Notes from Toy Fair - Day Two

Here are a few quick-hit highlights from day two at the 2010 American International Toy Fair:

Lego is well-known around the world, but not for board games. The company hopes to change that, as they are releasing 10 games in the United States this year, five of which will be available at online stores on March 1. The games include Creationary (a party game for 3 to 8 players, ages 7 and up), Minotaurus (a strategy game for 2 to 4 players, ages 8 and up), Pirate Code (a deduction game for 2 to 4 players, ages 8 and up), Lava Dragon (a race game for 2 to 4 players, ages 7 and up), and Monster 4 (a strategy game for 2 to 4 players, ages 7 and up).

Five more games from Lego will be available in August, including the Harry Potter-themed Hogwarts, Ramses Pyramid, Race 3000, Robo Champ, and Magikus. All of the games feature an innovative Lego die, which allows the sides of the die to change as the game progresses.

At the other end of the spectrum in terms of company size is Zabazoo, the small company responsible for the very clever rock-building game Rukshuk. Zabazoo is releasing a junior edition of Rukshuk, along with the tabletop shuffleboard game Glide. The playing pieces are made of the same rock-like material used in Rukshuk, but they are uniform in shape and size. Glide is for 2 to 4 players, ages 8 and up. Each player uses four stones to slide across the four-foot-long playing surface. The game comes with a can of anti-friction powder and is expected to be available in April for about $25.

Other highlights from day two included:

• 10 Days in the Americas from Out of the Box Publishing. This addition to the popular 10 Days in... series is set in the western hemisphere, including North and South American and the Caribbean. It's scheduled to be available in May or June.
• The "Untamed Games" line designed by artist Alex Beard for Fundex. Beard, who also created a puzzle line known as Impossible Puzzles, created the domino-like Face to Face, which he said becomes "an ever-expanding cubist composition" as the game goes on. Another game for ages 8 and up, Hexahedron, is a pattern recognition game based on a series of six abstract paintings by Beard. Both look very interesting, as does Beard's redesign of a traditional deck of cards. He also has designed some children's games for Fundex, including board games based on his books The Jungle Grapevine and Monkey See, Monkey Draw.
• Stix & Stones from Educational Insights, a kind of drawing game for 2 teams, ages 7 and up. Using just sticks and stones, players must get their teammates to guess words like vase, violin, or redwood tree. It was designed by a father and daughter team.
• The party games Truth Be Told (Buffalo Games) and Bubble Talk (Techno Source), each for 3 to 8 players. In Truth Be Told, players fill in a blank (e.g., "I am bored to death by..."), trying to come up with something that sounds like what the player whose turn it is might say. In Bubble Talk, the judge concept from Apples to Apples is used as players try to match funny captions with offbeat photos.
• Tonga Island, designed by Steffan Dorra, from Ravensburger. In this children's exploration game, islands are revealed when players move onto them -- but then covered back up when players move away, making a good memory key to victory. Players race to collect various items and then be the first to the final island destination.

^{Minotaurus image courtesy of Lego. Photo of Glide © Erik Arneson.}