Blue Orange 2023 Children & Family new games.

Blue Orange 2023 Children & Family new games.

In the last month or so, we had the opportunities to present our awaited new games to retailers all over the country, at trade shows and through our representatives and distributors. We are excited to now ship them! They will find a place on store shelves, some will be opened for demos and events and we can’t wait for you to get your copies, play them and share wonderful moments with your friends and families.

This collection was carefully selected and developed by our team members in the spirit of Blue Orange ”easy to learn, fun to play and play again” often used motto, and we know they won’t disappoint!

Enjoy our new titles through these short descriptions below, and stay tuned for the videos explaining the games, which will become available in the next few months on our youtube channel!

HOOT OR TOOT | 4 & Up | $19.99 | 2-4 PLAYERS

Hoot or Toot is an interactive matching game and a fun twist on a traditional memory game in which young players try to match Mr. Owl’s hoot and toot sounds with illustrated tokens. On their turn, players shake the cute owl toy, listen carefully to the sound he makes, and flip a token on the table to try to match the sound. Trying to remember where each token is helps! While all players are having a silly time listening and matching lots of hooting and tooting, the first one to collect one token of each of the six colors wins!

PASS THE BALL WITH OLIE | 4 & Up | $19.99 | 2-10 PLAYERS

The classic Hot Potato game just got an upgrade with an adorable singing Otter! Players select a song and sit or stand in circle around Olie, and while she plays music, they pass the ball to each other. They go as fast as they can but when the music suddenly stops, they can’t drop the ball or get caught with it in their hands or they will be eliminated! This interactive toy features two original sound tracks and includes an inflatable ball. It’s the perfect active game for young players to socialize and improve motor skills.

BEAT THE 8 BALL | 6 & Up | $24.99 | 2-4 PLAYERS

This intense family party game has players concentrating on getting their timing just right! The goal is to launch their ball on a ramp at the right time to beat the 8 Ball coming down a chute! The 8 Ball is first launched into the funnel and spins like a coin in a spiral wishing well; it then shoots down the scoring chute. Players watch eagerly all the balls crash to their final position to see who succeeded to land before the 8 Ball. The locations on the ramp determine everybody’s points!

PAWVOCADOS | 4 & Up | $12.99 | 2-6 PLAYERS

Pawvocados is a card game featuring cute pups, cats and bunnies, which all need to find their pair to get their nose back. On their turn, players roll an original avocado dice: the adorable fruit will break open and may reveal a little paw seed! The sides the dice land on will determine how many cards are won. Players collect cards, make pairs for points or exchange them for magic cards, for a chance to earn more points.  

DO YOU KNOW YOUR PEEPS? | 7 & Up | $19.99 | 3-10 PLAYERS

Do You Know Your Peeps? is a fun trivia game filled with amusing questions for all ages that will challenge friends and family members to see if they really know each other. One player reads a question and three possible answers out loud, then all the other players lock their answers, and the reader tries to guess everybody’s response. With five categories (Favorites, School, Magic, Hobbies, and Personality) and 200 questions (From silly to everyday life situations), the multiple family friendly topics encourage all players to express themselves about their choice of answer, share past memories or aspirations. This game will surely spark fun conversations and create memorable family moments with lots of laughter and learning about each other!

SLIDIN’ TOUCAN | 4 & Up | $19.99 | 2-4 PLAYERS

In this unique cooperative game, players take turns launching a Toucan carrying its eggs down the sliding ramp, trying to escape from an unwelcome explorer. The toucan will topple and tumble while the eggs fly away! The side the eggs land on after the chute will determine how far the explorer will advance. To win, players need to tuck away the eggs in all of their hiding spots before the explorer gets to the nest!

PICNIC TWIST | 8 & Up | $13.99 | 1-9 PLAYERS

Picnic Twist is a puzzling game where players try to organize their picnic meals and tablecloths in the best possible way. Through a drafting system, they select their cards to place them in their playing area in such a way that they combine the largest possible number of similar elements: food and tablecloths. Picnic Twist includes several game modes and modules to add complexity and replayability.

Become the Kingdomino World Champion!

Become the Kingdomino World Champion!

Become the Kingdomino World Champion!

