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!!!

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!

Don't Let Summer Boredom Happen To You!

    

    It’s summer vacation and you’ve been looking forward to it--until the 3rd official day of summer at 8:30 a.m.  rolls around….One of your children says the inevitable, “I’m bored. There is nothing to do.”  You resist the urge to roll your eyes as you list all the movies, toys, games, and activities that are in your house.  Of course, your child then says, “I’ve already done all of that.”  (Which may or may not cause your blood to boil and steam to begin flowing out of the top of your head.) And thus begins summer: the season when your kids drive you crazy (and you fantasize about the first day of school for 3 months straight.)

         Don't let summer boredom happen to you!  Here are some fun activities for you to do with your kids this summer that will keep your kids (and you) happy.

Cook with your kids!  Kids love to cook.  Let your children choose a few recipes and teach them how to make them.  Make each recipe several times. At the end of the summer, the kids can make the dinner for you (with your supervision). 

Exercise with Adventures to Fitness!  If you haven't heard of Adventures to Fitness, you are missing out.  They produce exercise videos for kids but it is not just exercise. The kids learn so much as they go on adventures to Africa, Australia, and even the past!  It has lots of running and jumping (and laughing.)  Go here to find out more. There's a free trial available if you'd like to try it out. 

Create a board game!  

This can provide hours of entertainment as your child plans the rules and objectives, creates a board, and designs dice or cards.  Of course, there is also the joy of testing out the game!  You can find tons of blank game board templates on line that your kids can customize.  You can also make your own dice out of card stock or put stickers on the side of regular dice to customize the sides.  There is no end to the creativity (or the fun.)

Build a giant Lego city! I don't know about you but we have enough Legos to build a small army.  Find a large area of you house that you can give up for about a week and just build. 

Make a music video! My kids love to do youtube karaoke. Your favorite song probably has a karaoke video with the words on youtube.  Practice singing and dancing to it with your kids.  Choreograph simple moves.  Choose fun outfits and accessories.  Then, perform the song and record it with your cell phone.  It may not be perfect but your kids will love it.  

Write letters!  I know this sounds kind of boring but your kids are going to love it once they start getting letters in return.  Kids can also design their own stationary and envelopes.

Write a book!  This can be a comic book, a short story, or a picture book. Kid's love to make pop-up books too. Work with you kids to plan, create, and share  a book on a topic they love.  Invite friends and family over when the book is finished and allow your children to read it to them.

Build a giant fort inside! Help your children build a fort using pillows, blankets, chairs, etc.  See how big you can make it and challenge them to come up with ideas on how to make it bigger and better.

Let your kids start a blog!   Blogs don't have to be public.  You can share them with just family and friends.  If kids have their own blog, they can blog about what they are doing as well as topics that interest them.  Once they get tired of a topic, they can blog about something else. They could do this all summer long and never get bored!

Have a Pirate Dinner! Everyone wears an eye patch and you sit down to dinner together.  Since pirates are not civilized, you have to eat with you hands. (Yes, I said eat with you hands.)  You can serve Sp-argh-etti and garrrrrrlic bread.  Slurping is definitely allowed! Talk like pirates, eat like pirates, act like pirates.  What could be more fun? 

Flat Stanley!  

I hope you all remember these books from when you were kids.  If not, run to the library right now and check it out.  Flat Stanley is the story of a boy who get's flattened (and sent through the mail.)  You children can create their own Flat Stanley and send him out into the world.  Whoever receives your Flat Stanley takes a picture of themselves with Stanley, sends the picture to you, and sends Flat Stanley to another person.  You can do this on your own with people you know or go here to register for the Flat Stanley Project.  They have a list of registered participants you can send you Flat Stanley too.  Flat Stanley has been all over the world! Give it a try and find out where your Flat Stanley goes.  

Now, you have plenty of activities to stop boredom this summer! Go have some fun!

