Here are Some Toys and Games from Ravensburger to Consider as Gifts This Holiday Season
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming up and everyone’s trying to find the perfect holiday gifts for family and friends. Well, Ravensburger was kind enough to send me a number of items to try out that could make wonderful gifts.
GraviTrax
GraviTrax is a marble track system that is a lot more involved and complex than others I’ve seen. It’s also a lot more fun. The idea is that you have to use physics to help you plan some of the tracks with tiles like a trampoline or a magnetic cannon to get marbles to the end goal. There are countless tracks you can come up with and there’s a book that comes with several. Not to mention, each expansion accessory includes 1-2 new track ideas for implementing the piece. My family and I have been absolutely loving this and some of my siblings have been wanting to get this for their own families. It’s perfect for budding engineers and STEM enthusiasts. The starter set is typically around $59.99 but then the expansions are usually cheaper between about $9.99-24.99. You can purchase Gravitrax at Target or Amazon.
kNOW!
I’ve already written a review for this trivia game, but it’s worth restating that I really enjoy this game. Trivia games are fun but often become outdated quickly. kNOW! uses Google Assistant to keep answers up-to-date. You can find this at Wal-Mart usually around $24.99.
Invasion of the Cow Snatchers
This is a fun game geared more towards children, but anyone who enjoys puzzles that involve UFOs abducting cows will enjoy this one. Basically, you select a puzzle layout card, set up the board as the card shows, and then try to pick up the cows with the bull token being the final piece. The tokens are all magnetic and gates of various heights help direct your moves and prevent cheating. The only problem I’ve had is that it can be really hard to get the first cow sucked up by the UFO. Once you have one cow, the others are a breeze to snatch, but that first one can be a struggle. You can purchase Invasion of the Cow Snatchers from Amazon for $14.99.
Friends of a Feather
Here’s another game aimed at children. Each player has a bird and is trying to collect feathers of their color. It’s very simple and can make for a great first game for toddlers. You can find it on Barnes & Noble for around $19.99.
Heads Talk Tails Walk
At first glance, this is just a matching game with a variety of animals any child will love. However, the difference is that if you flip over a head tile that does not match the foot tile, you have to walk around like the foot tile while making sounds like the head tile. This obviously leads to some really fun moments. Of course, if you have younger children, they may not quite grasp that concept of the game, but they can still use the tiles as a basic matching game. Heads Talk Tails Walk is available from Amazon for about $14.99
Escape Puzzles
Escape Rooms are all the rage these days. Ravensburger has taken the idea of an Escape Room and turned it into 759-piece puzzles. This is one I haven’t had time to play with, but the idea is very fascinating. Once you complete the puzzle, there are supposed to be clues to help you escape and the final puzzle will be different from the picture you see in the box to prevent cheating. Because I haven’t had time to finish one of these yet, I cannot speak for certain, but I do worry that it just becomes like an I Spy once it’s completed. I’m hoping there’s a bit more information as you complete the puzzles. Each puzzle usually runs for about $19.99 on Amazon.
BRIO My First Farm
This is a fantastic toy from BRIO that features a small train with a very small track to run on. There are a few animals included and this is perfect for any toddler. What’s more, is that there’s a place in the farm base where you can put an animal and it will make the animal sounds. My daughter has absolutely loved this toy. You can find it for about $59.99 on Amazon.