by making wagers on which camel you think will win or lose. It is not as straight forward as you think--you never know what will happen next in this exciting game. If you are trying to decide whether to buy this game, here are the pros and cons.  For the record, there really aren't any cons but I do list a few that some might notice.

Pros:

• The game is unpredictable and it makes it more exciting to play.
• Up to 8 people can play this game so it is great for parties and family gatherings.
• This game fits a broad age group.  The box says it is for 8 and up but my 5 year old plays it (and can even win)!  Once, we played this game with a 5 year old, 8 year old, 10 year old, two 30-somethings and a grandma.  Everyone had fun.  
• A single game only takes 30 minutes...it's a great way to end the day or fill up extra time.
• It is visually appealing.
• The pyramid dice rolling mechanism is really neat and unusual.
• This game is very easy to learn to play. For those who are not avid board gamers, it is not intimidating.
• The game pieces and board are sturdy.

Cons:

• This game costs between $40 and $50.  Board game enthusiasts know this is not unusual.  If you are new to world of hobby board games, this may seem like too much.  Just so you know, this game is not a gamble--it is worth every penny.
• Luck is a major factor in this game.  For those who love strategy and controlling the game, this may be frustrating.  While I enjoy strategy games, I really love the minimal strategy use in this game.  
• This is not a game I would let my children play alone.  I'd be nervous they would break the pyramid or damage the pieces.  Actually, I really don't let my kids play any of our games alone. This isn't a bad thing--it means I can skip the dishes to play games when the kids ask.  I just can't fault any game that gives me a reason to play more games.

To sum up, BUY THIS GAME! Hopefully by now you are convinced and you want to learn to play.
Here's how to get started!

 First, let's set up the game and learn about the game board and pieces.

The game board looks like this before all the different elements are added.

Place the pyramid tiles.

Organize the Leg Betting tiles by color.

Stack them on the coordinating camel color. The 2 should go first, followed by 3, and then 5.  The 5 should be on top.

Place the camels onto to their color coordinating tents by the Leg Betting Tiles.

Sort the Egyptian pounds and cards by value and place them as a supply next to the game board as the bank. Give each player 3 Egyptian pounds.

Each player chooses a betting character. Each character has a 5 race betting cards, one for each color of camel.

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Each player receives  a desert tile that go with the character of their choice.

The youngest player rolls all 5 dice at the same time. They each have six sides: 2 sides each for the numbers 1,2, or 3.

If this player rolls the green die and gets a one, the green camel is placed on space 1.  If this player rolls a orange die and gets a two, the orange camel is placed on the two.  If more than one die rolls the same number, then the camels stack on top of each other on that space.  So if I rolled a three for both blue and white, they would be stacked together on the third space. At this point, the order of stacking doesn't matter so stack them however you'd like.

Place the 5 dice into the assembled Pyramid and put that on its space on the game board.

Now let's play. The younger player goes first and holds the Leg Starting Marker.

The game is broken up into legs.  You can win coins by wagering on who will win each leg of the race.  On your turn, you can perform one of the following actions:

1. Take a Pyramid Tile
Choose one pyramid tile.  Then shake the pyramid, turn it upside down, push the slide mechanism, and reveal the die.  Using the pyramid is so fun! It's definitely the kids' favorite part.  One die should come out.  If it is green, move the green camel as many spaces as are on the die.

Here's some info on camel movement. The camels move clockwise unless a desert tile sends them backwards. When a colored die is rolled, the coordinating camel must move as many spaces are rolled.

 If a camel lands on a space with other camels, it stacks on top of it.

If a colored die is rolled for a camel that has other camels stacked on top of it, the colored camel and the ones on top of it move as well.  Camels below the rolled color remain on their space.  Because of this, some camels will move even when their colored die isn't rolled.

Once a colored die is rolled, place it to on the side of the board until the end of the leg. When all the pyramid tiles are taken and all camels have moved, the end of the leg is triggered.  We'll learn more about the end of legs a little later.

If you take a Pyramid Tile, you get one coin for it when you turn it in at the end of a leg.

2. Take a Leg Betting Tile
Take the top leg betting tile from one stack.  If you think the blue camel is going to win, you can take a blue Leg Betting Tile for that color.  The sooner you take a winner's Leg Betting Tile, the more you win.  The first backer of the winning color wins 5, the second wins three and the third wins two.  Beware--if you back a camel that doesn't win, you lose a coin! You may take as many Leg Betting tiles as you like but just know you will lose Egyptian pounds if you don't win.  Let's say you thought blue was winning and you took a Blue Leg Betting tile but then it began to look like orange would win.  You can take an orange Leg Betting tile too.  You will gain coins for the one that wins and lose a coin for the one that loses.

