This review was first published on June 20, 2020. We tested a new game and updated the article.
Everything but truce: »Catapult Feud«
Seldom has such a deep satisfaction flowed through me as after the precision shot with which my catapult swept my husband's last knight from his fortress. Ha!
»Catapult Feud« is a delightfully silly action game for two people – each builds a defensive structure from 16 bricks and a castle gate and places five knights on or behind it. There should be a distance of about one and a half meters between the enemy facilities. Then you your catapult and fire rubber bullets at the enemy position to your heart's content: Zack! Fallen knights and building blocks that have been shot away from the base are removed from the game - whoever has personnel at the end wins.
You can also make the whole thing a bit more tactical by using the included action cards. You can then use your opponent's catapult or fire it twice in a row. But basically, the pure form is the most fun, where you take turns just shooting. And no cards can fly away. Because it's best to play it outside – if only so that no glasses break.
Hand on it: Couples who want to clarify in a duel who has to do the dishes; Children who want to wipe out their parents from time to time
Hands off: Movement unfunny (you have to get up all the time and collect the balls again)
Attack on poor little ice cubes: »Cool Runnings«
Infamy. Insidiousness. Pleasure in torturing. The game »Cool Runnings« comes with funny colorful pictures of big-eyed ice cubes – but if you look closely, you can already see on the cover that this game awakens the basest instincts.
Unfortunately, this is a lot of fun. It's easy to learn: Everyone gets an ice cube, which is placed in a holder on a small bowl, and four cards, which are added again and again. Each map offers two options: either attack an opponent's ice cube or move your own towards the target.
The attacks are one nastier than the other: the poor little cube is maltreated with salt, poured with water from a pipette, breathed, rubbed or held extra firmly in the hand of the maliciously grinning opponent, while the cube owner has to count aloud from "one ice cube" to "ten ice cubes" to free it. Aggression breeds revenge, revenge in turn revenge, and in the end everyone melts away, while the one who has rather stayed out of it strives towards the goal - until he calls the envious on the scene, who now all pounce on his dice.
You can win either by owning the last surviving ice cube, no matter how small, or by getting to the finish line first. The game board is variably composed of waterproof plastic plates, which is great, the cards are unfortunately made of cardboard, which is not so great – because at most the humor remains dry in this game, so you should rather play it outside. The ice cube trays would have benefited from a slightly more flexible material. It takes a lot of patience to remove the dice from them – but maybe they are just reluctant to meet their inevitable fate.
Why? Because it's summer and it's very fun to do mischief with ice cubes.
For whom? Actually, for every round that is set up for silliness – small or particularly sensitive children, however, could be overwhelmed with the dice torment. The publisher states "from the age of eight", but that is rather exaggerated.
How long? A game lasts just under half an hour – but can also be over earlier.
Surprisingly funny: mindfulness game »Finding Bear«
Admittedly, the subtitle "Treasure Hunt for Mindfulness" didn't fill me with a wild passion for gaming at first. The thin, full-grain cardboard box also looks rather fun-free. But I underestimated it. »Finding Bear« is a game with almost no rules that can be played even with very young children: There are 52 search cards with tasks such as »Something round«, »Something straight«, »Something that makes you happy« or »Something interesting«. Then the search begins, in the forest, garden or somewhere else.
Hm, I thought: What is the goal of the game? What is this? A few neighbors help test: Kerstin with her daughter Leonie (three and a half years) and Hartmut and Hannelore, both around 70. While I'm still pondering how to get small children to work through cards senselessly, Leonie is already highly motivated: "I've found something rustling! Here! Here!« And already everyone is marveling at the rustling bush, which she presents so proudly as if she had invented it. My card demands that I find something old, I simply point to Hartmut, who pays me back and hands me his card: "Something round". Skillfully transformed, even if this is not what the inventors intended: "The idea is that you try to help the child appreciate the things around him," says the explanatory card. And you should start a conversation about the things you find: Where do they come from, why do you find them beautiful or not beautiful.
What's astonishing is that everyone has a lot of fun, but the adults are more likely to do so by looking for the meta-level of the task – or by letting themselves be infected by Leonie's spirit of discovery. "Something interesting" is Mama's car, "Something that makes you happy" is the painted rainbow in the window. It's surprisingly good that the game doesn't add a lame mechanic with scoring points. The joy of playing is pure and untargeted: you stop when you don't feel like it anymore or get hungry. There are no winners, no losers either, everyone has fun.
And yes, of course you can just as easily make such a game yourself instead of buying it. But if you need a nice souvenir or want to spice up the family walk in the forest, the find bear can still be a nice option. The cards invite you to invent your own rules – for example, by combining several cards in the search.
Why? Because playing can also simply be a relaxed drift
For whom? Children from the age of three, but also older ones
How long? As long as you feel like it. You can start, pause or stop at any time.
Fitness up to the pain threshold: »Don't quit«
Sit-ups, burpees, push-ups: We all know that we need to do more and should rather do a few crunches than eat crunchy stuff while watching series. But how do you motivate yourself? Brothers Dario and Kian Mohtachem came up with the idea of packing the most important fitness exercises into a mercilessly competitive game – you challenge each other with exercise cards, whoever gives up first is eliminated, and in the end a panting winner remains.
In order for people of different levels of training to compete with each other, the game can be played on individual levels - so it should be suitable for everyone from couch potatoes to fitness freaks. However, the entry hurdle is too high for many: If you start at 1, you have to be able to do 10 push-ups in a row (level 4: 25). If you don't even manage three, but like to write game reviews, recruit your husband and two sporty friends for a test, do the timekeeper and here and there out of competition a few squats or planks.
Everyone gets six cards, which are drawn. Challenges can be used to ask a teammate to complete an exercise; he can defend himself with action cards, for example by playing back the task or forcing the initiator to participate. The exercises are then done in a row – if six different ones are together, they all have to complete this "wave" again. All exercises are device-free and guarantee a versatile workout. If there is no winner after a pre-agreed time, it goes into a permanent plank position – until only one remains.
Of course, everyone is a winner, because everyone has completed a training session at the limit – and that feels good. The experience of the test group: It's fun to challenge each other; however, you can determine the degree of meanness yourself and also include a friendly recovery exercise. Conclusion: "At first you think it's baby stuff – but when the wave breaks out, it's over."
Why? Because it simply feels good to really work out again - and because athletes in particular love new training stimuli
For whom? Two to six sporty people who like competition and get along well with each other. The most important thing is that there should be no medical reasons against intensive training. If in doubt, ask your doctor beforehand!
How long? Until everyone gives up. So it depends a lot. It doesn't have to be more than three-quarters or an hour.