Coco: "Remember Me" A Lotería Game

Last Thursday (Thanksgiving) I was feeling ambitious and thought I would be able to get a post written, so I put it out there on social media that this would be that day's blog post. Boy did that not happen as it turned out to be a crazy busy day from early morning till night —then with my insane retail work schedule and family gatherings, I ended up having no time the entire Black Friday weekend to get this post up. Today I finally have the day off and things are a bit calmed down over here, so here it is....only four days late. Thanks for your patience! Daily posts will resume as normal throughout this week.

Here we have something fun that I've been excited to introduce you to...this Disney·Pixar Coco inspired "Remember Me" Lotería game! Lotería (which is the Spanish word for lottery, if you couldn't tell) is essentially the Mexican version of bingo (which has been being played there for generations); only instead of calling out plain numbers and then having them correspond with the numbers on your board, Lotería uses images on a deck of cards and on the "tablas" (boards). So yes, in short, it's bingo with pictures.

This boxed set comes with 54 cards, 12 tablas (each with a different selection/arrangement of the 54 images—16 on each board in 4x4 grids), 100 cempasúchil (marigold flower) cardboard [punch out] tokens (though traditionally, pinto beans "frijoles" are used as markers if you want to try that) and instructions. What's cool is that all the images are done by a variety of artists, so you'll see many different styles here. You'll notice that some are directly based on Coco (like Ernesto's guitar, Mama Imelda, Pepita, etc.) and some are just inspired by Spanish words/general Mexican culture.

Here's a fun fact: My friend Danny Arriaga (Pixar character artist— character art director for Coco) actually designed the Dante image used in this game seen on the card below! It was a blast playing this game with him and his family when I visited them earlier this month. It was so much fun learning more about the the meaning of the artwork here and the Spanish words I was unfamiliar with (as well as what the traditional version of this game is like).

Here are the sheets of cempasúchil tokens that I've yet to punch out.

To Play: One player acts as the caller for the round. The caller shuffles the deck the deck of cards, draws from the top of the deck and announces it to the players. Players with the image called then place a token on the corresponding place on their tabla. The first person with four tokens in a row (winning patterns seen on the instructions below) wins! And don't forget—the winner needs to shout "Remember Me!" in this version (traditionally you shout "¡Lotería!"). When we played, we actually changed it and decided the winner shouts "Coco!", so you can really do whatever you want (we thought it rolled off the tongue better ;)

This is a very simple game of chance, but that's bingo for you! There's really no strategy (virtually any age can play), but it's good old fashion fun. It's also very quick (about 10 minutes per round). The Arriaga family also taught me about a longer version you can play called "blackout", which is, rather than the winner only needing four in a row, is about filling the entire board. That was fun too!

For fans of Coco and those who have been enjoying (as I have) learning more about Mexican culture, I can highly recommend picking up this game. It's something the whole family can have fun with together! This is a Toys R Us exclusive, so be sure to pick it up at your local store or online HERE for $14.99.

Have you played this? Did you grow up playing traditional Lotería? Shout out your thoughts in the comments below.

Cars 3: Piston Cup Showdown Game

Start your engines! Tonight I'm taking a look at this super fun Cars 3 inspired game from Spin Master called "Piston Cup Showdown." This is essentially a plastic, kid powered racing game version of the classic "Red Light, Green Light" with a simple premise: the first racer to reach the Piston Cup wins!

HOW TO PLAY—
It's Lightning McQueen VS Jackson Storm. Who will win? After the batteries are inserted (requires 3 AAA, not included), hit the top of the Piston Cup to turn on/begin the game. When the light turns green, each player pumps their "gas pedal" button as fast as they can and the cars will inch forward towards the Piston Cup trophy. Slow down when the light turns yellow and be sure to be stopped before it turns red! If either or both racers are caught pumping after the light turns red, the announcer will tell you to move back to start and that "you don't win the Piston Cup by cheatin'..."

As mentioned, just reach that Piston Cup before the other racer does and you win the game! Pull back the cars to the starting point and play again. It really is that simple, but it's very fun and very effective—even for us grown-ups! Admittedly, my wife and I have played this a few times on our own and even she had a fun time.

Here's everything that comes in the box. There's really only nine pieces and it only takes about two minutes to put together. Once assembled, the entire game/track measures about 22" long.

NOTE: See it in action on YouTube HERE.

This game is fast pace and features lights, sound effects and phrases. The box suggests that it's best for kids ages 5+ and I would agree. My four year old nephew had fun with it when I tested it out with him, but he didn't master the whole concept of stopping when the light turned yellow and didn't want to keep pushing his racer back to start. I could understand his frustration at that age, so I just went with it. It does require some strength to hit that button and to do so rapidly.

I picked this up at Toys R Us for my birthday back in May, but I'm sure you can find it wherever games like this are sold (Target and Walmart perhaps?). If you'd rather just pick it up online, I've included a direct link to Amazon below! Retail is $19.99.

I can highly recommended this for all those Cars 3 fans out there! What do you think? Do you have this game? Let me know your thoughts on it in the comments below.

Toy Story: "Toys Awaaaay!" Board Game

A few weeks back, I was casually browsing around for some things on eBay when something caught my eye that had never seen before. I was like- Whaaattt?? During my 20 years of being a Pixar collector, how did I miss something as cool as this? So I bought it right then and there.

This Toy Story "Toys Awaaaay!" (Toys Away) board game was released back in 1996 by Mattel and it's one of the most unique items I've seen in a long time. I'm sure many of you out there grew up with this in your home and have fond memories playing it back in the day; but for me, seeing this was a whole new experience.