Starting on Tuesday February 28th, 4 tournaments on Board Game Arena will determine champions for these zones:

  • USA
  • Canada
  • Australia
  • New Zealand

You need to register based on your country of residence.

Look for these tournaments on BGA or follow these links:

Kingdomino USA Championship by Blue Orange Games: https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=197108

Kingdomino Canada Championship by Blue Orange: https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=197110

Kingdomino Australia Championship by Blue Orange: https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=197111

Kingdomino New Zealand Championship by Blue Orange: https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=197112

The winner of each zone will win a one year membership on Board Game Arena!

They will be invited, along with winners from many other countries in the world, to participate to the Kingdomino World Championship, organized by Blue Orange Europe, on March 26, 2023, also on Board Game Arena.

The big prize:

The World Champion will receive 2 passes for Essen Game Fair in Germany (October 2023), ‘’Comfort Plus’’ 2-days tickets (Saturday+Sunday), a poster featuring an exclusive illustration by Cyril Bouquet, a bundle of new Blue Orange games as an exclusivity, a selection of goodies and a trophy!

IF YOU ARE NEW TO BOARD GAME ARENA:

Registration is free. Create your account, and play a Kingdomino game to get familiar with the online adaptation, which is so similar to the table top game! You normally need 100 ELO points to be able to register to the tournament, unless we invite you directly. Send us a message through Board Game Arena and we will invite you to join. Or play and win a few games to get to 100 and you can register directly.

Kingdomino is our 2016 tile board game for 2-4 players designed by Bruno Cathala. In this 15-20 minute, family-oriented game, players build a five by five kingdom of domino-like tiles, making sure as they place each tile that one of its sides connects to a matching terrain type already in play. For 2 players, the kingdom can be seven by seven.

Kingdomino won many awards including the 2017 Spiel des Jahres, and was followed by several spin-offs and expansions: Queendomino, Kingdomino Age of Giants expansion, Kingdomino Duel, Kingdomino Origins and Dragomino.

Blue Orange Holiday Gift Guide 2022

Blue Orange Holiday Gift Guide 2022

Blue Orange Holiday Gift Guide 2022
Blue Orange Holiday Gift Guide 2022
Blue Orange Holiday Gift Guide 2022

All featured games are available at your local toy store or game store.

Additionally you can find them on Amazon and in the following store chains:

Bag of Chips: Kohl’s, Fleet Farm, Rite Aid

Burger ASAP!: Paper Source, Learning Express

Downtown Farmers Market: Barnes & Nobles

Freeze Dance with Chilly: Fleet Farm, Learning Express, Rite Aid, Amazon

Loopy Looper: Kohl’s, Rite Aid, World Market

Museum Suspects: Barnes & Nobles

Pear Shaped: Barnes & Nobles, Fred Meyer/Kroger, Learning Express, Rite Aid

Pop the Box: Barnes & Nobles, Fleet Farm

Pull ‘N Pops: Kohl’s, Fleet Farm

Snip Snap: Fleet Farm

Tongues Out!: Barnes & Nobles, Rite Aid, Learning Express, Fleet Farm, Fred Meyer/Kroger

Blue Orange new games!

Blue Orange new games!

It’s that time of the year! Here are our new games, that will be released in the upcoming months.

Our new collection of games for kids, party games, family board games and fidgets, is as diverse as it can be this year, with thrilling components, quality materials, fun themes and new mechanics for all ages.

Take a look at our line up and tell us which ones you look forward to bring home!

Blue Orange Holiday Gift Guide 2021 is here!

Blue Orange Holiday Gift Guide 2021 is here!

Blue Orange Gift Guide 2021
Blue Orange Gift Guide 2021
Blue Orange Gift Guide 2021
Blue Orange Gift Guide 2021

All featured games are available at your local toy store or game store.

Additionally you can find them in the following store chains:

Pancake Monster: Barnes & Nobles, Fred Meyer/Kroger, Mills/Fleet Farm

Where’s Squeaky: Mills Fleet Farm

Wilson & Shep: Amazon

Block Ness: Amazon

Neoville: Soon on Amazon

Cross Clues: Mills Fleet Farm, Amazon

What’s that Sound?: Amazon

Paco’s Party: Fred Meyer, Kroger, Amazon

Snip Snap: Barnes & Nobles, Kohl’s, Fred Meyer/Kroger, Mills Fleet Farm, Amazon

Loopy Looper: Barnes & Nobles, Kohl’s, Cracker Barrel, Mills Fleet Farm, Amazon

Loopy Hoopies: Amazon

Gameschooling with Blue Orange games!

