Zoomino

Game 64 and my antepenultimate review (the boys are back at school today) of the “Now & Then Summer Marathon 2024” is “Zoomino” played with Henry(3).

Zoomino markets itself as a domino-based pairing game for 4-to- 7-year-olds. However, I must say that it is significantly under-marketing itself; the game is definitely suitable for people older than that. Despite its seemingly simple ruleset, there is actually quite a lot of decision-making involved.

Essentially, the game consists of dominoes with images of animals on them, with two animals on the top and two on the bottom. Not all dominoes have two animals, though; some only feature one animal on one side. All the dominoes are in a specific colour.

At the beginning of the game, you choose a colour and take the picture frames of that specific colour. On your turn, you draw a Zoomino tile and potentially place it among your other Zoomino tiles. If you complete an animal, you cover it with a rainbow-coloured frame, which scores you one point. If you complete an animal using your chosen colour, you cover it with your coloured frame, earning you 2 points.

While this may sound simple and ideal for children, it also offers a surprising amount of depth for older kids and even adults. The key decision-making comes into play because you have a limited number of picture frames. You must decide whether to place the tile and score just one point or leave the animal open to potentially earn two points later if it matches your colour. Additionally, placing a tile might block future opportunities for points. As you become more familiar with the game, you can start to predict which tiles are likely to appear, adding another layer of strategy.

Zoomino is a straightforward children’s game that conceals a surprising amount of strategic depth beneath its simple mechanics. From an adult perspective, I found it brilliant. Henry loved it because he enjoyed creating cute pictures and matching them.

This could very well become one of my new favourite games to recommend to very young kids with the potential to evolve as they get older.

Zoomino is a brand new release and should be available to order online by the end of the week.

Disclaimer: “Zoomino” was kindly provided by “Hachette Games” for the purpose of review. Flavien Loisier is the General Manager of Hachette and is in our community. Our thoughts and opinions are, however, our own.