|
Card games are a great tool for learning. This particular edition, World: A Geography Card Game, Africa is both challenging and fun. For about ten dollars you can purchase this set, to supplement your map studies.
Designed for ages nine and older, this game is played with two to eight players. Each player is given ten two-sided cards. One side displays a country, the other side the country, its capital, and its bordering countries. Wild and Super Wild cards add to the mix. A stack of cards is available to draw from when necessary.
The goal of the game is to get rid of your cards first. Players lay a card down, showing the country only side, and opponents must lay a card that borders the country. Here is where it gets tricky and interesting. Unless everyone has the countries of Africa memorized, bluffs and challenges will keep the game exciting.
The game comes with two sets of cards and a colorful map to be used as the final authority if countries are contested. My family enjoyed this game. However, this would not be a primary tool for map studies for us. It is difficult to remember the location, given small segments of the continents one after another. There is a lot of information given over a short period. The game would raise awareness and certainly reinforce what you are learning.
One of the other editions, United States for instance, would be much easier to play. Perhaps for some of us, that is the point of playing the Africa edition! Given that games are popular at our house, we will play again. We really like card games because they take up little room, clean up easily, and travel well. This particular game can be used for years with different children. A nice extra is an enclosed postcard in the set, so that you can register to be notified of geographical updates.
-- Product Review by Marla G. Nowak, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, February, 2006
|
