Game University: Blue Orange Games (July '13 Series)

Posted by aMuse Toys on July 19, 2013 0 Comments

 

We kicked off our Game University July '13 Series on Wednesday night with an aMuse favorite, Blue Orange Games. Kids and grown-ups alike filled the store wearing their Official aMuse Gamer Badges; ready to tackle the Spot It! challenge, learn about some newly released games and compete with members of the aTeam! For every three Game University events attended, kiddos receive a distinguished new title and a prize. From Gamer to Expert to Master to Legend, kids will be sporting some pretty decked out badges in no time!

 

The event was broken down into stations for visitors to experience everything that Blue Orange has to offer. Station one was equipped with all things Spot It! Participants battled it out with Spot It! JR, Spot It! Signature, Spot It! Spanish and the house favorite, Spot It! MLB. This visual perception and acuity game can be played in so many variations with an incredibly wide age range of players.

 

 

Station two highlighted new releases for 2013 including Flash!, Nada!, and Ooga Booga. Junior Sales Associate, Sebastian Towles, named Ooga Booga as his favorite camp care package item of the summer. That's really saying something coming from the child of toy store owners!

 

 

Station three was quickly occupied by little gamers in search of matching Pengoloo penguins, sneaky Gobblet Gobblers, and rocking Chicky Boom chickens.

 

 

Station four provided a sampling of aTeam favorites. There were several heated matches of Fastrack, quick-handed rounds of Trigger, and endless laughs while racing to squeak the Shrimp Cocktail starfish!

 

 

Join us at our Quarry Lake location every Wednesday in July from 3:30-5:30 for the Game University Series. Register here! We'll be waiting for you this Wednesday as we dive into an afternoon of ThinkFun games.

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Spot It! Signature and National Poetry Month

Posted by aMuse Toys on April 04, 2013 0 Comments

The arrival of Spot It! Signature to our shelves is perfect timing. April is National Poetry Month and this latest edition of Spot It! from Blue Orange Games is packed with images inspired by the creative arts and literary world. You'll have to be quick to match images like a Feather Pen, a Music Note, the words Imagine and Dare, and even silhouettes of authors like Jane Austen and Edgar Allan Poe. Spot It! Signature fits right in with anyone's trunk of games, but it's an extra special treat for those literary lovers in your life

 

Playing a few rounds of Spot It! Signature is also a great way to recognize National Poetry Month with family and friends. The month long celebration was created to encourage Americans' curiosity and appreciation of poetry and to present poetry not as something intimidating but as something accessible and enjoyable. If you want to introduce your children to poetry or maybe add to the list of poets you already know, check out sites like the Poetry Foundation and the Children's Poetry Archive. Or, you could head to your local library and ask the reference librarian for suggestions. Who knows? You and your kids might find yourselves writing a poem or two of your own.

However you celebrate, feel free to share with us because we'll be celebrating, too!

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Friday Fun Feature: Small Games, Big Fun!

Posted by aMuse Toys on December 28, 2012 0 Comments

 

Games on the Go! by Continuum Games

Packed with its own travel carabiner, Games on the Go! is meant to be taken along for the ride. Leave it in your car for your next road trip or tuck it in your carry-on bag for that flight or winter cruise. The cards are full of word games, memory challenges and much more. With 50 games in 1, Games on the Go! will keep the trip interesting and engaging.

Flapz! by Blue Orange Games

Have we mentioned that we love Blue Orange Games? Flapz! is a change from the company's traditonal wooden games but it's a total success! While it looks like the old fortune tellers or cootie-catchers we used to make, Flapz! has 96 different "Mind-Tickling" challenges inside. Can you rub one knee while patting the other? If you ran a restaurant for witches and goblins, what would the daily specials be? And, Flapz! is made of Tyvek which means you can throw it into her child's sleepover bag knowing it won't be destroyed.

Not going anywhere for the winter? Did we mention these games can still be played right in your own living room?

