****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
My daughter was struggling with learning the states, and a friend recommended we get this game. The best thing about it is that you can open it and start playing immediately -- it does not require lengthy instructions. While it's educational, it's fun enough to hold a child's attention. My daughter is 10 and will play it all the way through, rather than abandoning it like some games.Grandchildren loved this game , 7 and 9, and learned where the states are located as well as capitals and fun facts! A big hit!A little scrambled on your State and Capitols knowledge? Me too! And in trying to teach my 3rd grader, that was painfully obvious. UNTIL, we found The Scrambled States of America! Fun was had by all, young and old(yes, I'm feeling old at 30!), WHILE fun facts were being deposited into my son's learning tank. (Who else had forgotten that Carson City is Nevada's capitol?)The game is quick-paced, and as a busy mom of 3, is a literal game changer (the differance between sitting on the shelf and actually getting played). It averages 10 to 15 minutes per game, which is going through all 50 state cards!It is not complicated (easy directions for a sleep deprived Mom) and yet is not mind numbing to play and actually have fun. Each state card has the State name, State Capitol, and the State Nickname(who knew that Utah is the Beehive State? Not I!). You then try to earn your State cards by being the first to identify one of your States that meets the criteria for whatever the Red Scramble card is asking. Such as, 'Is South of Colorado', or 'Nickname contains 4 different vowels', or 'Touches the Atlantic Ocean' or 'State has same number of letters as it's capital'. This game is different every time we play, yet ALWAYS fun! We have played with either 3 or 4 people, only difference is that it went a little faster with 3.The disapointing thing about this product:My son originally wanted this game because he has the Scrambled States Talent Show book (different book in the series) and loves it! This game advertises that the book, The Scrambled States of America, is included. We were very excited to add this book to our library and that was a part of the reason that we decided to make this purchase. Long story short... it's not really able to be considered a book IMO. It's more of the original book in a 5in square pamphlet format. Definately not able to be added to our library, it would get lost and destroyed quickly in the hands of my 2 yr old. While my son and I were dissapointed with that aspect, we greatly enjoy playing the game. And everything else about the game is great quality.I highly recommend purchasing this great game! You'll feel like you're in the "Land of Enchantment" (the State Nickname of New Mexico: Fun Fact courtesy of this game) when your child is unassumingly getting a better understand of the geography of the United States and happily learning their State Capitals! Win Win! Get your facts UNscrambled, with The Scrambled States of America Game! Worth every penny!I am currently teaching my oldest daughter all about the states- we are half way through, so I thought this game would be a good way to help reinforce their names/capitals, and maybe even some new info.The instructions were a little complicated but after reading them a couple times and placing the cards out as I read through them, it made more sense. We played with four of us including younger kids, ages 7,4, and we were all able to play. I did have to help my 4-year old quite a bit but I expected that. My 7-year old can read well above her age so she had no problem at all playing. We did play following the “young players” way because it would’ve been too difficult for my youngest, and my oldest would’ve had trouble with a few of the questions. An example question was to find a state with “a person’s first name hidden in it” and I thought that would’ve taken her a long time and may have been overwhelming.The book that you get with it is cute but much smaller than I was expecting and since it’s made of thin paper it probably won’t hold up very well. The game itself is smaller than I imagined but I don’t mind that since we usually remove games from boxes and store them in bags inside a tote anyways.By the end of the game, my youngest was bored and didn’t want to play anymore. I think mostly because she can’t read much yet and so couldn’t really enjoy the objective of the game. My oldest wanted to play again and I found that I enjoyed it as well. I found the pictures on the cards colorful and fun to look at and the font was a good size and very clear, especially for younger players or new readers.I think this is a good game to add as a fun way to reinforce information about the US states and is definitely worth the price I paid.This is actually a super fun game! Surprisingly entertaining because it is fast and competitive, so that kids don't feel beaten over the head with geographical facts. The story that comes with it was also really enjoyable.