As you can see on the back of the box, what makes this Toy Story board game so cool is that it features a big 3D playing board designed after Andy's room! I got this one for just $12 on eBay (brand new and still in the shrink wrap), so it was fun taking everything out for first time today and setting it all up in our basement playroom.

Lets take a look at everything included, the set up and how to play!

Here are all the pieces, stickers, punch-outs and directions. It took about 10-15 minutes to put it all together.
 

And here's some of what the assembly process looks like. It's pretty simple! The punch outs came out very easily.

All together now- Check out the completed gameboard and all 12 of the character pawns together! Is that not fantastic? It's about 18" wide, 16" long and 11" tall, so it's a really decent size. The details and movie nods are so fun and the colors are super vibrant- it's so 90's, yet so timeless. I love it.

Game play: Each player chooses three character pawns of the same color (for example Bo Peep, her sheep and Rocky are all green) and places them on either one of two start spaces. The object is to get all three of your toys back into Andy's toy box by spinning the spinner and making your way towards the Andy's bed launcher. If you launch the toy and it misses the chest but lands on the board, that character goes back to start. If you miss the gameboard completely, you have to go to the window ledge in Sid's room until someone spins "Recon Plan Charlie!" The first player to get all their toys into the chest wins.

It's an absolute blast! I can't wait to play this with my nieces and nephews this weekend. I may have an advantage though since I've been practicing ;)

Here are some close ups...

Even though this was released 20 years ago, you'd honestly never know it. It's really no different than the kids' boardgames out there today. If you have a little Toy Story fan in your life (or maybe you've got a house full of Toy Story fans; adults can have a ton of fun with this too), then this is for you! Hopefully the pictures speak for themselves. You really can't go wrong here- it's simply awesome.

Also, if you'd like to watch a YouTube video of the game in action, visit this link. 

Interested in picking this up for your collection? eBay currently has several listings. CLICK HERE to check them out!

The Good Dinosaur: Roarin' River Game

From Wonder Forge gaming (the same company that brought you yesterday's matching game), here we gave another Disney·Pixar The Good Dinosaur game that was released this past fall...Roain' River!

This was one of the very first Good Dino products that was ever seen (a photo of it was leaked from last year's New York Toy Fair in February), before it was even officially licensed. Ever since then, I knew it would be a fun addition to my collection!

And it is. Though it's recommended for ages 4+, it's definitely a really fun game that kids and parents (really the whole family) can enjoy together. It's a fairly simple "spin the spinner" style board game, but with some twists. First of all, it's all about working as a team- you either all win or you all loose depending on how well you work together. There isn't just one winner. Another unique aspect of this game is that you build the board as you play, which is really cool (it makes for a different experience each time, depending on which order you use the different pieces). In the end, the game board is about three feet long.

Here are the pieces fresh out of the box-

The game is for two to four players. The four characters included as "movers" are Nash, Ramsy, Butch and Arlo (with Spot).

Here are the directions so you can get a fuller sense on how to play. Ultimately this is how it goes- the characters start at the bottom ("waterfall"). With each turn, the player will move to the nearest space indicated by the color on the spinner. Every time a character gets to the end of a game board piece, you add the next one from the pile set aside. When a player spins a "1" or a "2", you advance the "flood waters" piece up the designated amount of notches (which starts at the bottom of the board, right behind the characters).

If the water "flood piece" reaches/touches any of the characters, everyone looses and you start over. The game is won once everyone reaches the top ("finish space on the mountain range") safely. Players can earn and use "help tokens" to help themselves or their teammates if the rapids get dangerously close.

If you want to see this exciting game in action (it's easier to see rather than explain), check out this well done video HERE.

This is another game I'll be putting away for my future kids. It'll be fun to bust out and play someday! If you have a little The Good Dinosaur fan in your life (or a dinosaur fan in general for that matter), this may make a great gift. Be sure to check it out on Amazon using the direct link below (retail is $14.99).

Very highly recommended!

The Good Dinosaur: Matching Game

From the Wonder Forge gaming company, here we have a Disney·Pixar matching game featuring characters from The Good Dinosaur!

It's the classic game of picture matching....Flip over brightly colored tiles and find the pictures of best friends Spot and Arlo, plus T-Rex ranchers, Ramsey, Butch, Nash and more! What familiar faces will you see? Pick up the most matching pairs to win!

This is ultimately a memory game the whole family can enjoy, but it's recommended for preschool age (3+). There are 72 tiles (two sets of 36 designs). Retail is just $9.99.

Check out all the different images found on the tiles below. There are several art styles featured, including detailed, minimal and pencil sketch versions of the characters. They actually look pretty cool!

This is a game I'll be putting away for my future kids. It'll be fun to bust out and play someday! If you have a little The Good Dinosaur fan in your life (or a dinosaur fan in general for that matter), this may make a great gift. You really can't go wrong with a classic matching game- especially one with dinos! Highly recommended.

Pixar Collection: Uno Card Game

Since its development in 1971, families have been enjoying Uno - a simple card game that adults and kids can enjoy alike. Since the game's initial release, over 130 different themed versions have been developed; everything from Care Bears to Batman to Scooby-Doo to Harry Potter! For the most part, if you name it, Uno probably has it. There have been a few Pixar themed sets released over the years as well: Toy Story, Toy Story 3, Ratatouille, Cars and Cars 2. 

In 2013, Cardinal Games released this fantastic "Disney·Pixar Collection" