One of the many reasons why I enjoy board games is because of the face-to-face interaction you have with the people you play with. Of course there are online versions of board games, and you can play multiplayer with people around the world (see my previous post about Tabletopia), but board games are ultimately meant to be played in person. The stories that you can create from the laughter, the banter, the cooperation, the head-to-head battles, the arguments etc., are all worth the time. It is a very human experience, as you create all these memories with the people you love and enjoy to be around. One of my goals as a father is to implement games nights with my family in hopes that we do create great memories. It can also be a safe space for all of us, where we can enjoy healthy competition and/or cooperation, but most of all, just have lots and lots of fun. Life’s tough, and there’s going to be times where it’s just going to… suck. But hopefully by having these games nights, we can decompress and restart again at the game of life (pun intended).
This week, I wanted to bring this game night idea to reality. Although my kids are still quite young (3 and 1 to be exact), we did just get a board game that my 3-year-old can play! It’s called Turtle Hatch. Now this isn’t a game you can just get off the shelf, but a game that comes in a package from a subscription based toy company called Lovevery. Below is a picture of the game components:
Playtime: 15-20 minutes
Type of Game: Board game
Player Count: 1-3 players
Complexity*: Light
*The complexity scale goes as follows: Light, Medium-Light, Medium, Medium-Heavy, and Heavy. The scale is quite arbitrary, however, the way i think of it is: the thicker the rulebook, and more time consuming games will lean on the heavier side.
Objective: Try and get all the turtles to the sea before the sun rises.
How it’s played: Youngest player goes first. They roll the die then pass it to the next player. There are 2 water symbols, a one symbol, two symbol, three symbol, and sun symbol on the die. Whichever one you roll you perform the action. If the numbers are rolled, then you move your turtle along the steps. The closer the turtles get to the bottom of the basin, the better, since the objective is to get the turtles to the water. If the water symbol is rolled, then you pour water at the bottom of the basin, and naturally the more water symbols you roll the closer the water gets to your turtles, helping your cause in winning the game. However, if the sun is rolled, then you put one out of seven of the sun tokens on the dial. If you put all the sun tokens on the dial before the turtles float on the water, then you lose. If you get ALL of your turtles into the water before the sun is completed on the dial, then you win.
Below is a video of my 3-year-old daughter and I playing a game! Hope you enjoy it.
November 7, 2023 at 4:37 pm
A lovely little game, coupled with the purest demonstration video ever! This is also proof that sometimes the simplest games are the most riviting, as evidenced by my inner fear for the turtles as you both played. I’m glad they both made it to the water and got to celebrate in the sun together.
Your daughter’s little concluding “Let’s do it again!” is the best advertisement ever for this activity. Thanks for sharing family game night with us!