Ameritrash: Think of the Children!

I have about $45 to spend, and I'm probably going to get either Pitchcar Mini or The Adventurers for my kids, ages 13, 10, 8 and 5.

The thirteen and ten year old have already played stuff a few years above their age level. The five year old is a smarty, but she's not going to play anything over "8."

I'm ok with buy a game that is really fun, but perhaps not the absolute best "game." So...suggestions?

Bonus points if I can walk up the street and buy it at: boardgamerevolution.com

Also, I am a bad parent. So if you can think of something amazing that I should be playing for $45 that isn't necessarily kid friendly, then that's ok to. I'm thinking of Frontline D-day.

One last request: Is there anything amazing coming out in the next month or two? Frank Branham's game? That Z-man road racing/people shooting game?

Many thanks.

My daughter is four, and at the age of three she was perfectly capable of playing full-size Pitchcar. And beating me at it. It's an awesome purchase for kids - get spending.

MattDP wrote:

My daughter is four, and at the age of three she was perfectly capable of playing full-size Pitchcar. And beating me at it. It's an awesome purchase for kids - get spending.

Not just kids either. It's one of my favorites. The game rocks... but if you do I seriously reccomend getting the jump expansion.. the wow factor will hook the children immediately.

For that wide of an age group, I think regular Pitchcar would be the way to go. I liked the adventurers so much that I bought it--but for what you're asking out of the two--go Pitchcar (regular).

Also consider Sorry Sliders for that wide range of age groups.

JonJacob wrote:

Not just kids either. It's one of my favorites. The game rocks... but if you do I seriously reccomend getting the jump expansion.. the wow factor will hook the children immediately.

Seconded and seconded, although with the wide age range you might want to be a little wary of the jumps. Making the jump is tough, and it might leave little ones trailing behind in the wake of the older siblings.

Magical Athlete is coming out soonish (I don't think there is a release date yet).

ubarose wrote:

I know you only want to spend $45 and want something now, but if you can squeeze out the extra money or can wait until you can save up a bit more, get regular Pitch Car. If you get Mini-Pitchcar, you will end up kicking yourself. The mini disks are so small and light that they often jump the track, especially when playing with kids. You'll end up spending half your game crawling around on the floor and moving furniture to find the little disks. The larger disks are actually much easier for children to hit and control.

You will get much more use out of Pitch Car than the Adventurers.

I concur with Uba on everything. I didn't mean to give impression that Adventurers on same level with kids or replay factor for kids....go with regular Pitchcar for sure.

Regarding Magical Athlete--I wish there was a date so I could preorder through an online site if it was posted.

Another vote for Pitchcar. I have not played the Adventurers yet, or mini-Pitchcar, but my 5 year old can hold her own in Pitchcar. 5 and up can play and all are engaged and entertained. I will say that the flipping of the disks, while frustrating, happens just enough to add serious tension but not be a deal-breaker. When the disks do jump the track, they don't go very far, usually, and are easy to find.

I actually owned Pitchcar briefly, and the kids liked it but weren't gaga over it, so I sold it. During transit the pieces shifted around and destroyed the original packaging so I had to give a partial refund.

I ended up getting Warhammer:Invasion for $26 at my FLGS. In my price range, and I have enough games for the kids! I also rented The Adventurers, so we'll play it in the next few days. I'll just have to play Kinder Bunnies with the five-year-old, which she has been bugging me to do.

craniac wrote:

I also rented The Adventurers, so we'll play it in the next few days.

You have a local boardgame rental service?

Our FLGS, boardgamerevolution.com rents games for 10 percent of their purchase price. When you return them, you can immediately apply up to $5.00 of the rental price to a new game purchase. I'm totally spoiled.

craniac wrote:

Our FLGS, boardgamerevolution.com rents games for 10 percent of their purchase price. When you return them, you can immediately apply up to $5.00 of the rental price to a new game purchase. I'm totally spoiled.

Yeah the rental system is nice. I hope we can get together again sometime, I'd like to try Warhammer Invasion. I'm working Tuesday nights now though so I can't make it to any of the BGR nights.