Gaming with a 5 Year-Old:
Quoridor
(a.k.a. "The Blocking Game")
Mfg Suggested Ages: 6+
This is the 2nd installment of Gaming with a 5 Year-Old - a series of ten-point hybrid reviews/session reports from CLS Games that focus on reviewing games from the perspective of a father who plays games with his 5 year-old son. Other reviews in this series are available here:
Gaming with a 5 Year-Old: AGRICOLA
Gaming with a 5 Year-Old: DRAKON 3RD EDITION
Gaming with a 5 Year-Old: FORMULA DE
Gaming with a 5 Year-Old: STONE AGE
**********************************************************
I. Theme:
How can I give an abstract game a near-perfect theme score of 4 Thumbs, you ask? Simple - to a 5-year old this is not an abstract activity, but rather a game with the Ultimate Theme -- MAZES! Next time you go to a restaurant for dinner, take a look at those paper kid's menus upon which your offspring are coloring. They all have mazes because there is nothing a child loves more than mazes!
II. Components:
The bits are solid wood and virtually indestructible. The tiles, wooden pawns, and grooved board all serve to stimulate both visual and tactile receptors.
III. Playing Time:
Game length often renders a otherwise perfect game unsuitable for play with your 5-year old. However, there are no worries here. You and the rugrat can easily play 3 matches in under 20 minutes.
IV. Reading Requirement:
No text of any kind required for play. If one of your goals is to use gaming to encourage your child to read, then the lack of any in-game text will disappoint you. But, there are plenty of great games full of words for your kids to read. Finding a gem with no reading requirement is much more difficult.
V. Complexity:
The choices here each turn are simple. Move your pawn orthogonally or place a blocking tile. At first your son will try to move diagonally or illegally play a blocker that completely seals off from victory. But after several plays, these should no longer be issues. 470
The most complex aspects of the game (saving blocking tiles rather than using them all up early and placing blocking tiles to help yourself rather than block your opponent) will take quite a bit longer to master.
VI. Modifications:
None required
VII. Handicapping:
This is perhaps where <PERSON> shines the most. Too often Dads find themselves needing to "take it easy" on junior in order to give him a chance at winning. While this is a nice gesture, it certainly takes some of the fun out of the game for Dad. Fortunately, no such "soft play" is required in Quoridor. The first time you play with your five year-old, let him start with 14 blocking tiles to your 6 (traditionally, the two-player game starts with 10 blocking for each participant). After you win the first game, play the next game with a only 5 tiles to his 15 (the winner always giving up 1 blocking tile to the loser for the next game). No matter how inexperienced your offspring might be, junior will be beating you consistently when he has 16 or 17 blocking tiles at his disposal.
VIII. Memorable Moments:
Young children have difficulty knowing when to surrender because they cannot think ahead abstractly and see that defeat is imminent. I was floored the first time <PERSON> conceded a match because he realized that his victory dance was 4 moves away while mine was only 3.
IX. Fun Factor:
..... for Jr.
..... for Daddy
X: OVERALL GRADE:
My son started playing this shortly after his 3rd birthday -- is was his first real board game. Well over 100 plays later, I am easily convinced that is the single best game for a child that age to play with an adult. The pieces are industructable and provide both tactile and visusal stimulation. The game plays very quickly and there is no reading requirement. Lastly, Quoridor has a near-perfect handicapping mechanism that allows junior a legitimate chance to win without soft-play from Daddy. 581