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From the Archives: Game University Trigger

Posted by aMuse Toys on May 02, 2012 0 Comments

Trigger by Blue Orange Games

 

Blue Orange Games LogoWhen Spot It! by Blue Orange Gameswas released last year, we knew it was going to be huge fun in a tiny tin. Since then, it's become one of our most commonly requested games. You can imagine our excitement when we were introduced to Blue Orange's newest game in a travel-friendly tin, Trigger!

Trigger by Blue Orange Games

Trigger is a fast-paced true or false card game that requires quick thinking and speedy action. It includes one target and 60 question cards. To play, shuffle the cards and put the target in the middle of the playing area. Deal five cards to each player and choose someone to be the first-round moderator. This person will be the one to determines the player that has given the correct answer to the stated question the quickest.

To start the round, the moderator takes the top card on their pile and reads one of the six questions listed. Each question has a different color behind it, which will be important later. However, for the first round the moderator chooses whichever question they please and reads it aloud. They range in difficulty depending on who is asking and in what context you are playing the game. Bear in mind that the use of the word "I" always refers to the moderator asking the questions, and the word "you" always refers to you. Here are some example questions so you can get the gist:

"The chair you are sitting on belongs to you."
"If Thursday is in two days, then today is Tuesday."
"At least one player here is more than 6 feet tall."
"At least two of the players' first names end with the same letter."
"The last syllable of this month is "BER."

The questions require information processing, observation, some knowledge of science or math and other common-knowledge facts. Often they are worded in such a way that you really need to thinkbefore giving your answer.

Giving your answer is where the game gets a little crazy. Your right hand is associated with "true" and your left with "false." As soon as you can, shout your answer and place the corresponding hand on the target. The order the hands stack up on the target is the order points will be awarded. The first player who has the correct hand down on the target earns the question card as a point. Before they pick up a card from the draw pile, they check what color the back of their point question card is. This determines the question they will ask on the next round. The winner picks up a card from the draw pile and reads the next question.

If someone has answered incorrectly, they lose point a card. No changing your answers! Once your hand is down, it stays down. The player at the end of the game who has collected the most cards wins the game.

Trigger is a great party game for 3 or more people ages 8+. It only takes a few minutes to play, and its small tin makes it easy to take anywhere. Please stop by either aMuse Toys location and play a few rounds with us. We know you're going to love it just as much as we do!

Make room for it in your travel bag, because Trigger has just won a Dr. Toy's Best Vacation Product award!


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Play and Preservation: Blue Orange Games

Posted by aMuse Toys on April 18, 2012 0 Comments

 

 

Using durable materials, Blue Orange pledges to produce high quality, eco-friendly games. Their respect for the environment and commitment to following ecologically responsible business practices permeates the company culture, earning them the first ever Dr. Toy “Green Toy Company Award” on Earth Day, April 22, 2007.  

As eco-pioneers in the toy industry, Blue Orange Games carries out many initiatives to ensure its Green ethos.

Tree Campaign
Blue Orange has pledged to plant two trees for every one used in the production of its games. Since their tree campaign began in the summer of 2006 over 25,000 trees have been planted each year. Blue Orange uses and replants a variety of trees such as Pine, Birch, and Beech to preserve the integrity and biodiversity of the environment.

Carbon Offset
In 2011 Blue Orange began an ongoing partnership with Pur Projet to offset it's carbon footprint. This project provides native trees for the reforestation on small producers’ cocoa plantations in Amazonia. Trees are planted following agroforestry systems improving the yield of cocoa trees while preserving soil and water quality. Through these efforts, 1,500 farmers cultivating Fair Trade and Organic certified cocoa will increase and diversify their earnings, protecting lands and biodiversity. As of March 2012, Blue Orange Games had offset 96 tons of CO2 while participating in the sustainable development of rural communities.

 Founders Julien Mayot & Thierry Denoual in the park where trees are planted in China

 
Green Materials
Minimizing the use of plastics and utilizing recycled and recyclable cardboard in their packaging Blue Orange Games continues to innovate to ensure minimal ecological impact.

 
Durability and timeless designs allow their games to be passed down and “recycled” through families for generations. Check out some of our favorite Blue Orange Games here.
 
 

 

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