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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated The Quest Kids: Matching Adventure in Tabletop Games
Mar 25, 2021
Those of you with kids: you know how you are just aching for a good game to come out that will satisfy your 3-year-old’s interest, keep their attention throughout, and even get them talking about board games afterward? At least a game that isn’t super-basic and boring? Well have I a treat for you today. I may have just found the game for us!
The Quest Kids: Matching Adventure (can I please just call it MA from here please?) is a tile matching game based off the old evergreen Memory mechanic. However, this isn’t your gramma’s Memory. In it players are recruiting The Quest Kids to scare off the silly bad guys by matching tiles and collecting treasures. The player with the most stars at the end of the game will be the winner! But in actuality, all the players will be winners because all will have had a great time.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, shuffle the brown tiles, forest tiles, and river tiles separately. Lay out the brown treehouse tiles face-down into a 5 x 4 grid. Around these brown tiles will be placed the river tiles and forest tiles, the numbers of which are dependent upon how lengthy the players wish the game to be. Add the appropriate types of treasure tokens to the provided treasure chest and the game is ready to begin! We ALWAYS let our little go first. They like that.
On a turn each player will attempt to recruit a Quest Kid Hero from the brown treehouse tiles. Once a match has been found the player may begin taking their hero on an adventure! Adventures can only be attempted when a player has matched two Hero tiles from the treehouse. An adventure consists of finding a matching pair of bad guys, one each from the forest and river. For example, in order to find the matching Honey Beard bad guy tiles a Hero would need to search the river for one tile AND the forest for its match.
When bad guys are matched they provide the player with a certain number of treasures, as printed on their tile. The player reaches into the treasure chest and pulls out the correct number of treasures (my son’s favorite part). These treasures provide a number of stars (VP) depending on whether the player has matched a specific hero or not. Less stars are awarded if the appropriate hero is absent, more stars if that hero has been matched by the player.
Some treehouse tiles contain Quest Kid Allies. These Allies provide stars, but also very helpful special abilities to be used on a future turn. When these Allies are matched, the active player keeps the tile with stars and gives away the matching tile to another player. So that other player may also use the Ally for its special ability on a future turn. Alliances with a 3-year-old? I can dig it! Alliances that do not involve said 3-year-old? Watch out for the forthcoming tantrum.
Play continues in this fashion of matching tiles, scaring away bad guys and receiving treasures, and utilizing Ally special abilities until all tiles have been matched and claimed. Players all add up their stars on their collected tiles and treasures, and the most stars collected wins the game!
Components. This game is a ton of tiles and treasure tokens. That equates to, well, a whole bunch of thick cardboard in a box. The material quality is very good, but I am most impressed with the art style. I love game art that can be cartoony while also being interesting and detailed. Such is the art here. The characters are really well illustrated and each have their own personality. I have one gripe about the components: the treasure tokens feature a small picture of the Hero that allows it to be worth more stars. That Hero picture is very very tiny and details do not really transfer well to the small space, so it IS difficult to know which Kid will power up the treasure. I did find a workaround if players are not colorblind: each Hero is featured along with a color. That same color is used as the token icon and can more easily be matched to the Hero. It may save some headache if players are able to use the color as the indicator instead of the tiny picture.
In a nutshell this is Memory with strategy. The main game mechanic is memory – matching up the tiles in order to collect them. However, by throwing in the randomness of treasure token pulls and the Ally special abilities, MA just becomes a thousand percent more compelling for children and adults alike. At the end of the game my son is having a great time and almost always asks to play again. The adults are also impressed that Memory can be so much fun!
So if you are looking for that game to introduce to your youngster that actually challenges their little minds, then I strongly recommend The Quest Kids: Matching Adventure. Yes, it’s Memory, but it’s Memory that is actually fun. It’s Memory with a theme, and a kid-based theme at that. It gives the littles an opportunity to look up to these kid heroes and lets them imagine being heroes themselves. Any game that helps to empower my children will definitely be a well-loved addition to my collection. Purple Phoenix Games (well, my wife, my son, and I) give this one a victoriously heroic 16 / 18. I won’t say that I will beat you every time, but my son may. I dare you to play against him. Just make sure you throw all your extra Allies to him or he will get real mad real quick.
