Sleeping Queens is an absolutely fab game! In gameschooling circles, its often referred to as a gateway game – one that’ll lead you down a path towards more games and more complex games!!! Its easy enough for small children to play, interesting enough for tweens to still want to join in, and yet won’t bore the adults playing. Despite the 8+ age rating, Mr6 is a master at it! (Woe betide anyone who tries to beat him!)
HOW TO PLAY
The premise is simple enough – trade your king cards for the queen cards that are “sleeping” (face down) on the table, and get enough queen cards to add up to the target number. To get king cards from the draw pile in the centre, you can swap the number cards in your hand, making sure they match each other – or make a simple addition equation. Have two 8s? You can swap them! Have an 8 and two 4s? You can swap them too! A 6, with a 4 and a 2? Yep – swap those cards! (Sneaky bit of maths practice for little ones there!)
Then there’s the picture cards. A knight can steal one of your opponent’s queens – unless they have a dragon card to fend the knight off! A sleeping potion card can put an opponent’s queen back to “sleep” in the centre of the table, unless they have a magic wand to defend themselves. And jesters? They can give you an extra turn…… or they can give an opponent a queen! Noooooooo!!!
It’s a quick play (most of our Sleeping Queens games are about 15 minutes long), so good for short attention spans, and super fun! The cards have lovely illustrations – the kings and queens are charming and quirky, and are perfect for any princess or knight-in-shining-armour fans out there. We highly recommend Sleeping Queens!
Good for practicing number bonds to 10, and working out simple strategies.
Age 5+ (though the box official rating is ages 8 and up).
2-5 players.
Sleeping Queens can be found at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
A Different Way To Go 