I am on a search to find a game that Princess likes. Treasure Trot is one of the closest I’ve come so far. It’s still not a perfect fit, but she likes it.
Which is more than I can say for most games we own. So, here’s my Treasure Trot review…….
Game play is simple, you move around the board taking and trading cards while attempting to form sets (rather like gin rummy). You win when you’ve collected 2 sets of 3, or maybe that was our modified rules.
When you move you can choose to either pick up a card that has a matching background color to the space you are on, or a matching picture. Some spaces have specific actions that go with them requiring you to trade cards with other players or switch cards around on the board.
All the items you collect are related to horses, saddles, food, ribbons, etc….
Modifications I would make to game play:
The rules don’t state if you are limited to a certain number of cards. I would limit it to 7 or 8 so you are having to make some strategy decisions of what set you want to go after.
Start with 5 cards, less than you need for a set, to make sure no one can “lay down,” on their first turn, that’s a little disheartening for opponents (though it’s fun if you’re the one doing it).
Extra fun things
There’s another game Simply Fun sells that are collectible horse trading cards. If you have that game you can play it with that to change movement rules.
There are two versions of how to play this, we opted to play the version like gin rummy, and I honestly don’t remember what the other rules are. I’ve found most Simply Fun games have a couple of different rule variations.
Over all verdict: Princess wasn’t amazingly thrilled with it, but that had more to do with the fact that she lost. She wants a game she is guaranteed to win. I think most horse-loving kids would adore this game. If you want a game that is mostly strategy and little randomness, this is not the game for you. If you want a game that is fun and quick to play, you’ll enjoy this game.
I wonder if my kids would like this…Johnny would be more interested if it involved Angry birds…
Poor Princess. The only game where she would be guaranteed to win is the one she would play on her own… or where she would set all the rules.
Worry not, Princess will grow out of it! All mine hated losing and whilst they still don’t love it, they certainly don’t mind it quite so much!
Having fun while losing can be challenging even in my advanced age – hang in there Princess ;)….and Mom!