Mel’s Thoughts:
My husband and I actually sat down last night to try out a game we had received in the mail yesterday with Timberdoodle, a company that specializes in homeschool supplies, homeschool curriculum, and educational toys.  Only this really wasn’t any ordinary game.  It was Police Blockade,  a single-player game…..which meant we had to take turns.  Once we started playing it, neither one of us wanted to give it up, though.:)  We did take turns, however.  LOL  Anyway, Police Blockade is a game that challenges the brain in many ways.  It’s a “no escape” puzzle game meant for ages 7+.  If you have ever played the online game of Traffic Jam, it kinda reminds me of that….it’s a lot of fun!

The game comes with a little spiral-bound ”Challenges and Solutions” manual that is full of challenges you can do, ranging from starter levels to expert levels.  I actually tried one of each level, but expert was the only one I could not beat….yet.  The object of the game is to surround the stolen sports car with all your police cars, to where he is blocked in.  Before you start, you set up the board as the picture for that particular challenge says to do.  There are building pieces that have to be in certain places, and then you put your sports car in the designated spot.  Once you have it set up, the game begins.  Now your job is to fit all of the differently shaped pieces onto the board without any empty spots left over.  It is quite the challenge.

I am really looking forward to using this with Jacob for Thinking Skills.  This one-player game develops logical reasoning, builds higher cognitive thinking, and strengthens visual and spatial perception.  I think it will help him to stretch the boundaries of the way he thinks about things, and I definitely think it might help to build up common sense thinking, as well as give tactile stimulation.  I also love the idea of being able to take this with us when we go places or when we travel.  With a plastic cover that fits over the game board and a wide elastic band that holds it all in place, it would be easy to take with us on our trips to see family.  Plus, it’s small and manageable in a confined space.  The pieces are made out of plastic and very durable, which makes me very happy, as a mama to two hard-playing boys.

We have all enjoyed this game, and priced at $17.75 on Timberdoodle, Police Blockade is definitely worth the price, in my opinion.  It would be something I’d consider getting as a Christmas gift for any children/teens on my list.  It’s not only educational and challenging, but it’s very fun.

Melissa J’s Thoughts

“I am officially stupid.” These were my words to Mel when I attempted to get through the second challenge in Timberdoodle’s little spiral bound notebook that came with Police Blockade. Setting up the car and buildings per their instructions, I breezed through challenge Number 1. “Fun, but not hard” were my initial reviewer thoughts.


Challenge #2 then took me 20 minutes. I’m too red-faced to admit how long they say it should take. After almost an hour at the table, I decided I wasn’t going to proceed beyond the “easy” section of the challenges. No sense setting myself up for embarrassing failure.


My husband came home. He’s a brick and stone mason. He rearranges pieces of brick and stone all day long so I thought for sure he’s get this in a heartbeat. I was relieved to see he didn’t.   It took him awhile to think through some of these challenges, though his brain was able to make it work (as opposed to mine).


By this point, this may sound like a negative review. It’s not. This is a great little game!  It makes adults use their brains and is awesome for teaching logical thinking to younger brains. Perhaps if I had a game like this when I was in my brain-development years, I wouldn’t struggle with it in my brain-addled adult years.


Is it worth the price? Yes, it is!  Police Blockade will provide hours of entertainment for anyone that buys it while teaching necessary thinking skills. It packages up neatly for storage and takes up very little space in a game cupboard in relation to the amount of entertainment it gives. It would also make a great travel game, as the pieces set well into the board without any looseness.



(Disclosure: We were provided with this product, free of charge, by Timberdoodle, in association with MamaBuzz.)