games Archives - What Luke Did Next...and What Lottie Loves

Aquabeads Cars 3 3D Set Review

Posted on August 7, 2017 by whatlukedidnext@gmail.com

My sister, Lottie, has been doing a little bit of a project with our latest Aquabead set.

She is making a 3D Lightning McQueen from the Aquabeads Cars 3 3D range. It is more complicated than the Aquabead sets we have reviewed previously because it is built up in layers, so you do a layer, spray it with water and leave it to set before taking it off and starting the next one.

Lottie has really enjoyed this and has done a layer each day over the last week. You only need to leave it for a short time before you can remove each layer but we have found the longer you can leave them the better they set so doing a layer each day has worked well.

Lottie is really pleased with how Lightning McQueen came out- it’s brilliant how ‘real’ it looks when made out of Aquabeads. You can even drive him around because the wheels really turn but Lottie is so pleased with it she is going to put it on display in her bedroom.

We had already been enjoying our Aquabead sets but Lottie enjoyed the challenge of making a more tricky set. She did need some help with stacking the layers to make the final car but otherwise, other than needing Mum to cut up the templates which are on the instructions for her she was able to do it all herself. Her tips are to use loads and loads of water (far more than you think you need), leave them to set slightly longer than you think they need and be really careful to not use the grey beads instead of white! We also found that you need to try and squash the layers together a bit so it’s useful to have a heavy small box to put on top of them to keep it all flat.

We really like the 3D Aquabead sets, and they do some other ones as well as Lightning McQueen, including Cruz in the same range so you could have a pair! They are aimed at children age 4 plus and I think a four year old could make this with some help but we think they are perfect for children age 6-8 and would make great birthday presents for children of this age group.

Disclaimer: We were sent this awesome Aquabeads Cars 3D set to review but all views are my own and my sister’s.

Fletter- A brand new word game!

Posted on July 26, 2017July 26, 2017 by whatlukedidnext@gmail.com

I was really excited when I was asked if I would like to review a brand new word game. If you have been reading the blog for a while you will know we often have family game nights and this Fletter sounded exactly like the type of game we would enjoy.

It arrived the other day and I was excited to test it with my friend this afternoon when he came round for a play. I asked if he wanted to try Fletter out and he shrugged and said we could give it a go. Within 5 minutes my Mum said she had never heard us both laughing so hard when playing a game and by the time it was time for him to go home he was telling his Mum that Fletter was brilliant and really, really funny and that they had to get it to play with his big sisters.

You get two boxes of cards with letters, each worth a certain number of points and these get divided out between the number of people playing (at least two). Each player puts down a card in turn and then it is a race against players to find words whilst adding more cards to the game. The first person to make a word from the letters gets to claim those letters and the points they are worth but if two people shout the same word at the same time then neither can claim and the cards get taken out of the game. If you shout out a word that doesn’t exist then the other players can give you a special card that makes you ‘Flettered’ and this means you have points to deduct from your total. Once you have put down all the cards and made up as many words as possible you can tot up your total from your letters, deduct any ‘Flettered’ cards and the person with the highest number of points wins the round. The game winner is decided after four rounds.

You can even make the game more difficult by playing in specific rounds- so on round one you make three letter words, on round two you do four letter, on round three it’s five letters and on round four it’s six letters which would really make your brain work! If you get the wrong length of word you would also be Flettered!

I like the fact that it’s an exciting game, you are immediately in the middle of playing without waiting round. It’s quite noisy with words being shouted out and very funny with silly words and trying to shout the loudest the fastest. I don’t think you have to be an amazing speller but you do need to be a quick thinker and be able to make yourself heard. It’s also great because you could take it and play it anywhere. I also think lots of people could play it together so it would be great for a holiday, sleepover or school trip.

I really enjoyed playing Fletter and I know my friend did too, it is my turn to choose the game for our game night on Saturday so I will definitely be getting my parents to play this with me. I think grown ups will enjoy this game just as much as children. I think the age rating of 8 plus is probably right but my little sister will join in and make a team with my Mum – she will enjoy being in charge of the dictionary and giving out the Flettered cards for any made up words! Lottie and I just had a practise run of playing a round together and she really liked it.

**Taking over Mum’s office with a quick practise round of Fletter**!

We will definitely be introducing all our friends to Fletter and would recommend you keep an eye out for it’s arrival in the UK as this is the perfect game for a family celebration.

Bigjigs Toys- Sharing the Fun!

Posted on July 15, 2016February 5, 2017 by Luke K

Bigjig Toys – Sharing the Fun!

We recently had our latest mission from Bigjigs and were excited to see we had been sent some games to try. We were given the mission of share the fun which was perfect as we always have a family game night on a Saturday and we were ready for some new games to try.

We settled down with our drinks and treats as normal and decided to start with the Bigjigs Stacking Tower Game. The bricks are great- they are brightly coloured and a good weight to build up and move out and the game is really good fun, we liked the fact that you roll a dice to see which colour brick you have to remove as it makes it trickier and more exciting than it would be otherwise. We soon had to move all the treats when we realised how competitive it was going to get and just how far the tower would fall when it tumbled! This is a good game because you can easily play it over and over again and no one really feels like the loser (which is good when playing with my four year old sister who doesn’t take well to not winning!) My baby brother loved watching this game from his highchair and clapped every time the bricks tumbled. My top tip would be to find an extra piece of cardboard so you can use it along with the brick box to stack the tower really neatly and make the game last longer. This game is great for anyone age 4 upwards right up to any age.

We then got out the Memory Game which I think is ideal for children age around 3-6 but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it as it is a really good test of your memory and concentration. The pictures on the game are of Mummy animals which have to be matched to the baby animals. Lottie loved this game, the pictures are really nice and it really made her think. I think this would be a really lovely present for a child around my sister’s age but because the disks with the pictures on are thick and good quality they would also be easy to hold and not damage for younger children too. Lottie also got this game out when her friend came over the other day and they had great fun, there was no arguing and they even worked together a bit.

We loved sharing the fun with our family and friends and think these games are really good- they are both the high quality we have come to expect from Bigjigs products and were great entertainment.