Gameschooling with Blue Orange games!

We love hearing and reading about our games being used for a purpose that goes beyond playing and having fun! Over the years we have observed teachers and therapists using many of our games as educational tools and we thrive in knowing that with good mechanics and quality components our games are very versatile. We invited Juliet Smith, a mother and gamescooling supporter, on our blog to talk about how she uses our games for gameschooling. She selected our classic Tell Tale and our original Once Upon a Castle to illustrate her passion. We invite you to visit her blog through the links below for more game reviews!

Hello! My name is Juliet Smith, Julie for short. I am 27 years old and married, and we have two beautiful children. I am here today to talk to you about Gameschooling. Let’s start with what that is. Gameschooling is simply using board and card games in a way that utilizes the various academic and social/emotional benefits that they have to offer. Research shows that children learn and retain information best through play. Let me give you an example of Gameschooling in action.

Tell Tale is a great story-telling game. It is fun and the children really enjoy playing it. I typically pass a number of cards to each child and myself, and we take turns adding one of our picture cards to the center of the table, continuing the story that we are creating together. It is usually silly and there is much laughter and excitement involved. We also enjoy switching it up by taking turns telling our own individual stories using all of our cards.

Now, take a step back and look at this with me for a moment. Tell Tale, in and of itself, is wonderful for language arts! It gets you noticing details, listening, connecting ideas together, and sharing them with others. What you will see is a group of people practicing public speaking skills, working together, using their imaginations, opening up the avenue for great conversations, lowering walls, and breaking past mental blocks.

Want to take it a step further? Have the child retell the story you have all just finished creating together. Have them write it down in a special notebook. End the story with a cliffhanger and have them finish the story in that notebook and then share it with you. Turn it into an art project and create your own cards to add to the deck. Act out the story. The possibilities are endless.

Let’s look at another game: Once Upon A Castle. Is this an “educational game”? No. Does it have great educational value? Absolutely! Once Upon A Castle covers the subjects of math and art. It is a strategic game where you are trying to gain the most points. You roll the dice to gain materials, which are then used to construct bits of your castle. How you spend these materials is where the strategy really comes into play. The bits you construct earn you points. You keep track of all this on your player board and your score sheet.

The game end scoring in Once Upon A Castle (and many others) is a wonderful opportunity to practice mental math skills. To utilize this opportunity, do not use a calculator. Let me say that again, Do NOT use a calculator to add up your score. As an adult playing games with kids and following this simple rule for their sakes, my own mental math has improved significantly. It feels good to not have to pull out my phone and open my calculator app all the time. It feels good to get faster at performing the calculations in my head. It’s a skill that requires practice and frequent use.

The greatest value, from a Gameschooling standpoint, in Once Upon A Castle is this: the opportunity to experiment with and gain confidence in your artistic abilities. This is not a requirement to play the game. Your score has nothing to do with your artistic ability. The beauty lies in the open, unspoken, invitation to be artistic.

A child may start by just tracing or coloring pieces of their castle. This may then lead to adding a little bit of creative design to their walls or towers. As they grow in confidence, they will begin applying more and more artistic touches and may eventually want to use the backside of the score sheet for complete artistic freedom in designing their own castles. To allow for this growth, it is best not to rush the game. Don’t pass the dice until you are done (or almost done) adding a piece to your castle.

There are so many great games out there now, each with its own hidden (or not so hidden) benefits. I have created a website to tell you about them, reveal their benefits, and share any rule changes I have found helpful. The games are organized by grade and subject. It is https://www.juliesgameschool.com.

Disclaimer: I do not make any money off this website. Instead, I put time and money into it. Why? Because I believe in the power of Gameschooling, and it doesn’t stop at the academic subjects. Please enjoy it, share it with others, and reach out to me any time.

