By looking in our play room, it might seem we own just about every game. And yet they keep coming. For her birthday, Five, received Ducks in a Row by Think Fun from her grandmother
So Simple a Duck Could Do It! Ducks in a Row is a simple two player strategy game, recommended for children ages 5 to 7. Each player has five plastic duck tokens that are placed on the 5 X 5 square game board. The object is to slide ducks, along rows, columns or on a diagonal to get four ducks in a row. Games take about 10 minutes to play.
Five to Seven? Hey I've Got That! It would seem that my family if the perfect test case for Ducks in a Row as my two oldest are five and seven. The initial reaction was "this is a baby game." I can understand their feelings. Ducks do seem to be more of a baby/toddler theme as opposed to one aimed at young school aged children. At least they aren't rubber duckies; these are cartoon ducks water skiing. Cute, but apparently a little too cute for Five's and Seven's taste.
The explanation of game play did not garner any higher reviews. How challenging could it be to move a playing piece any number of space in any direction to get four ducks in a row? It wasn't until we actually played that the girls discovered there was a little more to this game than they first thought. You have to plan how you are going to move your tokens to get four in a row. You also have to watch your opponent. At times, you may have to focus more on stopping your opponent than winning.
Ducks in a Row is a good introductory game to other strategy games, like checkers. There is even a suggestion to make the game simpler by eliminating the diagonal movement. This would make the game playable by even younger children than the recommended five. Yet the strategy and challenges the game presents could certainly make the game interesting for older children.
Ducks in a Row, $9. Winning for Real, Priceless! Although not exactly a favorite game around here, Ducks in a Row will always be special to me. It was the first time that Seven realized that while it is no fun to lose a game, it isn't any fun to win if someone lets you. The smile on her face when she realized she had earned her victory was priceless.
Final Thoughts A decent game, but Think Fun may have misjudged their target audience. I get the whole "ducks in a row" play on words, but children in the age range don't. They just see a game with babyish ducks. Using a theme other than ducks would open up this game to a larger age range or at least make it more appealing to the current target audience. At least in our house, five to seven isn't quite the right age for this game; my three year old son has become my primary opponent for a quick game of Ducks in a Row.
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