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SECTOR GUIDE GAMES & PUZZLES
PAUL LAMOND 020 7254 0100 2009 marks the 25th birthday of the Paul Lamond brand. The firm is launching a pre-school educational range under the Chimp and Zee Games name, consisting of six games and four puzzles. In the existing pre-school area Postman Pat has been updated to Postman Pat SDS and there are three Gruffalo products – two puzzles and a snakes and ladders. The children’s range has six new Rainbow Magic puzzles, an updated Famous 5 range and the Fundex skill and action game When Pigs Fly. The family area sees the addition of Cacophony, a game of charades and In a Pickle and Luck of the Draw, two successful American games. There is also Revelations, the game where the sins are revealed, but not the sinner. Family puzzle additions include Where’s Wally, Alex Baird’s Impossible Puzzles and three dragon puzzles from The Dragon Chronicles. The Murder Mystery Dinner Party range sees the return of Inspector McClue in A Vintage Murder and the McNaughty range is extended with Sexual Secrets and Legless.
GREAT GIZMOS 01293 543221
Cross Three is a concept featuring triangular shaped pieces with complicated images of animals, space scenes and more. Place the nine triangular pieces together to form one large triangle, making sure all the pictures match across the joins. With hundreds of possibilities and only two solutions, puzzlers will be kept busy for hours. The IQ Block puzzle has 60 possible solutions. Once a coloured block has been chosen and placed in the top left hand corner of the accompanying case, the additional nine blocks can be arranged around it to form a square. Young puzzlers can get in on the action too, with a new range of wooden pin puzzles that comprises six themes. Each puzzle is designed with a handle making it easier for small hands to get to grips with and features familiar images, encouraging conversation and language skills.
APRIL 2009
UPPER DECK
Upper Deck’s new Trading Card Game, Huntik is based on the boy’s property and animated TV series, Huntik Secrets and Seekers, on Jetix. The show will also be broadcast on CiTV from June. Aimed at six to 12 year olds, the TCG will consist of themed decks featuring Huntik missions and adventures as seen in the show. Cards also feature characters and Titans and will be fully interactive and contain rare cards as well as cards containing passwords to unlock content on the website. The Starter Deck also contains one Huntik episode and a learn-to-play guide. Further sets will launch in summer and autumn. The marketing campaign will launch in the UK this month across TV, print and online media, including targeted cover-mounts, sampling and promotions. An organised play and retail support program started last month.
HASBRO
Connect 4 is a classic game of strategy and now has three ways to play – Original, PopOut and Pop10. PopOut allows you to pop out your rival’s checkers from the bottom row. With Pop10, you start the game with a grid full of checkers and when you’re ready, start popping. The first player to get ten four-in-a-rows wins the game. This allnew Connect 4 is portable and the design means the checkers are locked in the grid and the base is used as a handle. Suitable for age six plus, retails at £9.99, available spring/summer. Maintaining the strategy of the original Battleship game, the new version takes the game to another level with a dynamic hexagonal battlefield and new ships. To win, the victor has to sink his rival’s ships and rescue the crew from his fleet. The new design also
0118 929 8520
Dinosaur King TCG is another new game based on a TV show. Following the launch of the first set, the firm has launched new lines including a new booster set, Colossal Team Battle, containing eight cards plus a rare foil card in every pack, and a Collector’s Box, hit shelves last month. There is also an educational aspect with dinosaur facts on each card plus rare cards to collect including Silver, Gold and ‘Colossal Rare’ cards. The firm is also branching into preschool products with a moving puzzle called Scrolly. It is designed for small hands with wheels on each corner that move the images on a puzzle screen. This self-contained puzzle is aimed at children aged three-years plus with seven different puzzles. Scrolly was launched last month featuring Disney Princess, My Friends Tigger and Pooh and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
020 8569 1234
features a reveal feature that allows the battlefield positions to be shown at the end of the game. Suitable for age seven and upwards, retailing at £12.99 and available spring/summer. The new Bop It! has 1,000 levels and four commands – Twist, Pull, Bop It and the new Shout It – Bop It. Players can go solo and try to beat their highest score or get sociable with the party bop mode. Suitable for age eight plus, retailing at £19.99, available autumn/winter. Find it fast, find it first just got more frantic as Flipper – Pictureka’s penguin – now has his own game. Flipper spins around and flips out of pictures and mission tiles in every direction and to win this game, you have to race to find a picture that matches a mission. Suitable for age six plus, retailing at £24.99 and available in autumn/winter.
CHARACTER OPTIONS 0161 633 9800
Character Options’ games portfolio has two new additions. The Mad Mouse Game challenges players to capture the most cheese from the motorised mouse. Players must watch the rodent randomly run around with the cheese between his teeth, then try to capture him with their cat’s paw hook. The first to do so wins the token and the game starts again. Scooby Doo’s Pirate Peril Game is a ball bearing-based adventure set on the high seas. The aim of the game is to steer the ball around the many obstacles on the pirate ship just as Scooby has to avoid hidden dangers. Players must avoid traps, such as the sweeping pirate and the gang plank, to reach the buccaneer in the crows nest against the clock. Characters’ new games, both available from May, join a line-up including Splashy the Whale and Cars Piston Cup Race Game and are supported with TV advertising.
UNIVERSITY GAMES 01359 243900 Guess What? sees players create a mixed up creature using a head, body and legs from different animals. The first to guess their opponent’s creature wins. In Murder Mystery Mansion, players work in teams to solve the mystery using simple deductive reasoning. On each turn state a suspect, motive, method and place, and the faster you guess, the faster you win. Sort it Out! is the game of putting things in order. Can you sort out which is faster – a cheetah, helicopter or steam train? How about which animal’s brain weighs more – a cat, giraffe, baboon, kangaroo or cow? University Games also offers a wide range of puzzles with a plus. The Impossibles line has no borders, tricky recurring images and five extra pieces making for a different puzzle experience every time. Raining Cats and Dogs has been added for 2009. The Classic Mystery Jigsaw Puzzles line allows puzzlers to read the mystery booklet, put the puzzle together and find clues in the image to solve the mystery. Grounds for Murder and Foul Play and Cabernet expand the range.