3. Use your Desert Tile
You may place your desert tile as an action. The rules for placing your desert tile are:
 It must be placed on an empty space (no camels or desert tiles).
 It cannot be placed next to another desert tile.
You can place a desert tile with the oasis side up.  If a camel lands on this, it will move forward one space. When it moves forward and lands on a space with a camel or camel stack, it goes on top.

If you place it with the mirage side up, a camel that lands on it moves backwards one space.  When it moves backwards and lands on a space with a camel or camel stack, it goes on bottom.

These desert tiles can be game changers.  You can use them to attempt to manipulate the race but of course, sometimes things don't go like you planned.  This is one of the coolest aspects of the game! You never know what will happen next.

4.  You can bet on the overall loser or winner.  
Secretly choose one of your Race Betting cards in the color of the camel you think will win or lose and place it on the space on the board.

Once your card is placed, it can't be moved or taken back.  You can lay down as many as you like but you will lose one coin at the end of the game for any wagers that were incorrect. This is tricky.  If you are first to choose the winner or loser, you get a larger reward.  By playing first, you usually take the greatest risk. The earlier you choose a winner or loser, the longer there is for the game to change.  Because of the camel stacking, things can change in an instant.

So those are the all the actions you can do on your turn.

 Let's talk about what to do at the end of a leg.  When the last pyramid tile is played and the last die is rolled, the end of a leg is triggered. Now is time for the leg scoring round.  First, the person who triggered the end of the leg gives the Leg Starting Marker to the person on the left of him or her. Then, figure out who the leading camel is.  It will be the camel on the space closest to the finish line.  If there is a stack of camels in the lead,  the one on top is the winner of the leg. Now, each person loses or wins Egyptian pounds according to which betting tiles they have taken.  Each tile will explain the amount you win or lose. Any player with Betting Tiles for camels not in the lead lose one Egyptian pound.  Players who chose the leading camel are awarded with 5, 3 or 2 Egyptian pounds, depending on the Betting Tile they collected.   Also, each player gains 1 Egyptian Pound for  each of the pyramid tiles they collected.  Then, each player also removes their Desert Tile from the board to be placed in the next leg if he or she wishes. They also return their pyramid tiles to the board. Finally, return all the dice to the pyramid  and begin another leg. The Person with the Leg Starting Marker starts the next leg.

The number of legs per game varies.  The game ends when one camel or camel stack crosses the finish line.

If it is a stack, the camel on top is the overall winner.  In the above picture, the overall winner is yellow and the overall loser is blue. Now you must determine who won the bet.  I like to start with the overall loser.  The overall loser is the camel that is furthest from the finish line and the lowest in the stack.  Take the face down stack and flip the whole stack over so the card that was played first is on top.   If the first card, correctly predicted the winner that card's owner is paid 8 Egyptian pounds. The next correctly card get's paid 5, the third gets 3 and the fourth gets 2.  Any other correct predictions receive 1.   Any incorrect bets lose a coin. Repeat this process for the overall winner.
The person with the most Egyptian pounds wins!

If you aren't sure this game is for you, visit your local game store and give it a try.  Many game stores have store copies for you to try out.  There aren't many games that work for such a wide audience as Camel Up. It is well designed and thought out.  In fact, I think I might go bet on some camel races right now!!!

Fun AND Educational...Where Do I Sign Up?

If you haven't noticed, my family and I love games. We also love to learn so it seems natural to combine learning and games.  Here is the thing though:  kids KNOW the difference between an educational game and a just for fun game.  I can buy a game made to teach something like multiplication facts or sight words.  Guess what--my kids might not want to play it because it is school work not fun.  I knew there had to be a better way so I started to use the games my kids love to practice academic skills.  And it works!  They love playing them and I love that they are learning! I'm not sure why some kids don't like educational games...but I'm glad I have figured out the trick!