The Quest Kids: Matching Adventure (can I please just call it MA from here please?) is a tile matching game based off the old evergreen Memory mechanic. However, this isn’t your gramma’s Memory. In it players are recruiting The Quest Kids to scare off the silly bad guys by matching tiles and collecting treasures. The player with the most stars at the end of the game will be the winner! But in actuality, all the players will be winners because all will have had a great time.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, shuffle the brown tiles, forest tiles, and river tiles separately. Lay out the brown treehouse tiles face-down into a 5 x 4 grid. Around these brown tiles will be placed the river tiles and forest tiles, the numbers of which are dependent upon how lengthy the players wish the game to be. Add the appropriate types of treasure tokens to the provided treasure chest and the game is ready to begin! We ALWAYS let our little go first. They like that.
On a turn each player will attempt to recruit a Quest Kid Hero from the brown treehouse tiles. Once a match has been found the player may begin taking their hero on an adventure! Adventures can only be attempted when a player has matched two Hero tiles from the treehouse. An adventure consists of finding a matching pair of bad guys, one each from the forest and river. For example, in order to find the matching Honey Beard bad guy tiles a Hero would need to search the river for one tile AND the forest for its match.
When bad guys are matched they provide the player with a certain number of treasures, as printed on their tile. The player reaches into the treasure chest and pulls out the correct number of treasures (my son’s favorite part). These treasures provide a number of stars (VP) depending on whether the player has matched a specific hero or not. Less stars are awarded if the appropriate hero is absent, more stars if that hero has been matched by the player.
Some treehouse tiles contain Quest Kid Allies. These Allies provide stars, but also very helpful special abilities to be used on a future turn. When these Allies are matched, the active player keeps the tile with stars and gives away the matching tile to another player. So that other player may also use the Ally for its special ability on a future turn. Alliances with a 3-year-old? I can dig it! Alliances that do not involve said 3-year-old? Watch out for the forthcoming tantrum.
Play continues in this fashion of matching tiles, scaring away bad guys and receiving treasures, and utilizing Ally special abilities until all tiles have been matched and claimed. Players all add up their stars on their collected tiles and treasures, and the most stars collected wins the game!
Components. This game is a ton of tiles and treasure tokens. That equates to, well, a whole bunch of thick cardboard in a box. The material quality is very good, but I am most impressed with the art style. I love game art that can be cartoony while also being interesting and detailed. Such is the art here. The characters are really well illustrated and each have their own personality. I have one gripe about the components: the treasure tokens feature a small picture of the Hero that allows it to be worth more stars. That Hero picture is very very tiny and details do not really transfer well to the small space, so it IS difficult to know which Kid will power up the treasure. I did find a workaround if players are not colorblind: each Hero is featured along with a color. That same color is used as the token icon and can more easily be matched to the Hero. It may save some headache if players are able to use the color as the indicator instead of the tiny picture.
In a nutshell this is Memory with strategy. The main game mechanic is memory – matching up the tiles in order to collect them. However, by throwing in the randomness of treasure token pulls and the Ally special abilities, MA just becomes a thousand percent more compelling for children and adults alike. At the end of the game my son is having a great time and almost always asks to play again. The adults are also impressed that Memory can be so much fun!
So if you are looking for that game to introduce to your youngster that actually challenges their little minds, then I strongly recommend The Quest Kids: Matching Adventure. Yes, it’s Memory, but it’s Memory that is actually fun. It’s Memory with a theme, and a kid-based theme at that. It gives the littles an opportunity to look up to these kid heroes and lets them imagine being heroes themselves. Any game that helps to empower my children will definitely be a well-loved addition to my collection. Purple Phoenix Games (well, my wife, my son, and I) give this one a victoriously heroic 16 / 18. I won’t say that I will beat you every time, but my son may. I dare you to play against him. Just make sure you throw all your extra Allies to him or he will get real mad real quick.
