One of the best parts of the holiday season is getting to spend quality time with family and friends. Many families will break out a deck of cards or a favorite board game to play during these visits, which is a good chance for family to relax and laugh, and is especially fun for children. Games make a great gift, because it gives you something you can do with everyone right after you get it – I remember getting games on Christmas as a child and playing them with my parents after Christmas dinner. If you’re shopping for a new and fun game that you can give this holiday season, then you may want to check out Jungle Speed.
Jungle Speed is a game of cards by Asmodee that tests players’ reflexes and makes them act fast. Players each have a stack of cards which they flip up one at a time to reveal a symbol. When a player reveals a card that matches the symbol on another player’s card, a duel begins where both players lunge to grab a totem that is placed in the middle of the table. The person who grabs the totem first gets to offload all of their cards onto the loser of this duel. Players are only allowed to use one hand during game play, and your cards are flipped over facing your opponent, making it more challenging to act quickly. There are also special cards that shake up the gameplay and change how the duels start. The winner of the game is the first player to offload all of their cards.
This game can be played by 2-10 people, making it a great activity for groups. Jai and I received a complimentary copy of Jungle Speed to play, and we had a lot of fun. As with all games, it takes a few rounds to get the hang of gameplay and remember which card does what. The instructions are pretty clear, although I wasn’t exactly sure what happens when a player flips over their last card, as they still need to get rid of their discard pile to win. Since the last card on the top of their discard pile can still incite duels, we figured that the other player just keeps going until a duel starts, and then the results of the duel determine what happens to the discard pile. (In our instance, Jai had gotten rid of all his cards except his discard pile, so I just kept flipping over my cards until it triggered a duel. He ended up grabbing the totem and getting rid of his discard pile, thus winning the game!)
Because this game involves quickly grabbing the totem, it does inspire some roughhousing and jostling, so I would bear your recipient’s disposition in mind when purchasing. I’m not sure if I would want to play this with someone who was extremely competitive, because I might end up getting my hand slapped pretty hard reaching for that totem! 😉 I’ve always been a big fan of board and card games so I really enjoyed trying this out. I’m glad to add Jungle Speed to my game collection and look forward to playing it the next time I have a gathering!
Jungle Speed is suitable for ages 8 and up, and accommodates 2-10 players. Buy it now on Amazon for $19.99
We love new games but I never know if they will be a good fit for my entire family. Thanks for your review…it helps a lot!
We play a TON of games in our house and this looks like one that I need to add to our already large collection. Thanks for sharing.
this sounds like something my husband would really enjoy playing with the kids. I am more a mellow, laid back kindof player so I would probably get creamed!