--Chrissy

 

Winner Winner Family Dinner: The Art of Conversation

     

What is your conversation usually like at the table?  Do you ask your family members, “How was your day?” and receive a one word answer of “fine?” If you’ve read my previous post, you know that the time you spend at the dinner table is important. This series of blog posts focuses on how to make family dinner more meaningful and fun.   The first component of  a successful family dinner is  conversation but sometimes it can be difficult to get that ball rolling.  Some family members may not be talkers. Others may not be interested in the conversation topics you usually discuss.  There is a proverb that says, “Beware of a silent man and still water.”  If we aren’t talking with our families on a regular basis, our family is at risk for all kinds of problems.  Let’s talk about how you can get started having better conversation with your family at the dinner table.

      The first step you need to take if you haven’t already done so is to schedule family dinner.  Make a goal and keep it.  Once you have done that, you can worry about conversation.

I suggest you break your conversation topics into 3 groups:  events of the day, events of your past, and events of your ancestors. 

     The first topic, events of the day, focuses on each family member sharing experiences from the day’s events.  To encourage more participation, try creating a list of questions and placing them in a Question Jar.  Ask each family member to choose a question from the jar and answer it.  To make a question jar, gather paper, punches, stickers, glue, and a jar.  Decorate the jar however you'd like.  Then fill it with slips of paper with questions printed on them. Here is my question jar:

Some questions might be:

• What was the best part of your day?
• What was the most difficult part of you day?
• If you could do one thing over again from today, what would it be?
• Did you help anyone today? Did anyone help you?
• List 3 things you learned at school or work today.
• List 3 things that you did at school or work today.
• Talk about what you are grateful for today.
• How could this day have been better?
• How could this day have been worse?
• Share something funny you heard today like a joke or story.
•  Share something funny you heard today like a joke or story.

     You could add or replace these questions each week for variety.

     The second and third conversation topics go together.  When parents, grandparents, or any older family member share experiences from the past you have a great topic for conversation.  We can also share experiences from our ancestors.     Why would we want to do this?  Research suggests there are many benefits for children who are brought up on family stories and history. Some of these benefits are:

• An appreciation for history and a knowledge of it
• A feeling of belonging
• A greater ability to face challenges
• Resilience and a better ability to handle stress
• A stronger sense of control
• Confidence and self-esteem

     If you’d like to read more about this research, click here. 

     If you’d like the children in your home to have all of these benefits, it’s easy—all you have to do is tell stories! Start by sharing information about your past.  Adult members of the home could brainstorm a list of experiences they would like to share with the rest of the family members.  These could include:

• Humorous stories
• Lessons learned
• Stories about your first job
• Stories about school
• Personal experiences that recount historical events (What was the Berlin Wall and what did think when it came down?  Why did you volunteer to serve in the army during WWII? Where were you when President Kennedy was shot?”)
• Stories about people who have help you, inspired you, or encouraged you.
• Experiences that changed your life
• Stories that illustrate how technology has changed

     It is also important to teach your children about their ancestors.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the idea of being forgotten.  Personally, I know very little about my family beyond my grandparents besides names.  I am sad to say I have many ancestors who have been completely forgotten.  I often wonder what experiences they would have liked to pass down and what they would have wanted me to remember.  My grandparents were awesome and I often share stories with my children about their extraordinary lives.  I don’t want them to be forgotten.  Plus, my children benefit from the stories I tell them.  Who doesn’t want more resilient, happy, and confident kids?   Did you realize that you could accomplish this by simply sharing stories about your past and your ancestors’ past? Here are some ideas for sharing stories about your ancestors:

• Find the oldest member of you extended family and interview them so they can share what they know about your ancestors.  Invite that person to dinner to tell these stories or share them yourself.
• Ask family members to research an ancestor and share what they have learned.
• Bring a family heirloom (or a picture of one) to the dinner table and explain why it is important.
• Discuss the meaning of your surname.
• If anyone is the house is named after an ancestor, discuss why that name was chosen.

     I hope this week you make plans to gather around the table and have great conversation!  Not only will your table time be more enjoyable, but your children will reap numerous benefits as well.

