Our favorite card games

Gamewright Dragonwood A Game of Dice & Daring Board Game Multi-colored, 5"

While, to be honest, the artwork to me is not really my style (I prefer more whimsical or cute designs), this is an amazing sneaky math game! I am not a real gamer yet so, in simple terms, I think this is similar to poker in the sense that you are building different sets: same color, same number, or a run (up to six numbers in a row) and then you are going to use those cards to trade in for dice. The more dice you have, the better your odds of getting a higher sum. The dice are regular six-sided dice but they only go up to four (two 2s, two 3s) so once you roll the dice you add up the value and try to take certain cards that are worth points. It is a little long to grasp at first so I have played with less cards and taken out the spell cards at first just to teach the dice rolling bit. What I like about it is that you have to choose a card you want to roll for and if you don't earn enough points from the dice roll you can't just take a different card of a lesser value BUT you do get a chance to reload and try to build a new set and try again for a card. It's really unique and addicting! My kids and my students really love the artwork and sometimes they try to get certain animals that look cool, even if it's a bigger gamble or "wastes" more cards. Owen is kind of funny because he is obsessed with reloading and hoarding his cards instead of taking small risks and earning point cards little by little. I often have to remind him of the nine-card limit and force him to play what he has. Some kids might get super frustrated or upset if they don't roll the value they expected but Owen is like, "that's okay because I can just reload and try again!" Way to go, buddy. :) When he was playing it nonstop I really noticed an improvement in his mental math so I really want to play it regularly.

In sum-mary, there are six dice so you are potentially adding six different numbers together (the highest value would be 36 but the odds of that are pretty slim...) which makes it a great sneaky math game!




Zeus on the Loose

This is a throwback to my high school and college summer job as a caricature artist! Again, the artwork is kind of unappealing to some, but this is a great math game! And we actually love learning about Greek Mythology so this is right up our alley. In this game, you are adding up numbers 1-10 to 100. But there are some character cards of the different gods that will change the value. For example, Poseidon reduces the value by 10 and another card reverses the value (37 becomes 73 or vice versa). Everytime someone reaches a multiple of ten, they get to steal the Zeus figure. It's a fun and fast-paced game! But it's exciting because the character cards can really turn things around and make each round go longer (kind of like Uno how some games are so long and some are really quick). Whoever has Zeus when the sum reaches 100 is the winner! And if you go over 100, whoever has Zeus is the winner, so you want to save certain cards until the end in order to prevent your opponents from winning.

This is fun to play one on one or with multiple players--I think multiple players is more thrilling because it could really go any way. Dragonwood is a pretty long game but this one is pretty quick. I like that it is different enough in the math skills and strategy to make it worth owning both.




Winning Moves Games Scrabble Slam

This is a great card game for learning spelling and reading and you can get really creative with it. The way I used it was to teach the CVCE or magic "e" words. I started with a word like CAKE and dealt the cards to my students. Then, they were able to use their cards while keeping the spelling pattern to make words like BAKE, LAKE, RAKE, TAKE, MAKE, and then LIKE, BIKE, BAKE, MINE, etc. Some of my students were losing every time but after more rounds, they actually started to remember the pattern on their own and make the words. You could even use it for CVC words and just start with three cards instead of four.

Of course you could get creative and make any type of word but I found that in an ESL classroom, it was easier to start with a type of word and then practice making similar words to teach a particular type of phonics.




Sushi Go! - The Pick and Pass Card Game

This was given to me by my brother many many years ago so it is a long-time favorite. This is one of the cutest Gamewright games and definitely more my style. While it is not as useful for ESL lessons, it is something that many of my students adore and I can use it as a "reward" to play at the end of class if they finish early (less goofing around and more focus and we can power through a lesson!). This is a drafting game, so think of it as the conveyor belt sushi: you choose a card from your hand and then you will pass your hand to the next player and receive a new hand. You play until all the cards are gone so your cards will come back to you as they rotate amongst the players.

What adds to the challenge is that you flip over the card you choose each round so your opponents can see what types of cards you are trying to collect and can either sabotage your sets or ignore them if it's more strategic to focus on earning their own points. When you understand the game better, it's easier to see which types of cards to give up on collecting if you see that someone has already collected more than you or if you have already collected enough to earn points. It has a lot of strategy involved and it's adorable! Sushi Go! Party is on my wishlist because I want to see what other cute cards are in the deck but this original version is super afforable and compact so it makes a great gift!




SNAPPY DRESSERS

This game is such a great value! It is super versatile because it comes with instructions for seven different games! I haven't gotten around to playing all of them but I've tried most of them and they are all actually really good and fun! The basic game is like Spot It! where you are trying to find a match in either the clothing or the animal so it is great for practicing vocabulary with my students. There are also other fun versions that are fun to play as students vs. teacher! One is like a tower that you are trying to move up by being first to find the match and moving up a tier but you can also choose to make your opponent move down! This really adds excitement to the game!

Bottom line: It's a super affordable game that is quick and versatile!