Disney Frozen Operation Game For 1 or more playersGame challenges you to remove snowmen without setting off the buzzBoard Dimensions: 23L x 38.5W x 4.5H cmContents: A game board, a tweezers, 12 plastic snowmen and instructionsBatteries Required: 2 AA batteries (not included) Get him to land on the mat, on his feet for the winStick the perfect landingPlay solo, head-to-head, or challenge friends to a tournamentAim to get the perfect 100-point score1 or more playersContents: gymnast figure, high bar base, 2 high bar supports, landing mat, and instructions (including tournament bracket)Batteries Required: 4xAA (Not included) Hover Shot Glow-In-The-Dark Floating Target Game For 1 - 2 players2 ways to playBalls float in mid airIndividual air pillars control the ball heightAssembled Dimensions: 38L x 8W x 33H cmContents: A target air base, 2 air-powered blasters, 6 soft foam darts, 10 soft Styrofoam balls, a sheet of glow in the dark star stickers, and instructionsBatteries Required: 4 1.5V "C" LR14 UM2 batteries (not included)
For 2 or more playersScore a point every time you turn the handle without getting splattedPie-throwing arm could go off at any momentThis game will have you on the edge of your seat because you never know when you’re going to get a pie in the face!Take turns twisting the handles for as many clicks as the spinner indicates and hope you don’t get whacked!Suitability 5+Board Dimensions: 32L x 25W x 40H cmContents: A pie thrower, a throwing arm, 2 handles, a chin rest, a splash guard mask, a spinner and a sponge. Cream not includedBatteries Not Required Bugs in the Kitchen Game Fun to play family gameCatch the bustling little bug as he dashes around the kitchenUse the knives, forks and spoons to try and trap himFirst to collect 5 tokens wins the gameAverage playing time 20 minutesSuitable for ages 6+Assembled Dimensions: 43LX 30WX 6H CMContents: A Board, a dice, tokens and a Hexbug NanoBatteries Required: 1 1.5LR44 battery (included) For 2 to 4 playersBoard Dimensions: 38L x 38W cmContents: 32 Present tokens, 16 Chance cards, 16 Party cards, a Money pack and 4 Cupcake moversBatteries Not Required
Pig Goes Pop Game For 2 - 6 players.Be prepared, when his tummy finally goes popWatch as the pigs stomach gets bigger and biggerTake turns to continuously feed the greedy pig hamburgersSuitable for ages 4+Assembled Dimensions: 26.8L x 38.6W x 26.8H cmContents: a Chef Pig, 4 x Purple Burgers, 4 x Red Burgers, 4 x Yellow Burgers, 4 x Green Burgers and a DiceBatteries not required My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Edition Monopoly Junior Game For 2 to 4 playersMy Little Pony themeGreat introduction to the Monopoly gamePlay as a My Little Pony characterContents: A game board, 4 My Little Pony character tokens, 20 Chance cards, 4 Character cards, 48 My Little Pony Markers, 90 M1 Banknotes, a dice and a game guideBatteries Not Required Classic Simon gameplay now with touch-free technologyGame unit senses player's motionsFeatures cool lightsFor 1 to 2 players. Play solo or with a friend!Contents: game unit and instructionsBatteries Required: 3 x AA (Included)Suitable for ages 8+
Tomy Pop-Up Pirate Game For 2 - 4 playersAssembled Dimensions: 21.5L x 15W x 27H cmContents: A Pop-Up Pirate GameBatteries Not Required For 2 playersClassic Guess Who game is mystery-solving guessing funClose the doors on the characters you rule outSet up and play in secondsGo online to Print even more charactersBoard Dimensions: 16L x 24W x 24H cmContents: A Guess Who? For 2 to 4 playersFirst player to scoop 3 poops wins!Assembled Dimensions: 36.8L x 6.85W x 27.43H cmContents: A dog, 4 plastic scoops, treat mould, a dice and a dog boneBatteries not required Ben 10: Up to Speed Riding the Storm out (Mandarin)You don't have permission to access /top-lego-party-games/ Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.In which I trawl the internet for everything I can find relating to the forthcoming collection of LEGO board games, due out in August 2009. When LEGO introduced to the waiting world their new line of ‘buildable’ board games (and the signature bouncing die) at the London and Nuremberg toy fairs there was a flurry of reporting on the gaming newswires.
However, the Danes have been rather light-lipped about the whole affair which has meant that much of that reporting has been either incomplete or contradictory. I can’t say for sure that I’ll be any more successful, but hopefully I can do the gaming world a service by at least collecting all the speculation in one place! Something we do know for certain is that the games will be released in the UK and Europe in August 2009; there seems to be no word of when or if a wider international release is planned (sorry about that North America/rest of the world). I had seen quite a few photos of the flagship game Ramses Pyramid, which piqued the gamerati’s interest by featuring Reiner Knizia’s name on the cover, but precious little about the other games in the collection. Indeed, how many other games were in the collection? (Some reported 6, some 8; it turns out there’s actually 10!) What were they called? What were they about? What did they look like? Since the news originally broke there has been scant follow-up so I decided to go hunting on the internet for all the information I could find.
First of all, here are all the games in the collection, together with their sequential LEGO part numbers, and including the number of players supported by each and an indicative game length. The only official-looking pricing I can find is in Euros: The amount and quality of additional information and images available for each title varies enormously. However two German online retailers (Kidoh and Buecher) both have (incomplete) listings of the games and feature some official box artwork. Elsewhere on the web I tracked down some ‘spy shot’ photos of a few game boxes, which gives us our first glimpse of Minotaurus and makes it possible to see some more details of Pirate Code, Lunar Command and Creationary. ‘Spy shot’ box photos Official written information about the games is not easy to find. LEGO put out a press release during the Nuremberg toy fair (read it in German or Googlized English) which introduces the tagline of ‘Build – Play – Change’ and makes a point of highlighting Reiner Knizia’s involvement in the development process.
I think it’s clear from the information that is available that the only game that will have Knizia’s name on the box is Ramses Pyramid (elsewhere it has been reported that he designed all the games) but who knows? Perhaps the master’s hand has indeed been more extensively at work behind the scenes (making him a sort of éminence grise of the gaming world!). If LEGO had set out to choose one man to mastermind their expedition into board gaming who better than the Good Doctor? Ad sheets and press photos Pyramid board & box All the remaining images I’ve found appear to be photos taken at the toy fairs (most likely in Nuremberg) and are of varying size and quality. However each additional detail offers up new clues to the gameplay of each title, and adds to the picture of the collection as a whole. The one game that remains the most mysterious (with no artwork or photos of the box or board) is Lava Dragon. So, putting it all together, what can we know (or guess) about the gameplay?
Let’s start by observing that the games appear to break down into three groups: All the games accommodate 2–4 players, except for Creationary (3+, and given its nature, possibly supporting team play too), Robo Champ (curiously listed as 2–3 players only) and Lunar Command (the only 2-player game in the collection). So, it seems there is much to enjoy about the whole enterprise, but for me the central conceit of that buildable, bouncing die is the most delightful. Apart from being a great brand image, instantly communicating the entire concept to anyone who has ever seen a LEGO set, it’s also a brilliantly simple, simply brilliant idea. As some of the images in the gallery above demonstrate the player (and game designer!) can make the die into a perfectly regular one if they want, but the possibilities are endless. By swapping in different faces you can ‘load’ the die to create a range of different probabilities, or introduce coloured faces (in whole or part) or special faces with icons to make the die a trigger for all sorts of gameplay.