| Recommended Age: | 6+ |
| Players: | 2-4 |
| Our Recommended Age: | 3+ (with help) |
| Cost: | $17.99 (will vary) |
| Company Site: | www.blueorangegames.com |
| Skills: | Memory Focus and attention Problem solving |
| Play Time: | 15 Minutes (this will also vary depending on players) |
| Contents: | 7 Gigamon Figures 42 Elemon Tiles 3 Rock Tokens 4 Reference Cards Illustrated Rules |
Gigamons is a new game by Blue Orange Games and a new family favorite. It is a brilliant twist on memory that your whole family will want to play over and over again…and love every second. Flip 2 Elemon tiles and if they match collect them. Collect 3 to get a Gigamon and get 3 Gigamons to win!
That is not as easy as it sounds….my memory was great I thought…turns out nope…not so much. The Diva’s memory, however, is excellent and she is the reigning champ! This is now her favorite game…and the only one she can repeatedly beat her brother at…and her parents…I’m making a trophy.
It comes in a cute small roundish lift top lid box that loosely fits all the pieces. The Gigamon are on green plastic stands and just sort of lay in the box…well we display them in a happy circle in the box but that might be just us…The box itself has adorable artwork and is pretty sturdy and easy to open…which is a big plus in our house.
The tiles, Rock tokens and Gigamons are made out of chipboard, good quality pieces, and there isn’t anything else to the game but instructions and the cards that tell you each Elemon and Gigamon’s special powers. Those cards are slightly larger than a standard card but also good quality.
I love the artwork! It is super cute but not too kiddy looking for older kids or adults.
All the elements are represented, Earth(Terramon), Air(Anemomon), Fire(Helioman), Water(Halomon) as well as Forest or Plants?(Biomon), Electricity(Meteoromon) and then there’s the Supermon…which is basically all of them and the Diva’s favorite Gigamon.
The Gentleman really likes the Meteoromon but that might be because NO ONE got him for the first 6 games we played. Someone had managed to get all the other ones a few times but no one got him for the longest time…and then the Gentleman made it a mission and succeeded. Determination runs strong…
Now that we covered the parts let’s go over the how-to’s and what-nots…seriously take a moment to check out the artwork though…so cute!
Objective:
Collect 3 Elemon to summon one Gigamon. Summon 3 Gigamon to win!
Setup:
I know you will want to play with the Gigamon so go ahead and do that first. Then, when you are ready make sure they are all on the Green Stands and set them aside along with the Rock tokens.
Shuffle up the Elemon tiles face down, no peeking. Now make a stack to make the draw pile. Take the top 9 tiles and place them face down in a 3×3 grid pattern on the table (or floor) where everyone can reach and more importantly see all the tiles.
The youngest player goes first and play will continue clockwise…which apparently is how all games usually go and I can never remember…Now you are ready to play!
Play:
On your turn you get to flip 2 Elemon tiles ONLY and one at a time. If they do not match wait about 3 seconds so others can see them and then flip them back face down.
However, if they did match you get to keep them and then take 2 off of the top of the Draw Pile and put them face down in the spots those two you just got were in. You also get to activate their special power! Each Elemon has their own power when you get a match and it activates immediately.
I won’t go into all of them but as an example if you were to get 2 Pyromom, these are the fire element and are also feisty…you get to destroy another player’s Elemon! Just one but you get to choose who and which one!
My kids have learned that whoever has the closest to either winning or summoning a Gigamon is losing a tile…so they use that agains me a lot. The Electromon let’s you lay again, which is the Gentlemans favorite but the Floramon lets you get a free tile off the Draw pile…this is my favorite.
The Diva’s favorite is the pink one, the Polymon which is everyone’s friend and is an automatic match to anything…but you don’t get to activate any special powers…since it being an auto match IS a special power.
Once you have collected 3 of the same Elemon you will discard them (face up next to the Draw Pile and no they will not be reshuffled) and snatch the matching Gigamon!
One thing to remember…if you summoned a Gigamon and another player gets 3 Elemons that match your Gigamon then they summon it…from you! This is called theft…and it is not nice…but it does happen…usually TO me and not BY but you know how that goes.
Winning:
The game ends when one player has 3 Gigamon OR all the tiles in the Draw Pile are empty and there are no more matches in the grid playing area.
We’ve had both happen…we’ve also had the Diva summon 1 Gigamon, get a match for a second, which was Biomon which gave her an extra tile which summoned her third and final Gigamon to win….she did this another time but with 2, getting a third and then a 4th!
I’d say she is lucky but she is just that good at this game! I have won exactly one time…one time…we’ve played over 3 dozen times…I think her brother won 4 times and her dad won…possibly once but possibly no times…this amuses me greatly.
If there is a tie…which can and does happen then whoever has the most Elemon is the winner! If you tie again just play again! yay!
If you want to play with kids around age 3+ simply leave off the extra powers and it becomes a matching game! With mini trophies for getting matches. You could even start with random face up Elemons in the grid pattern so they get used to seeing that and then can identify matches. Once they can identify the matches flip them over for a memory game!
Gigamons is a super fun, adorable and easy to learn and setup game for the whole family! I know I sounded like a commercial but it’s true. It is a lot of fun for all ages, even adults and yes even after the 15th time you’ve played it that day…yeah that happened…final count was 17 before I called it.
My niece is 11 and loved it along with various adults, including us of course. I was never a fan of memory but Gigamons makes trying to remember more fun and adds a sense of adventure!
Now that you are dying to try this game enter below for your chance to win a copy! Must be 18+ and legal resident of the USA or Canada.
