ZenBenders

ZenBenders is a sliding-block puzzle, of the infamous 15 Puzzle ilk, with a twist, which is to say, a flip.

Each of the 4 puzzles in the ZenBenders series consists of 8 blocks that can be slid around inside of a 3x3 matrix. What makes the puzzles unique is that you can also flip the blocks over, so that a different face is revealed. After you play around with the puzzle for a while, you begin to discover that you can not only flip the blocks, but, by moving a block so that it is either vertically or horizontally adjacent to the empty square, you can actually reorient the blocks, almost as if you twisted them, hence the twist, as well as the flip.

The puzzles are designed to be played almost anywhere. They come in a compact-like case. The top of the case is a transparent lid. The bottom of the case twists off to reveal a collection of 36 different challenges, with three different levels of difficulty. There's even a slit in the case so it can hold and display your chosen challenge card, affording you something close to complete puzzle portability.

As you play these puzzles, you begin to appreciate the uniqueness of the concept (the intricacies of the slide as well as the flip with the conceptual twist) as well as the added perceptual challenges posed by each of the 4 different designs. This is reason enough to buy at least 2 of the series. If not all 4. Another reason for getting more than one is the extra game play potential of racing each other to the solution.

These puzzles are as fun as they can be frustrating (that's why there are different levels of challenge). It takes only a few minutes to learn how to work the puzzle. Most of the puzzles can be solved fairly quickly (the people at Out-of-the-Box claim that they can be solved in 2 minutes. This, however, was not our experience. But this also was where much of the fun came in. The puzzles can get really, really challenging. For adults as well as kids. Hence, the Major FUN Family Award.

Designed by Ariel Laden, ZenBenders is recommended for kids who are 8 and older. It is well-conceived, well-executed, and, well, to coin a phrase, Major FUN.

Rock!

We are always looking for games that can be learned very quickly, that take maybe a few minutes per round, and that are fun enough to play several many times with several many people. Rock! is exactly that kind of game. A card game. For two players. Based on Rock/Scissors/Paper.

It's not really Rock/Scissors/Paper. Actually, almost not at all. Players divide the deck between them, and then, in a War-like fashion, they simultaneously reveal the card that is on top of their pile. The winner is not necessarily the person who has the winning symbol. It's the first person to name the winning symbol. So what you get is this unexpectedly challenging game, where you have to think very fast in deed. First, you have to decide which symbol is the winning one. Then you have to remember that it doesn't matter whose card "actually" won - what matters is that you are the first to name it. Then, just to add to the mental agony of it all, there are 4 different cards for each symbol. Paper, for example, can either be the card showing an inbox filled with an enormous stack of paper, or a paper airplane, or paper swan or a string of paper dolls.

Designed by Anita James, Rock! is a great kids' game - perfect for starting or ending a rainy afternoon, easy enough to learn to get both players almost immediately involved, short enough to play almost any time - before or after dinner, right after homework, just before snack, maybe even instead of watching TV! Yes, of course, parents can play too. And I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that you've figured out a way to play with three people, or that you've come up with some variation that makes the game as interesting for adults as it is engaging for kids. Because it's that kind of game - elegantly simple, significantly fun.

Par Out Golf

We used to play a game called something like Paper Golf. I was a kid then, so that makes it a folk game, at least. It was a great little game - you draw something that looks like a golf hole. You take your pencil and try to get from tee to hole in the fewest number of strokes. If you hit something (a tree, a rock) or go into a sand or water trap, you lose strokes or have to start your next shot from that point. And that's pretty much it. Except you have to do it with your eyes closed!

It was such a good game that, ever since I first played it, I wondered why someone hadn't come out with a commercial version, one that takes the game as seriously as it deserves. I am happy to inform you that someone has. And it's called "Par Out Golf." And it's, as I might have imagined, most definitely Major FUN.

Par Out Golf is played on a set of spiral bound, laminated pages. Special "wet-erase" markers are used so the line is easy to draw, won't smudge, and very easy to erase. The rules are very, very close to the game of golf, complete with sand and water traps, obstacles and slopes. So close is it to "real" golf, you can play each of five classic variations of golf: stroke play, match play, tombstone play, and pro play.

Of the several skills you practice while playing Par Out Golf, a fascinating, and, to any golf player, significant challenge is learning how to visualize your shot. The more observant you are, the more capable you are at remembering the lay of the land, the more effectively you can imagine the exact amount of drive to put on the ball, the better you'll do. This, of course, is the essence of Par Out Golf. Like "real" golf, Par Out Golf challenges both mind and body. If you want to know more about the physical and cognitive aspects of the game, take a look at the thoughtfully included essay: Par Out Science 101.

If you want, you can practice on the Driving Range (on another page) or use the 19th hole (on yet another page) to design your own. You can add your own obstacles, changing the difficulty of each hole, essentially making the game something you can play for-just-about-ever.

Par Out Golf is recommended for 1 to 4 players (it comes with four different wet-erase markers). If you must try before you buy, you can download the first three holes here.