Rikki Hammond (33 KP) rated Room 25 in Tabletop Games
Jun 19, 2019
Loads of game modes (2 more)
Variable difficulty adds to replayability
Hectic fun at higher player counts
No difference in characters (1 more)
Games can be over very quick due to bad luck
A Quick Game, With A Lot To Offer
Despite the appearance, Room 25 is one of those games that has a lot to offer, and can be played pretty much how you want it.
The game is played out over 25 room tiles, which are laid out face down apart from the starting room in the middle, and the basic goal is to make it to the elusive Room 25, somewhere out on the grid, but you have to do it quick, as there is a set number of turns to find it in.
Players will simultaneously choose to do 1 or 2 actions on their turn, and can choose to move into a room, thus revealing it's effect to everyone, push another player into a room, peek at a room, or slide a whole row of rooms in the direction of their choosing (nit including the starting room.)
Rooms are split into 3 colours: Green are safe, and can sometimes help you, yellow are normally traps or hinderances, and red rooms can kill you in one way or another (there's even a room that is instant death if you move into it.) Players have to navigate the rooms using their actions, and hope they don't meet their demise.
There are also varying game modes and difficulties to choose from. Competitive pits everyone against each other, co-operative means everyone is trying to work together, and team mode has two groups trying to outwit the other team. You can also adjust the difficulty by adding or removing more yellow and red rooms (the manual has set layouts for the tiles, but you can also customise as you see fit.)
Room 25 has a lot of replayability, but does suffer from a bit of luck. If there is bad decisions made, you can be eliminated very early on. The characters in the base game, although looking cool, have no differences to them either (which is resolved in the expansion.)
These are minor gripes though, and doesn't stop Room 25 being a fast paced, hectic, but enjoyable game.
The game is played out over 25 room tiles, which are laid out face down apart from the starting room in the middle, and the basic goal is to make it to the elusive Room 25, somewhere out on the grid, but you have to do it quick, as there is a set number of turns to find it in.
Players will simultaneously choose to do 1 or 2 actions on their turn, and can choose to move into a room, thus revealing it's effect to everyone, push another player into a room, peek at a room, or slide a whole row of rooms in the direction of their choosing (nit including the starting room.)
Rooms are split into 3 colours: Green are safe, and can sometimes help you, yellow are normally traps or hinderances, and red rooms can kill you in one way or another (there's even a room that is instant death if you move into it.) Players have to navigate the rooms using their actions, and hope they don't meet their demise.
There are also varying game modes and difficulties to choose from. Competitive pits everyone against each other, co-operative means everyone is trying to work together, and team mode has two groups trying to outwit the other team. You can also adjust the difficulty by adding or removing more yellow and red rooms (the manual has set layouts for the tiles, but you can also customise as you see fit.)
Room 25 has a lot of replayability, but does suffer from a bit of luck. If there is bad decisions made, you can be eliminated very early on. The characters in the base game, although looking cool, have no differences to them either (which is resolved in the expansion.)
These are minor gripes though, and doesn't stop Room 25 being a fast paced, hectic, but enjoyable game.
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I don't get the full force of this book, the reverse harem, YET.
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
When I read a blurb for a book that comes to the blog for reviewing, my mind goes, very quickly, yay or nay. I was erring towards the nay on this one, as I read that blurb til it gets to the bit at the bottom that says this is a reverse harem romance.
As you know if you follow my reviews, I do prefer my books on the smexier side, and the more the merrier. So, I was gonna say yes, just for that.
BUT!
I don't get it!
YET! I don't get the full force of this book, the reverse harem, YET.
What I do get, though, is the ground work, the foundation that will build the relationship between all the majors players and Ada. We get a wonderfully written tale of making the most of what's happened to you!
Ada is dragged into a water spout and is spit out on the Island. The Island tries to talk to Ada, with some surprising results!
The island pulls people in for a reason, and has been doing for many MANY years. Why?? That much isn't made clear, and I'm sure there is MUCH that isn't fully explained yet, or even revealed about this island and the Mongrels, and the people from Earth that live there.
Ada and all the major players get a say, and I liked that here. While I do like to hear from everyone, when there are TOO many, things get lost. Not so here, you needed to hear from everyone, how Ada makes them feel, make them react.
This is the first in the trilogy, and the first I've read of this author. I can't wait to get my grubby mitts on parts 2 and 3! I hope I don't have to wait too long!
