Puzzler World 2013 for Nintendo DS Review

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

I am a great lover of puzzle games and love to buy Puzzler magazines when I am travelling anywhere. I love doing crosswords, wordsearches, codewords and other puzzles and it is a great way to keep your mind active. My son has inherited my love of puzzles and I often find him busy doing a wordsearch. I was very pleased to find that you can also get all these puzzles that I love in a game for the Nintendo DS, Puzzler World 2013.

Puzzler World 2013 has over 1200 puzzles so it will keep you happy for ages. It has all my favourites, crosswords, wordsearches, codewords, sudoko as well as new games like Maze-a-Pix, Number Jig and Loko. It is aimed at ages 12 and above so my son was able to use it as well. When you first log in you can create your own profile, so you can keep track of your own progress. With other games I find that my son has a tendency to log in and take over my game so I have no idea what I am doing. This way we can keep our profiles separately and work at our own level.

The games start off simply and as you get better they get harder. If you are really stuck you can use a hint token to help you on your way. If you find the game easy you get the chance to unlock Master mode puzzles which are a lot more challenging. Completing the Challenge Mode puzzles allows you to unlock extra games, like Hangman and Chain letters which my son loved.

The game does use handwriting recognition and my son had a little difficulty with it writing the wrong letters at times. It did seem to learn his style of writing as he played more though. Most of the games could be completed quickly so I found it great for picking up and having a go when I had five minutes to myself. My son was quite absorbed and played this for ages, enjoying the challenge. If you love puzzles you will love this game.

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of the game in order to do an honest review. I was not told what to write and my opinions are my own.

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Nano Speed Super Vert Crash Set Review

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

My son was very excited when the Nano Speed Super Vert Crash Set arrived for him to review. He always enjoys getting new toys and this looked really exciting. The Nano cars are small cars which you start up and they then fly around the track with great speed.

There are two cars in the pack as well as the track. They are really small but are meant to reach as fast as 1500 mph scaled speed. I am not quite sure what scaled speed is but it sounded fast.

Inside the pack you find the track. You will need two D batteries before you can use the set. This is not a battery size that I normally have lying around the house so if you are buying this for a present it is worth making sure you have the right size batteries as well. The batteries are placed in the motorised grey section which is used to help propel the cars around the track.

I thought that setting up the track might be complicated until I realised each of the sections of track had printed numbers on the back. These are joined together in order so it is easy to set up. The instructions are quite helpful as well with clear diagrams. The sections are easy to push together and there are stickers provided to jazz up the finished track. It does take a little while to set up but we got there in the end.

As you can see the dog was quite interested in what we were up to. The track does take up quite a lot of space so it is best to set it up somewhere where it is not in the way and it can stay for some time.

In order to play with the Nano Speed Super Vert Crash Set you need to launch the cars. There are two ways of doing this. You can push it into the motorised grey section, in which case it will shoot up and go around the top part of the track.

To get the cars to go around the corkscrew bottom part of the track they need to be launched manually. In order to do this you need to pull them back until they click and move them backwards and forwards a few times. This was actually quite tricky to get the hang of. We did get to the stage where we got it working most of the time and at this point we had great fun watching the cars going around the loop. It was however frustrating when it was not working correctly. One car also seemed to work much better than the other, I am not sure if this was because it was a bit heavier.

My son actually did enjoy playing with the Nano Super Vert Crash Set set once we had resolved the car launching issues. It is not something that he will play with on a regular basis though, it is more something he will get out from time to time and have a go with.

You can find out more about Nano Speed products on their website. The Nano Super Vert Crash Set is RRP £34.99.

Disclosure: I was sent the Nano Super Vert Crash Set to review but was not told what to write and my opinions are my own.

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Brain Noodles Review

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

Brain Noodles, what on earth are they? The name itself is intriguing and sounds like something interesting and fun. When I was offered the chance to review Brain Noodles, the new craft kit from Paul Lamond Games, I really had to find out what they were. Brain Noodles can be described as giant pipe cleaners that you can use to make fabulous animal models.

I was sent the Puppies and Stripes pack to play with, but there are six kits in all. As well as the Puppies and Stripes you can get Kittens, Bugs, Primary and Princess and Frog. Each kit contains 12 giant Noodles (or pipe cleaners) as well as everything you need to accessorise your creation – wiggle eyes, chenille stems, pom poms, craft foam, feathers and stickers. There are also step by step instructions showing you how to create four different models.

I gave the kit to my eleven year old son and he got started. He opened the Stripes packet first, I think he was wondering what kind of animals the Stripes pack would include. His first comment on touching the Noodles was they are fluffy. He was right, they are really soft and fluffy to touch. Each Noodle is 18″ long so they are a good size and this makes them easier to use

His first challenge was to make a zebra. The instructions were very clear and easy to follow. There is a picture showing every step of the process and you can see exactly how to bend and attach the Noodles to get the result required. If you make a mistake it is very easy to unbend them and try again. The Brain Noodles absorbed him and silence fell as he got to work. He did ask for a little bit of help when he wasn’t clear on something but the majority he did himself. The final result, a zebra.

Admittedly it is a slightly wonky zebra but it is definitely a zebra. A feather provided the mane and normal pipe cleaners were used to make the tail, nice little finishing touches.

Full of enthusiasm at having made a zebra he tackled a tortoise next. This is the finished cute creation.

