Rock Paper Scissors War!
Overall Rating: 8/10
Age: 5+
GLAM Age Range: 3-12
Number of Players: 2-3
Playing Time: 5-10 min
Publisher: A'Postrophe Games
Complexity: Low
Available At: Amazon.com
Quick Take: Rock Paper Scissors meets War. Add in some superheroes and bomb cards and you have a game! I was more than a little skeptical of the fun factor of a game based on such basic childhood games but it's pretty cute. My kids are big fans. And it's so fast to play!
How to Play: You win by ending up with the most cards. Each player is dealt four cards and gets to choose one to play against each other simultaneously each round. Paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper. But there's more! There are superhero cards which win against any of the basic rock, paper, scissor cards. For instance, a superhero scissors card would beat rock. If two superheros are played against each other, the traditional rock paper scissors rules apply for who wins the round. Bomb cards defeat any superhero card but lose to regular rock, paper, scissors cards. And if two players play the exact same card, it's War! and they each get to draw another card and play again. Whoever wins the next round wins the cards on the table. Whoever has won the most cards by the time you've gone through the deck is the winner. It's simple enough that my 3 year old gets it.
Variations: You have the option for extended play by taking the cards you've won and shuffling them and using them as your individual decks as you continue play until one player has all the cards. This takes forever though and I am not a fan of things that take forever. You can also take out the specialty cards and just play with the regular rock, paper, scissors cards if that's more to the liking of the child you're playing with.
Similar Games To Check Out: Slamwich, Rat-A-Tat Cat, Spot it Jr.! Animals, Blink