Do you want to talk more about Gameschooling? Want to try some of these great games for yourself? Julie’s Game School with have a booth in the exhibit hall at the Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference this summer (June 2021). I would love to see you there and share more with you. Until then, please check out the posts I have written about these Blue Orange Games:

Tell Tale: https://www.juliesgameschool.com/post/tell-tale

Keekee the Rocking Monkey: https://www.juliesgameschool.com/post/keekee-the-rocking-monkey

Piece of Pie: https://www.juliesgameschool.com/post/piece-of-pie

Once Upon A Castle: https://www.juliesgameschool.com/post/once-upon-a-castle

Dr. Eureka: https://www.juliesgameschool.com/post/dr-eureka

TopiCubes: https://www.juliesgameschool.com/post/topi-cubes

2020 Holiday Gift Guide

2020 Holiday Gift Guide

2020 was a difficult year that brought on unthinkable challenges and hardships for many of us. Throughout this year we have been extremely grateful for the simple pleasures in life. In these uncertain times, playing board games has allowed us to escape the world for just a minute. Board games have provided reliable smiles and laughs and has kept us occupied when we have been stuck indoors. We have loved seeing our Blue Orange family using our games during this time and the cheer and joy that it has brought to so many of you!

With the holidays right around the corner we know that many of you are looking for meaningful gifts this year. Our holiday gift guide is the perfect tool to get the most amazing games for everyone on your list. 

Blue Orange Gift Guide 2020
Fish Club game

Fish Club

Invented by David Wexler, the son of the inventor of Connect 4. Fish Club is the winner of several prestigious awards including the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award. Fish Club is a classic strategy game with a twist! Two families of fish go head to head for the best spot in the new aquarium! Players choose one of their fish pieces to drop in the tank with the goal of keeping their fish together. The game has a randomized floor which causes the fish to scatter and move when new pieces are added. The first player to connect 5 of their fish together is the winner!

Bye Bye Mr Fox game
Save the Dragon game

Bye Bye Mr. Fox!

In this adorable cooperative game, help the hens keep their chicks safe from the cunning little fox! Move wisely and make sure the fox doesn’t steal the eggs from the chickens before they can bring them home. Players must work together to move three eggs into each hen’s house to win the game.

Save the Dragon

It’s time to use your royal powers! Do you have the strength and cunning to rescue the helpless dragon from the mean guards? Climb the stairs to the dragons tower…but watch out for falling boulders! The guard will try to knock you off and send you back to the start! 

Slam Cup game
Gobblet Gobblers game

Slam Cup

Match the cups then slam then down fast! Slam cup is a fast paced matching game. Match the color on the inside of your cup to the color on the outside of the top cup on the stack. Then slam your cup on top as fast as you can before someone beats you to it! The first player to stack all their cups is the winner!

Gobblet Gobblers

Gobble up, line up, and win! This easy to learn strategy game has an irresistible cast of characters. Just like in Tic-Tac-Toe, players have to line up 3 of their Gobblers in a row to win. But here’s the catch: you can gobble up your opponent’s smaller pieces to steal their spot!

Starlink game

Starlink

Starlink is a drawing party game that takes inspiration from the stars in the sky! Draw a secret word on your turn by connecting the stars together and hope the other plays can guess what you drew. Be careful you can only connect the stars with straight lines! You win the game by creating the best constellation.

Cupcake Academy game
Talent Show game

Cupcake Academy

Work together with your fellow pastry chefs to organize your kitchen in this cooperative game of logic and speed! Each assignment wants your cupcake cups to be arranged in a  specific layout. Move quickly, before time runs out!

Talent Show

In this silly party game players take on a variety of challenges to win the Talent Show! Players roll the dice to complete the challenge for the round which include; drawing, singing, miming and combining words together. You’ll be laughing in no time!

Cross Clues game
Detective Club game

Cross Clues

Work together to interpret the clues in this cooperative party game! Consider your clues carefully and think as a team to find 2 words the clues connect, in order to fill in as much of the grid as possible! Thousand of different combinations and guaranteed endless fun!

Detective Club

Detective club has  won many awards including the Actual Best Party Game of 2018. In this social deduction party game players work to figure out who the conspirator is. Each round, one player secretly writes a word in all but one of the other players’ notebooks. The player who does not know the word is the Conspirator this round. All players then take turns playing cards they feel best represent the word. When the word is revealed at the end of the round, each player explains why their cards make sense with the word. The player who didn’t know the word will have to quickly come up with an explanation in order to not be detected!

