You've Been Framed

You've Been Framed - 100 patterns!

You've Been Framed is a unique game with 36 mini frames and 100 different patterns to build that increase slowly in difficulty as they go up. For $15, I was in.

The game itself is based on speed: All players build the same frame and see who can do it the fastest. However, this game is perfect for a therapy setting with no game playing (speed) necessary. Just present a pattern card and build it.

There are enough supplies for up to 4 players. The frames are hard plastic, come in four different colors and three sizes. As you can see in the image above, each of the three different sizes get a littler taller as they get smaller.  The frames measure 2" square, 1.5" square and 1" square.

There are 50 pattern cards and each card has a different pattern on each side, so 100 patterns total. There are 3 levels of cards:

• Level 1 - Pattern will be built flat against the table.
• Level 2 - Patterns will be built flat against the table but pieces will be stacked on top of each other.
• Level 3 - Patterns will be built vertically, stacked on top of each other.

The patterns are numbered 1-100 so you can record where you leave off if you are working from easy on up. Seventy-five of the patterns are built flat against the table and 25 are built vertically. Each pattern that will be built vertically has a thick solid line under it to indicate the table. If these particular cards are not facing you when they come up during play, you will still have to be able to visualize and build the pattern right-side-up. Stacking smaller pieces inside of larger pieces isn't quite as easy as it looks as smaller pieces get wider and will have to be balanced inside. Here are several of the cards:

Build flat

Build vertical

There is also a small timer with a red button on top (see image above). When you finish building, press it quick and it will say "You've been framed." The quality is not great, but understandable.

Object:
Be the first to win 10 pattern cards and win the game.

Set up:
Shuffle the cards and place them in a pile on the table. Place the buzzer in the middle of the players. Give each play a set (large, medium, small) of frames of each of the four colors (12 total for each player). Choose one person to flip the cards.

Play:
All players play at the same time. Flip one card and everyone builds. When someone finishes and hits the buzzer all other players stop while it is checked. If the pattern is correct, the player wins the card. Here are penalties if the pattern does not match the card:

• Give back one of the cards you have already won if the pattern does not match. The flipper takes that card and the current pattern and puts both cards on the bottom of the deck.
• Give one card back if part of your pattern falls before it can be checked. Places cards under the deck.
• Sit out one turn if either of these happen and you don't have a card to give back.

Keep playing until someone wins 10 cards and wins the game. 

Try this:

• Skip the game. Build the models one at a time and let the individual build from your pattern if they are unable to build from a 2D pattern.
• Skip the game. Go through the deck just building the models. Then turn the deck a quarter turn and build the models again. Play through four times, each time from a different direction. The majority of the cards are not symmetrical. 

In the box: 48 frames, 50 pattern cards (100 patterns)

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.

Hungry Baby Birds

Hungry Baby Birds - Use the momma clothespins to feed the baby birds

Not having had a chance to go out for anything for what is beginning to feel like f-o-r-e-v-e-r, I took to Amazon and looked for a couple of new games to be delivered to my kids. Hungry Baby Birds caught my attention because of the clothespins, which you don't often see in games, so I ordered it.

When Hungry Baby Birds arrived, I carried the box into the house and it felt so light I wondered if it was empty. It wasn't. The game base, the nest, which I thought would be a heavy, solid plastic is actually made of a very lightweight plastic that is kind of brittle. If someone was rough with it, threw it, sat on it, accidentally stepped on it, etc., it would be over. The birds are printed on a light card stock and that picture just sits on top of the nest. That part I expected.

The worms are made of the same type of squishy plastic that fishing worms are made of, only much shorter, measuring 2.25" long. There are four different worm colors that match the four colors of the clothespins.

The clothespins were the biggest disappointment. They are made of a very lightweight, smooth wood material and instead of having a metal spring on them, like real clothespins do, the two pieces are held together with an elastic cord. When you squeeze the clothespin to open it, it only opens 3/16" of an inch. This is not even wide enough to pick up the worm. If you position the open clothespin above the worm at it's tail, the smallest end, and then push down on the worm with the clothespin, you can wedge it into the tip of the clothespin. Now you are faced with the problem of how to drop the worm out of the clothespin, since it won't open any further. To drop something out you would have to be able to open the clothespin a little wider than you need to pick up the worm.

I don't always read the game instructions because I often look at the pieces first and make up my own games with them, or I can easily tell how to play just looking at the contents. Then I read the instructions when I blog about it. So when I tried the clothespins I wrote a post about how disappointing it was and took the steps to return it to Amazon. Then I decided I might as well read the instructions while I have it and write them out here, just in case someone would want to know. The very first thing I read on the instructions changed my mind about the game. Here is the image I saw:

So instead of holding the clothespin at the wide end, you hold it at the closed end. Something just felt "not right" about it at first, but I got used to it and it works. We'll see how the kids do with it. When you look at the clothespin in the image at the top of the page, think of it as a momma bird with an eye and a long, wide, open beak. Pick up the worm with the beak end, and hover over a baby bird and drop it in.

Like I mentioned, the whole game is super lightweight, but if you are careful about the nest you will be OK. Even if you break it, you could go to the dollar store and get a package of those clear drinking cups or storage containers, position four on the table so that you can place the bird card on top and each opening will be over a cup. Then feed the birds and you can even watch the worms fall into the cups.

Object:
Be the first to find and feed all your color worms to your baby bird.

Set up:
Place the nest between the players and put the bird card on top. Scatter the colored worms. Let each player choose a color and give them the matching momma bird clothespin. Demonstrate how to hold and use it. 

The instructions suggest spreading the worms around the room and then standing while dropping them into the nest.

Play:
On go, all players scatter to search for their worms, bringing them back to the nest one at a time and dropping them into the birdies mouth of the matching color. Play until someone has found and dropped all the worms of their color. Count the worms that made it into the correct colored cup for each player. The player with the most worms that made it into the nest is the winner.

Try this:

• Play sitting down first to get used to the game before trying to do it standing up where it might be harder to hit the opening when dropping the worms.
• Try different ways of holding the momma bird. Since the wood is rather smooth, I found it easier for me to hold the part with the eye in my palm for better control, instead of it resting on the top of my hand as in the image above.
• Don't match by color, just pick them up and drop them into any color. You will have a better chance of hitting something if you have four options for places to drop them.
• Play on the table top. Scatter the worms on the table and call out colors, one at a time, as the player picks up and feeds the bird a worm of that color. Or scatter them and ask the player to feed all the blue, then all the green, etc.
• Scatter the worms on the table. Let the player pick up the worms in any order and then call each color as they drop it into the nest.
• Skip the clothespin and sort the worms into the nest by color using your fingers.
• Place the worms around the room in visible places but in locations that will requiring reaching and bending.

In the box: Game base, 40 worms (10 each of 4 colors), 4 clothespins (color match the worm colors)

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.