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For Kids. Der verhexte Hexenhut / Kids Express Which Witch Hat?
By CHRISTOPH SCHLEWINSKI
them to enjoy playing on their own—after being told how to prepare the deck of cards.
There are only two
problems with Der ver­
hexte Hexenhut: First,
you have to press the
hats exactly in the mid-
dle for them to produce
a sound. Sometimes you
press and press and noth-
ing happens, which inter-
rupts the flow of the game.
Second, there are too many cards in the box. Because the children are drawn in, they happily wear themselves out and get exhausted. I’ve seen it happen in every
F
frog, or crow. By turning over a task card, they now have to guess or remember which animal is hiding in which hat, or which animal is in front of which witch, or to find animals in a specific order. Not really a problem with just the four hats. But, of course, the hats in Bibi Blocks­ berg: Der verhexte Hexenhut (The Be- witched Witch’s Hat) keep changing po- sitions. Often several times in succession. And then we are all at sea.
I say “we are all at sea” ... but that isn’t exactly true: I am. The children at the ta- ble only very rarely. Just often enough to make them want to play again. The winner is the player who has col- lected the most cards. And that’s
a real challenge. The idea is so simple that the children can dive
into the game in minutes. And the cards are self-explanatory enough for
our hats are lying in front of the witches. When pressed, each of them
makes an animal sound: owl, cat,
cause the game itself is definitely worth playing. It’s exciting and challenging. And it features noise-generating gadgets. How awesome is that! (cs)
Ages 5 and up
group so far: there comes a moment when the children start to drop out mentally. Partly because they realize how many cards are still awaiting them. I recommend sim- ply taking out a few cards of each type and experimenting a little. Be-
Tim Rogasch: Bibi Blocksberg: Der verhexte Hexenhut (Schmidt Spiele), Illustration: Fiore GmbH; for 2 – 4 children about 5+ years; duration: about 15 minutes; price: about 34 euros
Flicking Luggage Rescue By CHRISTOPH SCHLEWINSKI
And here comes another family game that has received a chil- dren’s version. After My First Stone Age, Ticket to Ride: First Jour­ ney or Dragomino, this is the junior ver- sion of Colt Express called Kids Express. The children work together to prevent the bandits from robbing the train and the stagecoach. To do this, they can ei-
ther move, leave their standee in place, or take down a bandit with their bud- dy Sam. Wherever a child lands at the end of their turn, they save one piece of luggage. But, its flipside then reveals whether the saving action also triggers a robber’s movement, resulting in another
stolen item.
It takes dexterity and a good eye to
shoot down a bandit: a small cardboard standee is placed on the Sam figure, po- sitioned at some distance from the train— you then flick it to knock over a bandit. If you are successful, the baddies return to their hideout in the last carriage.
Ages 5 and up
If the children save more than the bandits steal, they win the game. In a well-co- ordinated group, that’s an easy task. Which might actually be a downside: some of my groups won without any ef- fort. Others were so preoccupied with the flicking they failed to recognize the oth- er opportunities the game offered them. Kids Express is a beautifully crafted and
exciting game—if, like I said, things don’t run too smoothly the first time. Then you really need to make it harder the next time around. The eye-catching three-dimensional train can also be very distracting at times. But it’s still worth giving it a try. If only for the wow fac- tor on opening the box: everything is so neatly stowed away inside that some adult games could take a leaf out of this
game’s book. (cs)
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Photos: France, Ludonaute, Ravensburger, Schmidt Spiele, Space Cow
Cédric Lefebvre, Christophe Raim- bault: Kids Express (Ludonaute), Illustration: Jordi Valbuena; for 1– 4 children about 5+ years; duration: about 20 minutes; price: about 29 euros