Here is what you do to turn a fun game into an educational game:

1. Decide what skill you want to practice with your child.  It could be multiplication facts, sight words, vocabulary words, history facts, state capitals, geography, elements of the periodic table, etc.  It can be anything your child needs to practice.
2. Create flash cards of the information your child needs to learn.  You could also purchase flash cards from a store if available.  I've used multiplication cards and alphabet cards.  I've also just made my own.  For example, if your child is learning states and their capitals, make flashcards that have a  state on one side and the capital city on the other. 
3. Choose a game (or games) your child loves.
4. Play the game with your child with this twist.  Before each turn, have your child answer a question on the flashcard.  If your child misses a question, tell him  the right answer.  Keep using that question until he answers it correctly and then move on to another.  If you want to be tough, your child loses a turn if the question can't be answered.  I would only do this once your child is pretty comfortable with the information.  Continue to play the game as usual, answering a question before each turn.  If you really want to impress your kids, make sure you answer questions too! (And yes, you lose a turn when you get it wrong.)

As you can see, it is so easy to turn any fun game into an educational experience.

In the past, I've reviewed the game Bugs in the Kitchen.  Click her to learn more about that game. It is a fun fast paced game all three of my kids enjoy.  I've used their love of this game to my advantage as their teacher.  One way I've used this is to review sight words.  I made flash cards of sight words.  My child had to read the sight word before she  can take her turn.  I love this game with the educational component because speed is important.  Many  kids love the added challenge of being fast.

You can also use games like Candyland, Connect 4, Memory, Go Fish, Uno, Skipbo, Slapjack and War.  Really you can use any game that is simple and short.  I wouldn't use a game like Mononopoly because it would just take too long with the added component. The best part of this is that you don't have to go out and buy a game for every skill your child needs to practice.  (Hooray for another budget friendly way to help your kids learn!)You can use any game to practice what your child needs.

Give this a try at home and feel free to share how you turned your child's favorite game into an educational game!

Supercrafts

   Pinterest is an awesome little tool, unless it sucks you into it's never ending abyss of cool stuff to look at and pin and then never do. Luckily, we have a Pinterest idea for you that is super easy and cheap. It's fun for all ages and kids only need minimal help.

   First, you need some felt, embroidery hoops, and paint if you'd like the hoop to match your felt.

   If you decide to paint, take the center out and paint the outside hoop. You only need to do one of the thin sides and the outside. While that is drying, cut out any pieces you need. You can do as many or as few as you'd like.

   After you cut out what you need, your hoop will probably be dry. Place your base color of felt on the hoop. It is a little difficult to tighten the hoop down because the felt is thick. Make sure you keep the felt tight while you tighten the hoop so you have a good flat surface to work on.

   Next, trim off the extra felt around the edge. If you rather, you can glue it down. Whichever you prefer. You can hang it on the wall so you won't see the back side either way.

   Hot glue your pieces to the front. Since it's felt, you can lay it all out how you want it and it will stay put until you move it to add the glue. Make sure if you are doing this will small children, you help them with the glue.

   You now have an awesome homemade craft to hang on your wall!

   These are so much fun to make and don't take long at all. The supplies are fairly cheap which is even better! Small kids can help by painting the hoops or helping you plan out what they would like to make. There are so many possibilities. You can do groups, different sizes, anything you'd like. I think next we will do the Ninja Turtles!

Felt Activities

   One thing my kids love to play with is felt boards. A couple of years ago, we were going to go on a 10 hour drive to my aunts house for vacation. Having three small boys, we needed ideas of how to keep them occupied so we would all survive the long drive. I started looking up ideas, and found someone that had done felt boards for their kids. I thought that was a wonderful idea, so I made some. They were a huge hit and the boys still play with them to this day. They are great for those days when you just need a little bit of quiet time.

   To begin, I searched online for a template of what I wanted to make. This time, I wanted to make a gumball machine to help my three year old count.

   You can either cut out the pieces of the template to trace, free hand it, or do what I do and tape the paper to a window so you can see through the felt and trace it that way.

   Once you have it all traced out, cut out the pieces. If you want to sew or glue them together, make sure you leave extra around your cut outs. For example, the white piece can be a complete circle and then sew or glue the red pieces onto it. I decided making the machine could be part of the fun.

   You now have a gumball machine.

   To make the gumballs, pick out the colors you'd like to use. I wanted to make twenty gumballs so I grabbed five colors. Scraps of felt are perfect for this part.

   Decide how big you want the gumballs. I used a soda lid to trace the circles.

   Cut out all of your gumballs

   Next, I printed off the numbers on a piece of card stock. This will help the numbers be a little more sturdy.

