Thinking and memory skills are required to play this excellent card game series. Professor Noggin's Card Games are available in a number of different featured subjects that span geography, science, and social studies topics. The card games are trivia-style, and the format is commendable in that kids are motivated to retain facts in order to succeed at the game.
The game rules are straightforward enough that children can start playing quickly. The first player draws a card from a deck of beautifully illustrated cards and rolls the die. (The numbers 1 through 3 appear twice each on the die). The number rolled determines the question the player will ask the person on his/her right. If that player answers the question correctly, he/she keeps the card. The game ends when all cards in the deck have been played. Players count the number of cards they have won to determine the winner. Two to eight people can play the game.
The questions on each card are divided into two difficulty levels. Players can choose to play one predetermined level or, if people with different skill levels are playing (such as a mix of parents and children), different levels can be played at the same time.
Each card game in the series is devoted to a particular topic. Current titles include Outer Space, Life on the Farm, Dinosaurs, Insects & Spiders, Ancient Civilizations, Life in the Ocean, Birds of North America, Famous Inventions, Wonders of Science, First Peoples of North America, Wildlife of North America, and Countries of the World.
Children learn a wide variety of interesting facts as they play the card games. For example, the Life on the Farm game teaches players that manure can be used to produce electricity, pumpkin is a fruit, and fennel seeds smell like licorice! Some of the questions are true and false format, some are multiple-choice style, and others require children to come up with their own answers. For example, kids might be asked, "What is another name for a tadpole?" in the Wildlife game. The questions are usually generous with additional facts, and the cards in the Dinosaurs game include pronunciations. The division of the questions into two difficulty levels is excellent, especially for games that involve a mix of players from different age groups. For example, one of the questions on the "conch" card in the Life in the Ocean game reads, "Am I edible?" on the easy level. Older kids or adults who have elected to play the hard level might need to answer the question: "Most marine snails have something called an operculum. What does the operculum do?"
Because some of the cards (those that were incorrectly answered) are recycled in a game, kids are motivated to remember facts as they play. Savvy kids might memorize the answers so quickly that the game grows old fast, but most children should enjoy the games for some time. The series is designed in such a way that children will remember facts learned. Our kid testers didn't want to stop playing and they learned a wonderful variety of interesting facts.