Only because I'm a greedy toad, and don't get my smexy times,
4 stars (but so close!!)
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
When I read a blurb for a book that comes to the blog for reviewing, my mind goes, very quickly, yay or nay. I was erring towards the nay on this one, as I read that blurb til it gets to the bit at the bottom that says this is a reverse harem romance.
As you know if you follow my reviews, I do prefer my books on the smexier side, and the more the merrier. So, I was gonna say yes, just for that.
BUT!
I don't get it!
YET! I don't get the full force of this book, the reverse harem, YET.
What I do get, though, is the ground work, the foundation that will build the relationship between all the majors players and Ada. We get a wonderfully written tale of making the most of what's happened to you!
Ada is dragged into a water spout and is spit out on the Island. The Island tries to talk to Ada, with some surprising results!
The island pulls people in for a reason, and has been doing for many MANY years. Why?? That much isn't made clear, and I'm sure there is MUCH that isn't fully explained yet, or even revealed about this island and the Mongrels, and the people from Earth that live there.
Ada and all the major players get a say, and I liked that here. While I do like to hear from everyone, when there are TOO many, things get lost. Not so here, you needed to hear from everyone, how Ada makes them feel, make them react.
This is the first in the trilogy, and the first I've read of this author. I can't wait to get my grubby mitts on parts 2 and 3! I hope I don't have to wait too long!
Only because I'm a greedy toad, and don't get my smexy times,
4 stars (but so close!!)
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Debbiereadsbook (1557 KP) rated Escape You (Cole Brothers #3) in Books
Jan 14, 2020
good but myabe not for me
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
Tyler finds out his amazing one night stand is the mark for the next ATF raid. Then he finds himself on the opposite side of the fence, as her fiancee. Mia knows she has no choice to this union of Mafia branches, but she doesn't have to like it. Finding out there really IS a way out of it, is great, just not who Tyler really is. Can they really be together when it all goes down?
This is book 3 in the Cole Brothers series, and I have not read the others. I don't feel I missed out on anything by not doing, but this book gives me enough hints to THOSE books, that I would LIKE to go back and read them, because I want to, not because I need to.
And I really am NOT sure how I feel about THIS book! And ya'll know I'm ALL about my book feelings. Its just I don't seem to have any about this book and I cannot for the life of me, figure out what doesn't work for me.
I liked that both Mia and Tyler have a say, it is in the first person, but each change is headed as the chapter changes. I liked that Tyler's deception discovered late in the day, not by Mia, cos Tyler tells her, but by the other major players.
I liked that there is a much bigger picture here, with ALL the Cole brothers involved, and that picture is what makes me want to go back and read the other books. Maybe THIS one will fit in better then, I don't know.
A *for a Mafia book* Nice book, and as much I as hate using that word for a book, it's the ONLY one I can muster.
3 solid GOOD stars, just maybe not for me.
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Tyler finds out his amazing one night stand is the mark for the next ATF raid. Then he finds himself on the opposite side of the fence, as her fiancee. Mia knows she has no choice to this union of Mafia branches, but she doesn't have to like it. Finding out there really IS a way out of it, is great, just not who Tyler really is. Can they really be together when it all goes down?
This is book 3 in the Cole Brothers series, and I have not read the others. I don't feel I missed out on anything by not doing, but this book gives me enough hints to THOSE books, that I would LIKE to go back and read them, because I want to, not because I need to.
And I really am NOT sure how I feel about THIS book! And ya'll know I'm ALL about my book feelings. Its just I don't seem to have any about this book and I cannot for the life of me, figure out what doesn't work for me.
I liked that both Mia and Tyler have a say, it is in the first person, but each change is headed as the chapter changes. I liked that Tyler's deception discovered late in the day, not by Mia, cos Tyler tells her, but by the other major players.
I liked that there is a much bigger picture here, with ALL the Cole brothers involved, and that picture is what makes me want to go back and read the other books. Maybe THIS one will fit in better then, I don't know.
A *for a Mafia book* Nice book, and as much I as hate using that word for a book, it's the ONLY one I can muster.
3 solid GOOD stars, just maybe not for me.
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
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