Kingdomino

Although I haven't posted anything for a week, it's not for lack of gaming at our house.  In fact, we've played so much that it has become difficult to keep up with blogging.

The kids, tired from a week of school and play, insisted that we play Kingdomino again before bedtime.

Kingdomino is an award-winning game that has been popular with reviewers and consumers alike.  At the time of this writing, it is listed as one of the top 200 games on BoardGameGeek, and inside the top 25 in the family games category.  Although it is quite easy to play, I have hard time explaining the rules with clarity.  I've typed them out and deleted them several times.  Instead, I offer this excellent video from Watch It Played.  Rodney Smith has become one of my best virtual friends when introducing games to the kids.

I've had my eye on Kingdomino for a while, and finally purchased it while shopping for Benjamin's birthday presents.  It is recommended for ages 8 and up, so I knew that the boys would have no trouble learning to play.  Genevieve, on the other hand, requires a bit of personal attention when choosing and placing tiles.  She fully grasps the concept of matching tile types, but hasn't quite latched on to the scoring aspect of the game.

Genevieve beat all of us the first time we played.  She's well acquainted with being royalty.

While playing, the kids will often get distracted or pester one another, which usually results in the jostling of the table or game pieces.  Genevieve, in particular, has a tough time keeping her hands off of tiles she has already placed (probably because the artwork is so excellent).  Rather than constantly reminding her to keep her hands off of her tiles, I now allow her to rearrange them as much as she'd like.  It serves several purposes:

1. It allows for experimentation with different tile placement configurations 
2. It keeps the littlest player busy without significantly affecting the rest of the game.  
3. It helps me stay sane.

She gets to choose which tile she wants, and has ultimate control over where to place it.  I might add some suggestions as to where she might benefit the most from putting a tile, but she generally knows where she wants to "match the pictures".  It also doesn't hurt that she easily recognizes crowns as something to collect more of. 

Isaiah and Benjamin have not had any issues learning and playing Kingdomino.  Even more, it has become the most requested game in our household over the past two weeks, so I'm pretty sure they're enjoying it.  To date, Benjamin has the most wins (3), and the highest overall score (36).  I have won a grand total of zero (0) times.  I have a feeling that we'll be purchasing the expansion fairly soon.

When you win, you get to make any facial expression you want.  This is King Benjamin's favorite.