Piece of Pie game
Battle Sheep game

Piece of Pie

In this tasty pastry strategy game player’s piece together the perfect pie! Piece of pie is a deliciously themed drafting game. Each turn players pick one of the available pieces of pies and add it to their personal pies. Players have unique objectives to gain more points. 

Battle Sheep

Opposing sheep herds go head to head in this quick-moving strategy game.The goal is to have your herd occupy the most pastures. Each turn, split your herd and move your stack to a greener pasture, as far as you can on a straight line on the board. This easy to learn game of strategy is fun for the whole family.

Kingdomino

Kingdomino game

Kingdomino was voted “Game of the Year” in many European countries and won the coveted ASTRA Best Toys for Kids Award. In this domino reminiscent strategy game players work to multiply the worth of their kingdom by adding valuable crowns to their grid. Each turn players pick a domino to connect it to their grid, and determine their position in the next round based on the domino they have chosen. The game ends when each player has completed a 5×5 grid.

Mind Block game

Mindblock

Like Rummy but with stacking blocks! Create Sets and Runs by combining blocks that range in height of 1 to 7. Sets are made with 3 or 4 blocks of the same size, but different colors. Runs are made up of 3 or more blocks of the same color in consecutive order. New opportunities come from the ability to stack blocks on the top of others to form new heights. Think ahead and make the right decisions, without losing track of what’s on the table as you disassemble runs and sets to reassemble them into new ones using your blocks! 

Strategy Games For Big Kids and Adults

Photosynthesis game

Photosynthesis

Plant and shape the ever-changing forest as you cultivate your seeds, and your strategy. Take your trees through their lifecycle, from seedlings to full bloom to rebirth, and earn points as their leaves collect energy from the revolving suns rays. This game features realistic gameplay and beautiful graphics.

Photosynthesis Expansion- Under the Moonlight

Photosynthesis game - Under the Moonlight expansion
Meeple Land game

Enhance the world of Photosynthesis with Under the Moonlight expansion! The moon turns the opposite direction of the sun and casts its moonlight into the woods. Players collect lunar points for their new forest animals to activate special powers. This expansion requires the base game Photosynthesis to play.

Meeple Land

Create your dream amusement park with Meeple Land! This game is an immersive resource management and tile placement strategy game that allows players to build their own amusement park by buying rides, offering services, buying advertising and welcoming as many visitors as possible.

Cloud City

Cloud city is a city building and planning 3D strategy game where players build their city model by strategically positioning buildings and walkways to optimize the amount of points they earn. The goal is to earn the most votes from the city council for each walkway you build. 

Maracas game

Maracas – 5 & Up

Shake those maracas! Maracas is a silly guessing game that is played with a single maraca. One player fills the maraca up with beads and the other players try to guess how many are inside by shaking it and listening closely.

Pig Puzzle game
Snip Snap game

Pig Puzzle – 5 & Up

In this single player logic puzzle game, the player helps the pigs get home safely while keeping an eye out for the hungry wolf and the flooded lake! This game is played over a series of challenges that increase in difficulty. 

Snip Snap – 7 & Up

Snip Snap is a high speed dice game where you need to be the fastest to find matches between your dice and the dice your opponent rolled. See two sharks? Call out “Shark Snap!” and snatch them fast to win.

Rip Off – 8 to Adults

Rip Off game
Rose Ceremony game

Rip off is a game of making every dollar last as long as possible… by literally ripping the money into smaller and smaller pieces! Make sure the piece you rip off is just the right size to cover the objects you want to buy. The more you rip off now, the less you will have in the future!

Rose Ceremony – 8 to Adults

Love is in the air! Offer a rose to the player of your choice. If they refuse it, it’s yours. In  this bluffing game, you try to create the most beautiful bouquet of roses while watching out for thorns which count as negative points. Try to score the most points by trading in bouquets.

Animix – 8 to Adults

Animix game

Animix is a set collection game with beautiful modern illustrations. Animals you collect score points based on the animals left in the center of the table at the end of play. Each animal scores points differently so plan ahead to collect the perfect mix to win!




Blue Orange games are distributed through toy stores, game and book stores, and online. If you have any question do not hesitate to e-mail info@bluerorangegames.com. Happy Holidays!