Do you love logic and strategy or tile-laying games? Ingenious might be just the game you are looking for. It doesn’t cover any specific academic subjects, but is chock-full of soft skills!
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Ingenious is composed of a board, tiles, tile racks, score cards, and score pegs. The board is smooth with a hexagonal pattern on it, while the tiles are two connected hexagons that fit on the board pattern. The score cards are sturdy, thick cardboard (pressed cardboard? I’m actually not sure what this material is called, but not quite wood) with holes. To keep track of your score, move your colored pegs along the score card.
Each player begins by drawing 6 tiles from the bag and placing them on their rack. On their first turn, each player must place a tile next to one of the pictured tiles on the board. On all subsequent turns, players may place their tiles next to any other, already-played tiles.
Scoring
To score your turn, start with the tile you placed and look at the matching symbols around your tile. Never counting the symbols on your played tile, count how many matching symbols extend beyond in a straight line. Make sure to look at each angle, as you can often count multiple lines.
Be careful to play each color as equally as possible. If you max out all of your colors (18 points) except one peg is still on 0, then your score is 0! However, if you don’t have any tiles with your lowest-scored color at the end of your turn, you can show your tiles, draw six new tiles, then put your old tiles back in the bag. This makes it easier to play more evenly.
Overall, I love strategy and logic games like this. There is a bit of luck involved, but if you remember to refresh your tiles as needed, it’s not too bad. However, I do have some frustrations.
Downsides of Ingenious
My biggest frustration with Ingenious is that the board is perfectly smooth, so it can be a challenge to keep the tiles where they are supposed to go. This was more noticeable when our kids were younger, but it’s still an issue. I’d probably pay extra for a ridged board, more like what Upwords has.
The score-keeping pegs are very small. This could make it difficult for anyone with fine motor control challenges. Furthermore, the small pegs could be a swallowing hazard for young children. I don’t think they’re big enough to choke on, but who wants to have to fish a tiny plastic peg out of a dirty diaper? Yuck.
Ingenious is Accessible
One thing that Ingenious has going for it is that every color is paired with a design. So even if a player is colorblind, they can still play. The pegs are all the same shape, but the scorecard is marked with a picture of each design in its color.
All that said, we’ll be keeping Ingenious. This is a game that kids won’t outgrow, is fun for adults, and it’s perfect for family game night!
Instructions, page 2