Kids Game | players: 2-4 | ages: 3+ | playtime: 15min
Publisher: HABA
Looking for a great way to introduce young ‘uns to board gaming? Look no further! Orchard‘s simple dice-rolling and fruit-collecting will have your kids wanting to play again… and you’ll be able to enjoy yourself as well!
I really like this family focus review. I’ve got three kids between 3 and 6, and am on the lookout for new games to introduce them to, and to keep them busy and away from the TV.
I recently picked up Hisss and Toc Toc Woodman (I scouted them out because they are on Boardgaming.com). Another family favourite is My First Carcassonne. They also like Hoot Owl Hoot by Peaceable Kingdom. It’s my 3 year old’s favourite.
The only problem I have with 3+ games is their limited timespan of interest. My current thought is that 6+ games begin to have a useful life of more than just a year or two, and sometimes last into adulthood. Qwirkle is an example of this.
If Orchard can hold a child’s interest from 3 all the way to 6 years of age, that’s pretty good.
Wow; That’s nice production for a children’s game. It’s a shame that it will appeal to such a small age bracket. But if I had a toddler, I certainly would get a copy of Orchard.
Thanks for highlighting this cool sounding game! I am looking for games like this to get for my daughter when she is old enough.
Andy – tips and discussions fixed!
My toddler has a different reaction when he rolls a color that’s gone – he tries to take one of the others!
When I stop him and explain that doing so is against the rules he’s fine with it… but his first impulse is still to take a different fruit the next time it happens!
Any thoughts on how the children respond when they roll the die and there are no fruit left of that color? Do they tend to get upset, or generally understand that is what happens when the fruit runs out?
Side note
It looks like the Tips and Discussion pages are broken on the game’s page (or at least the buttons leading to them).