Castle Panic Review

   Castle Panic is a fun filled co-op game that is great to play with both adults and kids, especially if they still need a little bit of help playing. The point of the game is to work together to try and save the castle from the monsters that are trying to break it down.

   Inside, there is a board that has six sections, two in each color. The outside ring is the Forrest. Then it is the Archer ring, Knight ring and the Swordsman ring. The castle towers and walls go in the middle section.

   Here are the Monster tokens, walls and tower pieces, plastic stands for your castle pieces and a deck of cards.

   The triangle pieces are called Monster Tokens. These are what you are playing against.

   There are four monster bosses. These tokens do different things such as: moving the Monster tokens closer and making you draw extra Monster tokens.

   There are also Special Monster tokens. These have you do things such as draw more Monster tokens, discard all of a certain type of card from your hand, move all monsters in a certain color or move them on the board.

   There is a Boulder token. If you draw this, roll the die. Whatever number is rolled is the number the Boulder rolls through. The Boulder keeps going until it hits either a wall, tower piece or a fortify wall. If there are Monsters in that section, they are all killed off. If there is nothing in the center to stop the boulder, it goes right through the middle and keeps going.

   The last type of Monster Tokens are the actual monsters. There are Goblins that have one life point, Orcs that have two life points and Trolls that have three life points. Each Monster token has the number of life points on it. The current number they have should be pointing at the Castle. If they get hit, turn it to the next number. If it is on a one and they get hit, they are removed from the game.

   There are two fortify wall pieces and a tar piece.

   There are a couple different types of cards. These are what you use to get rid of the monsters. There are many different ones that do special things such as moving a monster back, letting you draw extra cards and helping you to hit the monsters. Then there are the Archer, Knight and Swordsman cards. These either have red, blue or green dots around the name. The cards are used to hit the monsters in the corresponding color and ring. There are also Any Color Archers, Knights and Swordsman. These can be used in any of the colors. The Hero cards can be used for any ring of the corresponding color. Each card can only be used on one monster but you may play as many cards as you are able.

   There are Brick and Mortar cards. If you play these together, you can rebuild one wall and place it wherever a wall is missing. You can never rebuild the Castle towers.

   There is a Fortify Wall card. This lets you add a little token to the wall. This makes it so that the monsters have one more layer to get through before they can knock down your tower.

  There is also a Tar card. When you play this, you can place it on a Monster. This keeps him there during the monster moving phase for that turn.

   To set up, you will place your castle pieces in a ring around the center of the board with a wall in front of it. Then you will take three Goblin tokens, two Orc tokens and one Troll token. Place these randomly around the archer section below the numbers.

   Once the board is set up, pass out the number of cards depending on the number of players. The turns go as follows:

  - Draw cards until you are back up to the hand amount

  - You may discard and draw one card if you'd like

  - Trade cards with a fellow player. You may trade one card with one player unless you have six players, then you may trade two.

  - Play as many cards as you would like

  - Move all Monster tokens one ring closer to the castle. Monsters will keep moving forward until they are killed. If they are in the Swordsman area and are not killed, they will run into a wall or tower piece. When this happens, the wall or tower falls down and takes one life point from the monster that hit it. If there is no wall or tower piece, the monster moves into the tower circle and will move clockwise one space around the tower until it either knocks down all of the walls or is killed.

  - Draw two new monsters and play them in the order drawn. If they are a Monster, roll the die and place them on the number you roll in the Forrest area. These can not be hit until they are moved into the Archer ring unless they are hit by a Boulder.

  - Play continues clockwise

   If you roll the die and a number comes up that already has a Monster token on it, place it next to the monster that is already there. There is no limit to the number of monsters that can be on any section of the board.

   Once all of the monsters have been killed and taken off the board, if you have any pieces of the castle towers remaining, you win! If all of the Castle towers are knocked down, the game ends and the monsters have won.

   I think this game is a lot of fun and a great co-op game. You really have to work together to win at this one. There has been many times when it has been a close call or we have lost. It is also a great party game since you can play with up to six people. It's easy to learn and play so you won't use up all of your game night trying to explain it. It's also a great family night game!