Keeping Your Family Entertained with Spin Master Games
Like many of you we love enjoying a Family Games Night and Good Board Games are amazing at teaching kids some brilliant skills, so we were very excited when Spin Master kindly sent us some of their top games in return for us sharing with you our honest thoughts about them.
If you have ever found yourself at a loose end trying to find things to keep the kids entertained on a day when you’re stuck indoors then it’s a no brainer for parents to reach for a fun board game.
Board games are the perfect way to enjoy some family fun time that doesn’t involve screen time and they actually have some hidden educational benefits for the kids as well.
We love Spin Master Games, so the kids were very enthusiastic when unpacking some games from them that we have never had the chance to play before and best of all they are suitable for all the ages of our family.
Baby Shark Let’s Go Hunt Fishing Game
The Baby Shark Let’s Go Hunt Fishing Game can be played with 2-4 players and is aimed at children 3+.
This game was a real hit, especially with the younger kids. You have a round game board that are full of different coloured sharks and you when you put two AA batteries into the game the whole board moves around in a circle.
As the board moves around it plays the song Baby Shark, which you can’t help but join in singing! Also, the little sharks’ mouths open and close so using your fishing rod you have to try and catch as many little sharks as you can.
It’s simple fun and great race game against the other players. The kids loved this game and it’s great for keeping the little ones happy and entertained on those days you’re not going out.
Headbanz
Headbanz, can be played by up to 6 people and is aimed at plus 7-year olds. This is a simple hilarious game that the whole family can play.
There are six adjustable headbands that you place on your head and in the front of them they have a slot that you can place a card in, so everyone can see the card apart from you. Turning the timer over you ask everyone a load of questions that they can only answer yes or no to so you can attempt to guess what you are.
The cards include things like food, animals and objects. There are also three cards that include sample questions which were handy when playing at the start for the younger kids as their minds just went blank. So, things like am I something you use daily, am I bigger than a fridge – you get the gist.
The questions everyone asks is the funniest part, although the kids do find it hilarious that mummy is a sock or daddy a hippo lol!
When you guess your card right you get a yellow token to clip onto your headband and the winner is the person who gets the most tokens.
We really enjoyed this game and before we knew, on the rainiest day ever we found ourselves playing this game for nearly two and a half hours it was so much fun.
Otrio
Otrio game can be played with 2-4 players and aimed at kids aged over 8 and we have to say this is by far the best game we have played with the kids in years. Not only did the adults love it but was unanimously loved by every single child, which is a rare thing in our home.
Otrio Game really makes you get your thinking cap on as you have to outsmart the other players moves to win. Think noughts and crosses but harder.
Each player gets three sets of different size circles. You each take it in turn to place a circle on the board and there is three ways you can win. One you must get three same size circles in a row. Two you have to get all three different size circles all in one spot or Three you have to get your three circles in size order in a line across the board, all obviously whilst other players are trying to stop you, these ways are shown in the image below
This is such a fab game and great as it gets kids thinking ahead, planning out their next move, whilst trying to work out and foresee what others are trying to do.
All the kids absolutely loved this game a few of our kids love chess and have even said they preferred this game to that, which shocked us.
We honestly can’t big this game up enough and it gets a huge without hesitate massive recommendation from us. as any family would enjoy this.
Jumanji The Next Level
This game is for up to four players and aimed at kids over 8 years old. Now first off, we got to say the instructions really are not the best and it took us a long long time to work it out, but please don’t let this put you off.
In fact, we thought the instructions were so poor for this board game that it would stop people from playing it. So, we have put together a detailed How to Play Jumanji The Next Level Board Game Guide to help families out, because once you get it sussed you will honestly love this game.
Jumanji The Next Level is a strategy game, using dice rolls and cards to battle the enemies and win.
Unlike other board games you do not have a counter you have to work around the board to win. Instead you have to spin the board to change what character you are, using each character’s special abilities to help you win the battles, gaining tokens and filling your tracker card to Win the game.
The actual board is a funny one, although it’s made with nice sturdy cardboard you are supposed to spin it to change character and honestly, that’s not the easiest to do and we think this could definitely be improved on, along with way clearer instructions.
Kids automatically want to spin the board by holding the standing up figure, but top tip as a work around hold the actual circle to spin.
Also don’t get frustrated and put off playing, if you don’t understand the instructions, top tip read our detailed How to Play Guide here, because once explained clearly it is actually very easy to play.
That being said this is a good game for older kids and teenagers that are into board games they need to really think about rather than just roll a dice and move around a board.
Board Games are our families’ go to, to keep all the family happy and entertained when spending time indoors and we thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of these Spin Master Games and would totally recommend them to any other family looking to expand their board game collections.
