As I’m sure you’ll soon learn, my family is addicted to games. Ok, ok, so I’m really the one with the addiction, but my family is always willing to play whatever new game walks in the door with me. We have well over 300 board and card games lining several book shelves, so I’m always excited when I get to try something new.
Games for the family to play at home
Swish is created by a company named ThinkFun Inc. This was my first clue that I wasn’t in for your typical brainless, draw-a-card-and-match-the-color type of game. I was excited that we’d actually get to use our noggin and really think about our moves! My 12 year old son gets enough brainless activity with video games and the internet, so as a parent, I’m always looking for a way to get him to use his brain while not even realizing it! The great thing about this game is that it can be played alone, or with as many people as you want!
Swish contains 60 see-through cards. 16 cards are placed on the playing surface for everyone to see. On each card are different colored balls and hoops. The object is to stack between 2 and 12 cards so that each colored ball fits through a hoop of the same color. Here’s the tricky part – the cards can be flipped or rotated to make the balls align, BUT you must do it in your head before touching the cards. If you touch the cards and they aren’t a match, you’re penalized.
I played with my son and husband. The game started out fairly quickly, as we used the beginner rule that you could only make stacks of two. Once we picked up on it (which we did very quickly) we allowed stacks of any number of cards. This is when it got difficult. We all really enjoyed the challenge of trying to find matches, and all had a good laugh when someone was so sure they had a good match but didn’t quite make it.
Educational games for families
One thing that we had a problem with was picking up the cards. We played on a hard surface, and the cards were so slippery they were nearly impossible to pick up. We were able to fix that easily by putting a kitchen towel under the cards, or I believe playing on carpet would have worked as well. I also loved that it came with a small carrying pouch. So many games take up so much room on the shelf, but Swish really isn’t much bigger than a deck of cards and is easily portable – instructions and all. Speaking of instructions, there weren’t many. This is one of the easier games that I’ve played in terms of picking up on it quickly. In fact, my son missed the reading of the rules, so he just watched my husband and me make about 3 matches and was able to join in from there with no problem.
Swish is a game that will remain dustless on the family’s game shelf. I have no doubt that it’s a game we will play on a regular basis. It’s adult enough that my husband and I can play it alone, or we can play it as an entire family. I love how versatile it is, and I love that it really does make you think. Our goal now is to start making matches of 4 cards or more, but I have a feeling that may take quite a bit more practice!
ThinkFun has so many really fun products. As a gift to our readers, they’ve offered a package of their best games – Swish and Tilt. Both games have been nominated for Toy of the Year awards. Swish is nominated for Educational Toy of the Year, and Tilt is nominated as Specialty Toy of the Year.
You can win a game package – 1 copy of Swish and 1 copy of Tilt by filling out the rafflecopter form below:
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