(This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Corey Olomon on winning this giveaway! Thank you to all who entered.)
Finding new games that involve both fun and learning is something we enjoy as a family. Even though Jaden (now 4) isn’t always able to play, we usually find something for him to do, at least until his attention is re-focused on something new.
TriTective is our latest, and it comes from Educational Insights. TriTective is a card game that comes in its own storage tin, also quite small and easily packed when going on trips. It comes with 100 cards that each have 3 “spy” words on them, color coded and all with just 3 letters. Yellow words are easy, blue words are medium, and red words are difficult. 
The game is geared toward ages 10+ and 2 or more players. Jacob (now 9) was able to play, though it did take a bit for him to figure out how to deductively solve the mystery.
How it works is one person plays the spy, while all other players are the detectives. We let Jaden be the spy (with me helping) the first time around. All other players get 5 cards apiece. 
The spy chooses which color word to go with, and detective players focus on the words in that color throughout the game. Players take turn laying down their cards, while the spy tells them how many letters in their word are in the spy word. Players then use deductive reasoning, as the game progresses, to figure out the mystery spy word. It’s almost like a very advanced game of Hangman, only in card form and much more difficult, at least for me. Don’t get me wrong; the rules were quite simple…. I’m just not that good with deductive reasoning. The first player to guess the spy word correctly wins the round, and the game continues with each player taking his/her turn as the spy.
So, I found this game to be moderately difficult, though my husband found it easier. It definitely challenged both myself and Jacob, something I L-O-V-E in a game. It was a lot of fun, as we tend to laugh our way through any game, no matter the level of difficulty. We’re all very competitive, so it can get quite animated. Jacob had a difficult time at first, so we did as the instructions suggested and helped him through the first round, also writing out the alphabet on a piece of paper so he could cross out letters as he went along. 
He really got into it and started to grasp on to the concept of deducting his way through the letters. 
When he took his turn as spy, he had a hard time remembering not to give the letters away when he would tell us how many letters, which made for a lot of laughter and fun. I found this game to be an awesome learning tool. It’s definitely something to help develop logic and deductive reasoning skills. It’s also a game that will reinforce spelling, phonics, etc, as kids work out the details of each mystery word.
I was also really excited to find out that the awesome Caitlin Hogan, from Educational Insights, actually invented this game. You can purchase TriTective from Educational Insights for the very affordable price of $12.99. I definitely recommend this game.
The great news is that one MamaBuzz reader will win their very own copy of TriTective, thanks to Educational Insights. Please leave a comment (see below) to enter, but then be sure to leave a separate comment for each optional way that you enter. This giveaway will end on Friday, April 6. The winner will be chosen, via random.org. This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada only (void where prohibited). No purchase is necessary, and the odds of winning are based on a number of entries. Good luck, and have a wonderful day!
- What game challenges the socks off you or your family? Share a comment.
Other optional ways to enter:
- Follow @ed_insights on Twitter.
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(Disclosure: We received a copy of this game, free of charge, from Educational Insights, for the purposes of review. All views/opinions remain solely my own.)
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