In my family, we love to play games. Card games, board games, simple games for the whole family, complex games that take days to play… We like them all! Each year, we expand our collection. This year, I added 3 new games to our collection: Array, Spectrix, and CUBU.

These games were created by Funnybone Toys and were launched earlier this year. Already, all 3 games received a 2012 Tillywig Brain Child Award! I received and ‘tested’ each game to see what the fuss was all about.

The first game we tried was Array. This is our favorite game out of the 3. The goal is to play your cards first by matching a color on your card to a color on a card that is part of the array (each card has 2, 3 or 4 colors). Sounds easy, and that’s the beauty of it! The rules are really easy to follow and even children can join in. Nonetheless, in practice, it’s not as straightforward as it seems because you really have to plan your moves and analyze your options to make sure you play as many cards as possible each turn.

You can add to the array of cards by ‘splicing’ or ‘slicing’ it which means you either add to an existing branch of the array or you can split it into 2 branches for even more possibilities. There are also special cards to make your opponents draw extra cards or to give them points (the winner is the last player to reach 100).

I played this game with 1 opponent and with 5 opponents and found it equally fun. The main difference is that in a game of 6 players, the array becomes much bigger and changes a lot faster! I also found that the game lasted longer with more players because special cards were divided between all the players (whereas if there are only 2 players, you have to use your special cards on your only opponent). If you’re curious about Array and want to see what it looks like, you can watch this video of Array.

The second game we played was CUBU. This is the most challenging and most unique game in my opinion. It’s actually 2 games in 1: CUBU and Speed CUBU. On each card, there is a series of colored boxes. In CUBU,  each player has to look at the card on top of the pile and see the color and position of each box and continue the sequence with as man cards as possible. For example, if a card’s third box (counting from the center) is red, a player can choose to play a card with a red box in second or fourth position. Sequences can go up or down until the player can’t add any more cards. At the beginning of each turn, a player can choose a new color and direction. There are also special cards to make your opponent draws cards, miss a turn, etc.

In Speed CUBU, instead of playing cards one on top of the other, they are played side by side. All the players play simultaneously and race to finish first. CUBU is confusing enough as it is (in a fun way!) but when you add the speed factor, it becomes completely chaotic! Eyes decyphering each card, brain analyzing which card could be played next, hands flying around to place as many cards as possible before your opponent, it’s crazy and totally fun! If you’re curious about CUBU and want to see what it looks like, you can watch this video of CUBU.

The third game we tried was Spectrix. Once again, this game is all about colors. Cards can either be arranged in color sequences or series of the same color. The first player to play their entire hand wins. This is similar to Rummy. However, because there are no numbers, only colors, I think it might be easier for children to play because all they have to do is follow their color chart to sequence them correctly. It’s a quick and easy to play and it’s perfect for a family game night! If you’re curious about Spectrix and want to see what it looks like, you can watch this video of Spectrix.

Overall, we liked all three games. We already played many times and I can’t wait to bring them to my family reunions during the Holidays! If I had to change one thing about these games it would be to make the shades of color more distinct. Every time we played, there were always at least a couple instances where we confused red, orange, and pink, or dark blue and violet. We also found that sometimes a single color varied slightly from card to card which made it difficult to determine if it was actually the same color or not. Other than that, I think all 3 games are fun and creative. They definitely get your brain going!

Head over to their website to find out more about Funnybone Toys’ Array, Spectrix, and CUBU. Don’t forget to like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter for all the latest news and promotions.

Funnybone Toys is kindly offering one of our lucky reader one game of their choice. The giveaway is open to US only and will end November 26th. For your chance to win, enter the Giveaway Tools below. Good luck!

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Rachel