Matthew BaileyGame 2 in our “Professor Puzzle Games for younger kids series” is “Roll-a-Saurus.”
“Roll-a-Saurus” is a very simple dice game marketed as an introduction to dice games for very young children. Here, I played it with Henry(2) and, at a quick glance, the rules showed that this was definitely not a game Toby or Jack would be interested in playing.
Now, I have softened my stance over the last few years on these types of young children’s games, but I’ve always been keen for them to be worthwhile and have some decent mechanics.
Each player takes a turn to put their dinosaurs on either side A, which has pre-selected spaces, or side B, where you can place your dinosaurs anywhere. For a start, this is a nice little touch and means that kids can put their dinosaurs into a scene that reminds me a little bit of playing with fuzzy felt when I was a kid.
In the first round, you roll both dice, giving you a colour and a pattern. All players then have to put their finger onto an actual dinosaur which matches the correct pattern and color. If you are playing with side A, with pre-selected spaces, you can choose a dinosaur that you do not already have. If you mess up, you then have to wait until the next round rolls around.
You then continue around with the next person rolling the dice and trying to get five different dinosaurs in your park.
It’s a very simple game that Henry enjoyed playing. This was very much an introduction to mechanics as opposed to a stronger game. Henry did enjoy playing it, however, and I think if you are literally just looking for something to introduce the concept of basic game mechanics, there could be something here. Although, unlike a few of the other games we’re going to feature this week, this isn’t one Henry has asked to play again.
The components are of reasonable quality cardstock, but the dinosaur trophy you get is a little disappointing as the two sections to hold it up are loose and that makes it not really stand up very well. Clearly this was designed to be cut on thicker card stock and at the last minute the thickness was changed but the design was not. You can see this on the video below.
If your child really likes the theme and you are looking for basic mechanic practice, there could definitely be something here in “Roll-a-Saurus. Otherwise, I think there are better games for very young kids, one of which we’re going to feature tomorrow.
