From the makers of the "whole-brain" board game, Cranium,
comes a for-kids take-off. Cadoo plays like a delightful mix of favorite
games — it has elements of charades, tic-tac-toe, and Pictionary, for example.
The result is a game that has enough variety to entertain children for hours,
and to exercise their brains in creative ways.
The object of the game is to get four colorful tokens in a row onto the grid
of the game board. Playing the game involves rolling a die and selecting a card
from either the Solo or Combo deck. Solo play may be as passive as answering
a multiple-choice trivia question (such as "Pick the queen who ruled the longest
time ago") or as active as finding something round to balance on your head.
But whether it's a performance or a thinking challenge, the player who draws
a Solo card must do something alone. Drawing a Combo card means collaborating
— players will need to draw, sculpt, or act out a mystery word or phrase
for opponents to guess.
Kids might have to act out a game of ping-pong, sculpt a guitar with the included
clay, or draw an acorn in order to get a token on the board. Sometimes, they
will have to get up and go find something around the house against a timer.
One card, for example, requires a player to quickly find something with a handle
as well as something they can tie in a knot. More passive demands include identifying
an object from a close-up picture, solving a rebus puzzle, identifying what
is wrong with a picture, and thinking of one word given two different definitions.
Players will need to wear the included "secret decoder" glasses in order to
check their answers or read a secret word, which takes care of the awkwardness
involved with handling cards — and adds to the fun. The game comes with
a pot of scented clay for sculpting mystery objects, a pad and pencil for doodling
challenges, and the decoder mask for revealing secret answers.
Whatever the activity, thought must go into it. Some strategy is also involved
when placing the tokens on the board — the objective of the game is to
make a line of tokens four in a row. The twist is that other players can sometimes
place their tokens on top of another player's token.
The game has a short learning curve — after reviewing the relatively
simple rules of the game, kids can jump right in and play. A typical game lasts
approximately half and hour — short enough to keep kids' interest levels
high, and long enough to satisfy their needs for fun.
Though kids can happily play the game together, Cadoo is perfectly
suited for family play. Though adults won't find the trivia questions challenging,
they might find that their kids are worthy opponents when it comes down to play-acting
and building objects out of clay! Cadoo is wonderful alternative to computer
and video games. The game's highly social game-play gets kids interacting with
each other and laughing. In addition, its variety means it is highly improbable
that the game will bore kids any time soon.