   Cut out out all of your numbers. If you have a straight edge cutter, it makes this job a lot easier.

   To get the numbers to stick, hot glue the numbers onto another piece of felt. The color doesn't really matter since you won't see it anyway. Be careful when doing this, hot glue on fingers is rather painful! Once they are all glued on, cut around the edges of the card stock.

   You now have a felt gumball machine to help with counting!

   Some other ideas you can do are:

   You can make a little city or even just a road with some cars. Cut out strips of black, add some yellow lines (I glued mine on for ease of play) and cut out however many different cars and trucks you'd like.

   My kids used to be really into potato heads. Cut out some brown potato shapes and then use your imagination.

   I don't know about your kids, but my oldest LOVES anything space right now. That includes Star Trek. So this summer, on a day when there was "nothing to do", I decided I would make him some new felt cutouts. He was beside himself with excitement. These didn't take too long to do and you can make them as detailed as you'd like. I cut him out a yellow circle he could use as either the sun or a planet and a couple of red circles. I added a little touch to the red circles so they would look a little more planet like.

   And lastly, don't forget about games. Tic Tac Toe is a great game for kids. It's easy to learn and not hard to make. Just cut out four strips and a few squares in two different colors. Now you have a game for on the go.

   Felt activities are a lot of fun and you can take them anywhere! They are pretty easy to make depending on how detailed you want to get. The boards we made for in the car was just a piece of felt taped to some cardboard. You can get as fancy as you want with making a board. Sometimes my kids just play with them on the table without any felt under it at all. Use your imagination and most importantly, have fun with it!

Melted Crayon Art

   A week or so ago, I decided I wanted to try out some melted crayon art. I don't own a hair dryer to do the one that drips down so I was trying to find a different way. I found a post on Pinterest about shredding a crayon and using an iron to melt it. I didn't really like the way it turned out. I looked into it more and found out they were ironing it like you would clothes, but if you held the iron still, it wouldn't make it a big mess of mixed crayon. I decided to give it a try. I had read that they used a cheese grater to shred the crayon. All I accomplished by trying it that way was coloring on my cheese grater. I grabbed a sharp knife and carefully got to work.

This is about two crayons each. You may need a couple boxes depending on what you are making.

   I grabbed a piece of card stock, hoping it would hold up better than regular paper.

   I decided I wanted to try out a Batman logo. I printed one off of the internet and carefully cut it out.

   I figured it would be easiest to start on the inside and work your way out. I placed the cut out logo on the paper.

   Carefully fill it in. One nice thing about doing it this way is you can gently push the crayon that landed on the template into the middle to help keep it nice and clean.

   Carefully lift the paper and touch up the outline.

   Next, I used the piece I had cut out to cover the black crayon to help keep the yellow from mixing in. I just shaped this on my own. It wasn't too hard since it's an oval.

   I thought it might look cool to add the mixture of the two colors around the outside.

   Very carefully remove the paper from the logo. I did end up getting a couple bits of yellow mixed in with my black. I used a toothpick to very carefully pick out the yellow.

   Tape down some wax paper over the top of your art work. Put your iron on the lowest setting and very carefully melt the crayon.

  

   Here is my finished work. Not bad for a first time, but can still use a little bit of improvement.

   Some tips that might help:

   Make sure your crayon is the same thickness throughout the work. The middle was much thicker than the outside. This made it so it wouldn't melt evenly.

   It doesn't look cool to add a mixture of the two colors around the outside. It would have looked a lot better if that mess around the edge was just yellow. It would actually look pretty cool.

    Hold the iron flat and don't move it around. Don't even put it on the paper. Just hold it above the paper. It gets plenty hot to do it that way.

   When you are letting it cool, place something over it or on the edges of the paper. It will curl and if you try and flatten it back out, the crayon will crack. I had mine curl so I placed it on a cookie sheet out in the sun. It melted back down again pretty quick. This might also be a good way to melt it without an iron. Just make sure you watch it, once it starts melting, it goes fast!

   Other than that, have fun with it! If you are doing it with children, make sure you watch them closely. I recommend not letting them shred the crayon or use the iron unless they are old enough to do it safely. When I was looking at different ways to do this project, I saw one where they let their kids use a pencil sharpener to help get the crayons ready. This might be a good alternative.

   If you give this craft a try, I would love to see what you come up with as well! I'm already trying to decide what I want to do next.

   Happy crafting!