A few years ago, all we had in our game closet were the old classics – Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, those games that kids enjoy but parents hate! Kingdomino was one of the first games we got once I realized there was so much more to the game world! We loved it then and we still do!
I’m a sucker for game expansions – they’re a great way to add novelty, complexity, and additional players without having to buy a new standalone game – and the Age of Giants expansion has been a well-loved addition to our aresenal of educational games.
The expansion comes with a handy domino dispenser tower, which is a slick system for getting new dominoes out. My kids think it’s the greatest thing ever – it’s almost like the game is also a toy… we have to take turns taking out the new dominoes because everyone wants to do it!
My 6 year old is the one who arranges the tiles in numerical order – it’s great number practice and one of the ways we like to use this game for math! Except we made a mistake up there – that’s okay, mistakes are great learning opportunities and this one gave us a reason to discuss tens and ones and place value and he’s getting better every time!
The game is played in the same way as the base game, but there are 12 extra tiles – 6 with letters A-F picturing giants and 6 with numbers 49-54 picturing footsteps.
When a domino with a giant is placed in your kingdom, you must take a giant token and cover up a crown of your choosing. When a domino with footsteps is placed in your kingdom, you may take a giant in your kingdom and move it to cover up a crown in an opponent’s kingdom. Crowns covered by giants do not earn points at the end of the game.
Taking giants is unavoidable so players have to strategically plan when to take them, where to place them, and make sure to secure a footstep domino at some point in the game!
This game is a thinker for sure. Every move takes careful thought and consideration, planning ahead, strategy and some luck. It’s a quick 2 player game and works well with kids 7 or 8+, although my 6 year old loves to play too! He just needs some help staying within a 5×5 square grid. He likes to get creative with his kingdom building… :)
Kingdomino and the Age of Giants expansion are great Gameschool choices for math, number fluency and literacy, abstract thinking, arithmetic, ordering numbers, place value, and more! Thanks to Blue Orange Games for sharing with us!
