Card Game Reviews: Randomise, Canine Kleptomaniacs, Karuba, Monster Madness

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If you’re looking for something new and fun to add to your day, here are some relatively inexpensive card games we have been enjoying as a family.

Randomise

Age: box says 8+, we say you can start much younger with a rule tweak
Players: 4+
Time: Box says 30 minutes, we say as short or as long as you like
Cost: £12.99 on Amazon

Help your teammates guess a completely ridiculous creature doing a random thing by describing, drawing or acting it out. Choose three cards – one adjective, one noun and one verb. The opposing team gets to choose three numbers ranging from one to three and that determines what you will be describing, drawing or acting. The method of communication is your choice, but each method has its own time limit. The winner is the first to 30 points (or whatever target you choose).

The rules of the game allow the opposing team to steal points by guessing any unguessed cards at the end. As Miss Seven is still an emerging reader, we leave that rule out so Dad can whisper her combination to her. You’re guaranteed to feel and look ridiculous in this game. It’s a great one for releasing steam and relieving boredom. There are also five alternative gameplay rules when you’re ready for more of a challenge.

Canine Kleptomaniacs

Age: box says 7+, we say get the rules down with older children and then play in teams until younger children have a hang of the rules or it’s just too slow
Players: 2-5
Time: box says 20 minutes plus, we say that may be true once you’ve got the rules down
Cost: £14.99

This game is for dog-lovers with an ‘off’ sense of humour. My Mister 11 LOVES it. I really struggled to understand the rules for this game, but I don’t play a lot of complicated games. I think it’s well worth looking up the playthrough on YouTube. Once you get the rules down, this game is another one that’s good for giggles. And eventually, it’s meant to become a quick-fire decisions game that can be played in about 20 minutes.

The aim of the game is to steal things and hide them. You can only hide a ‘set’ of items and only hidden items count in your final score. How many sets you can hide depends on a little skill and a lot of luck. Granny’s Bloomers won’t earn you as many points as Golden Y-Fronts, but there are a lot more Granny’s Bloomers in the deck – strategy. You’re only given one hiding place at the start of the game and how many more you get is purely luck of the draw unless you can make a worthy swap with an opponent. Asking your opponents for Lil’ Jimmy’s Nappies or Sweaty Boxers is always good for a bit of a chuckle.

Karuba

Age: box says 8+, but Miss Seven loves this game
Players: 2-6
Time: 15 minutes
Cost: £20.75 on Amazon

If your child can add two digits between 1 and 16 then they can play this game as intended. Inititally, we played this game without the one card discard handicap at the beginning of each round, so no maths, and just drew three cards per round to create our boards. It’s not as challenging, but is a good first step in learning to think ahead when placing your cards.

The aim of the game is to get your explorers to their temples – ideally picking up a gold nugget or diamond along the way. But, you only get to choose two cards out of three to put down at a time and those cards must touch as you build your board. This is a super quick game and really addictive. We usually play this at least four times in one sitting. Uno used to be our go-to quick game, but Karuba immediately replaced it once upon the scene.

Monster Madness – D&D Dungeon Mayhem

Age: 8+
Players: 2-6
Time: 15 minutes
Cost: £20.60 on Amazon

Katie mentioned Dungeon Mayhem in her Boardgame Reviews, and as she said, you don’t have to have Dungeon Mayhem to make use of the extension packages. Miss Seven really wanted to get this for her brother for Christmas because she loved the look of the monsters. Unfortunately, it was out of her budget so their D&D-loving uncle got it for both of them for Christmas.

This seems to be a straight up versus game, though I can’t say I’ve completely wrapped my brain around how all of the cards work. I’ve played it twice and, like Katie, lost both times. The important thing is Mister 11 can play this over Skype with his bud and they know what they’re doing. I appreciate that it’s a change from all the online gaming the kids seem to do these days.