For this one we really needed some glue to attach the shell to the body, but we could not find any. We managed to tuck the two Noodles together and the tortoise just about manages to keep his shell. It might be worth getting some glue if you intend buying these.

His final effort was a giraffe and this is how it turned out.

This creation is not quite finished as it needs its tail. I think he plans to rework this one a little bit to make the neck longer.

As well as the four animals in the kit you could also unwrap them and create your own models. It would have been nice to have a few extra Noodles in the pack to allow free thinking ideas. That way you could keep the existing models and then go on to make your own. Having said that the Brain Noodles were a big hit and my son thoroughly enjoyed making them. The kit kept him absorbed for a couple of hours. These would make an ideal activity for a rainy afternoon or a way to while away boredom during the summer holidays.

The Brain Noodles are aimed at ages 6+ and they are non-toxic, feature a reinforced core and have no sharp ends so they are safe to use. They are available RRP: £12.95

You can find more information on the Paul Lamond website http://www.paul-lamond.com

Subbuteo has been relaunched

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

I have two brothers and when I was growing up Subbuteo was a game we played a lot. If you have never played it is basically a table top football game. You have little figures for the two teams and a ball and you move the little figures to mimic a real football game. My brothers collected the different sets of mini football players and had their own football league. It was very tense when it was being played, no interruptions were allowed. My parents probably still have the original game lying around in the house.

Subbueto was withdrawn from the shelves fifteen years ago but Paul Lammond Games re-launched Subbuteo in January. If you have a son who is looking for a great gift for Father’s Day I think this would be perfect, it will provide hours of table top fun. It will also ensure peace and quiet for mums, unless you get drawn into the game.

In the boxed set you get 20 players and 2 goalkeepers, the pitch with two goals and a ball and the rules. This is enough to get started but you can add to your collection by buying individual team sets.

There are a number of improvements on the original game. The figures are more detailed and you do not have to glue the players and bases together any more, one of the sources of frustration when I was little. It also claims that the figures are so strong and flexible you can drive a car over them. If this is true it will prevent a lot of upset caused when a player is accidentally trodden on and broken. The bases have been shaped differently as well which makes it easier to move players in a straight line. There is also a new luxury playing pitch making the game look more realistic.

The figures come in a range of different strips including a range of fully licensed Premiership Club teams, including Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Fortunately I managed to find Newcastle United as well or my son would not have been at all happy! You can also get the England, Scotland and Ireland national teams. More Subbuteo product launches are planned for later in the year so it is worth keeping an eye out.

Subbuteo is aimed at ages eight up to grown up. It is available on Amazon as well as in stores nationwide including Toy R Us, John Lewis Oxford Street, selected Waterstones and Toymaster branches as well as from independent retailers.

Subbuteo will be sponsoring the next annual ‘Table Football’ World Cup, taking place at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium from 20-22 July 2012.

Red v Blue Playset RRP £39.95
Team Sets RRP £12.95
Referee set RRP £9.95

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Tinga Tanga Tales App Review

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

If you have young children chances are you are already familiar with Tinga Tanga Tales, a program on CBeebies that is aimed at 3 -6 year olds. It is set in Africa and was inspired by traditional African folklore and the Tingatinga art of Tanzania which uses bright colours and patterns to depict animals. The tales are all about how animals came to life and it stars Hippo, Tickbird, Lion, Tortoise, Monkey and Elephant. Now you can experience the colour and vibrancy of this program on your iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone as a new app has been released allowing you to interact with the animals. The game has been created by P2 games and contains 9 mini games which each feature a different animal from the series.

The games are accessed by clicking on the relevant animal in the picture. Some animals are lucky and get two games. The games themselves are very simple and easy to play. There are no puzzles to solve but they are perfect for the age group they are aimed at and will keep the little ones happy.

Each game allows you to pick a level to play at, so you can choose Easy, Normal or Hard. If you get good at a game on Easy you can easily move to Normal or Hard and see how you get on. The colours and sounds are bright and cheerful and add to the enjoyment of the game.

The games are as follows:

Monkey

Monkeys Mangoes – Monkey loves mangoes. You need to help him avoid the green ones and catch the ripe orange ones before they hit the ground.

Chameleon

Clever Chameleon – Help Chameleon disappear by tapping the background that matches his surroundings
Yummy Flies – Help Chameleon eat his fill of flies by tapping on the flowers.

Crocodile

Snappy Croc – Crocodile is trying to spoil Hippo’s swim. Tap his head before he disappears.

Lizard

Find Lizard - Tap on the rocks to find which one Lizard is hiding under.

Tortoise

Greedy Tortoise – Guide tortoise up to his heavenly feast in the clouds, but beware those birds.
I’m not a rock – Poor Tortoise needs help! He is trying to cross the land of Tinga Tanga but the other animals keep thinking he is a rock.

Monkey

Animal Mismatch – Someone has jumbled up the animals. Slide the animal parts into place to create your favourite characters.

Elephant

Help elephant to clean those dirty animals

My son who is ten and a outside the age range it is aimed for enjoyed this game and spent quite a lot of time playing it. I must admit I also enjoyed the Chameleon game, although after a while it does tend to get a bit repetitive. It is perfect for the age range it is aimed and and they will love it. The game is excellent value as it is only £1.49 and if you love the TV show you will love the game.