Review of SimplyFun's Shape Whiz

I don't know about your kids, but mine just love games. We don't have one game closet in our house - we have two. Both are absolutely bursting at the seams. Somehow, though, we always end up finishing the year with at least half a dozen new games. The newest game to be added to our collection comes to us courtesy of SimplyFun. It's called Shape Whiz. Shape Whiz is a geometry game of wits that requires you to race the people you're playing in order to find a shape that fits the clue.

On the surface it's a simple premise, but that doesn't mean that it's not a whole lot of fun! It's also surprisingly "fair," given that the kids in the family have probably studied geometry more recently than the parents. Those definitions are likely closer to the forefront of their brains. Plus, in my experience at least, the kids' reflexes are just a bit quicker. So, although this game is for 10+, it absolutely is for kids and parents to play together - just my kind of game.
Shape Whiz comes in a super sturdy box (which is so important to me - I hate flimsy boxes that get broken right away) and consists of 80 shape cards (45 basic shapes and 35 complex shapes), 40 whiz cards, and 1 rules booklet. The two decks of cards are housed in a plastic case with cutouts for each. It is a very nice game with an expensive feel to it. Another great feature is how quickly and easily you can learn the game. The instructions are printed right on the back of the box!
My kids (14, 12, 10) figured out how to play Shape Whiz right away. They were literally playing the game within a couple of minutes of opening it for the first time. Each player gets 15 shape cards (of course, you can choose to play with fewer if you want a shorter game), of which you play three at a time. One whiz card is dealt at a time. The description on the whiz card is consulted and players see if they (or anyone else!) have a shape card to match it.

I can't speak for other kids, but mine didn't mind that this was an educational game. It was actually very educational for me to see what my younger kids *didn't* know about geometry. There were things that I would have sworn that they knew, but it turns out that they either never remembered learning it, or they didn't learn it in the first place. So finding out the holes in their math knowledge was an unexpected benefit of this game. 

SimplyFun has so many more games that you shouldn't eschew them if you don't happen to fancy geometry. I promise they will have something you love! Crew members also reviewed a game of theirs called Expanders, so be sure to read all the Crew reviews to check out that game in-depth as well.