When it comes to games that can be played with both young and old, often you can find there isn’t much that actually works for all age groups. Our family includes some quite young players; aside from the two adults there’s a 5 year old, a 10 year old and an 11 year old. Often, the youngest gets bored of strategy and, being unable to read as well as the others, finds herself getting distracted. Mixups isn’t a game full of strategy, and instead is one that she can play — however that doesn’t mean it’s not fun for the rest of us!
Mixups is sort of like Slaps, in the way that each player is putting down a card, and if you find a match, you need to slap both of them and shout the game name. The thing is, the cards contain two different animals, fused together, and you aren’t looking for a direct match to this strange creature, but a partial match to one of the creatures used to make it.
You’ll find yourself looking at cat-squirrels and dolphin-chameleons, trying to quickly understand what creatures were used to create this card. At the bottom of each card, you can find a pretty funny name, made by combining the two creature’s names to create one. On either side of the word you can see simple line drawings to help you identify exactly what you are looking at.
Mixups is a very simple game, with the goal of simply not running out of cards, as if you find a match and are the first to point it out, you get all of the cards on the table added into your pile, and can continue playing. The names of these creatures and the pictures that go along with it, are a real highlight to any gathering. So often I found myself and the kids laughing at the creatures they were looking at. Exclaiming that they want to meet a Sqowl or a Catear. Mixups is one of those games where everyone is having a good time, they are all laughing, and they all understand exactly how to play even if they have never played before.
It’s a great ice breaker, a fun game to have on the shelf before dinner or when you have your friends around for a little bit, and a great game to keep little ones entertained while playing with their older cousins or siblings.
You can find Mixups on Amazon.
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