Article Tools
It's hard to find games that level the playing field between the generations, yet challenge both adults and children. The joy in a child's eye when they know they've legitimately beaten a grown-up in a game of skill is priceless. Gobblet is one such game.
The rules are deceptively simple. Imagine a game of tic-tac-toe on a four-by-four grid. All you need is four pieces in a row to win. But things get complicated when you have three sets of pieces, each set made of four pieces that fit nicely into each other. Players take turns putting their pieces on the board. Once a piece is on the board, players can move them to a new space or "gobble" their opponent's smaller piece. Strategy becomes key, and simple strategies learned by kids after hours of tic-tac-toe practice pay off with wins in Gobblet. Other rules, such as, "Once you touch a piece you have to use it," make Gobblet a memory game. Players find themselves asking, "What was under that piece that I gobbled last turn?"
Another cool aspect to abstract strategy games like Gobblet is that you can play them online. Go to www.ashokappliance.com/gobblet/home.htm and try it out. Because of the multiple awards this game has garnered--making it quite popular--finding it online and in stock may be difficult. We found our copy at Five Rivers, 2285 Warm Springs Ave.
Comments (0)