Children, especially younger ones, like to play games that give them something to look at. They’re very visual creatures, and most of us find that sitting your child down and trying to teach them about the intricacies of poker is just something that doesn’t hold their interest. Parents who enjoy playing role playing card games and want their children to experience them have an even more difficult task ahead of them, as these types of games are generally very difficult to understand, much less play. There is, however, one game that we consider one of the best toys of 2011 that may just be the perfect solution for parents who love various types of card games.
What Is It?
Gubs takes the difficulty out of card games as a whole. This title was originally self-published which anyone who works in the toy industry will tell you is not the easiest thing to do. The reason that it has managed to last, however, is because of the ingenious idea behind the gameplay as well as the fast nature of gameplay itself.
Gubs is designed for children over the age of ten, but we found that if your child is able to read well and likes challenges, anyone over the age of 7 can probably sit down comfortably and have some fun tackling the challenge. And what is the challenge? The challenge is to keep these little creatures alive for as long as possible. The creatures the game is all about are little and tend to be a fairly peaceful lot. We kept thinking of little creatures like Smurfs. While they’re peaceful, a lot of natural disasters tend to happen around them, which makes their lives anything but peaceful. They tend to spend much of their time hiding behind flowers or mushrooms and riding small creatures like toads. And just like any sentient beings, they have a weakness: rings. These rings are the one thing that they want above all else, but they also try to protect their precious stones as well.
How to Play
So how is the game played? It’s actually pretty simply. Players start with a specific number of cards, and when it’s their turn, they can then draw a card if they choose to. They, however, do not have to draw a card, and that is where a little strategy comes into play. There are actually a number of good reasons why you wouldn’t want to draw a card later in the game, but you’ll figure that out as you play. Once you’ve drawn, or not, you then place as many cards down on the table as you want to. This is one thing that makes this title different from many others, as there is no limit to the amount of cards you can play at one time. And finally, you discard your pile so that you’re down to at least eight cards, but we had a hard time even keeping eight cards in our hands, so we don’t see that being a problem for many families.
Your goal is to keep the largest amount of Gubs alive and safe as you can before the timer dings. And the timer dings fast – we were actually very surprised how quickly the game play went. The longest amount of time we wound up playing was around 15 minutes, but most games were more like 10 minutes, which, for any type of role playing game, is rapidly fast. Players use all sorts of cards, like tools, barricades, events, and hazards, in order to protect their Gubs from disaster or to attack the other players’ creatures in order to get them out of the game. If you find that you need more time, there are a few cards that you can play, and there’s even a wild card, but drawing them is the tricky part.
What We Liked
• The idea of a role playing game for a new generation.
• The fast pace of the game.
• The simplicity of the rules makes it the perfect title for kids.
What People Are Saying
All in all, most people believe Gubs is definitely a game that would fit perfectly into a household of people who enjoy role playing games. Many have said it’s a great way to teach younger children the basics of this type of gaming. Apparently, it’s fairly tough to find good starter role-playing games these days. Many have also comments that because it’s so fast, it’s a fun thing to play if you’re looking to entertain your children on the spur of the moment. Most parents really like the fact that it can even be brought along with you quite easily, making it a great game to save for those times when you’re going to be traveling. While several people commented that the fact that it’s only a card game is a drawback in and of itself, most feel that it deserves the title best toys 2011.
