| Company Site: | www.smartgamesusa.com |
It’s a company, not a smart game or computer or anything like that. To clarify, the company is called Smart Toys and Games. Anyway, I discovered this company at Gen Con 2012 at their vendor booth the first day. I went by myself on Thursday to check things out and look at the games they had for kids. I originally thought Smart Toys and Games were for puzzle games for adults, which I thought was awesome and then I realized they were for kids and thought it was even more awesome!
There were two tables on a corner booth with tons of games to try and I think the Gentleman and I spent an hour there on Friday, about 4 hours there total on Saturday and another hour on Sunday. Needless to say the games were fantastic. Here are a few of the ones we played at Gen Con.
Bill & Betty Bricks
Players ages 5 and up will develop improved spatial perception and fine motor skills as they work through 60 challenges to build their way up with this construction-themed vertical puzzle. It is similar to Camelot Jr but instead of two figures meeting you simply complete a square or rectangle using the bricks allowed starting from the set up shown in the challenge.
Hide & Seek Pirates
This game has a slide off top that stores everything inside which is fantastic if you are like me and tired of game pieces falling out of the box. Basically you place all 4 pieces of the puzzle onto the board so that only the challenge images are visible. It is a logic game with 48 different challenges from easy to extremely difficult. Easy to use with storage compartment for the puzzle pieces, game rules, challenges and solutions.
Temple Trap
This game was a little tricky for my 4 year old at first but it was still fun and he loved it. Adventurous players must work their way through a cursed labyrinth to solve the 3-D sliding puzzle with 48 IQ-building challenges. Set up the board based on the challenge and slide the pieces so that the adventurer (the little peg) can get out of the maze. My son really kept wanting to play this.
Camelot Jr.
The game box says “A Romantic Challenge!” which is adorable since you have to solve the puzzle so that the knight can get to the princess. There are 48 challenges (solutions included) 8 blocks,1 knight and 1 princess. The booklet has challenges ranging from easy to hard and you follow the picture to set up a challenge using the blocks it shows. My son spends close to an hour on this game alone when he plays.
We left Gen Con with four games from them and then purchased another online later in the week. Games vary from block style puzzles, to sliding puzzles, and even a 3D car puzzle but all were fun and challenging. The harder levels on some of the games even had ME stumped, which isn’t easy to do…well not with kids games anyway.
“Smart Toys and Games, Inc. products stimulate the development of logical thinking skills through play for all ages. Each multi-level challenge game is carefully designed and tested to move players through levels of game play, from very easy to extremely difficult. The varied levels of difficulty help build confidence and mental agility in players.” – Smart Games Press Release
That is why I love these games. They are fun and teach kids to think for themselves and to think outside the box. A couple of the games actually teach kids to think outside, through, next to and on top of the box and maybe even come up with a whole new box! Well…ok I exaggerated a bit, but you get the idea. Right? Making kids think, increase IQ and problem solving skills…that was clear right?
Anyway, they are extremely durable (I know because I dropped one already) and self contained. That’s right parents, no pieces sliding around in the box, falling out, or being shaken and breaking. The block games come with a custom insert for the pieces to sit nicely in and other games have sliding tops so the smaller pieces fit inside along with their booklets. Plus those are usually magnetic too!
To recap:
Fun
Educational and helps increase IQ
Teaches problem solving skills
Durable and easy to store and perfect for travel
How can you NOT own these games?
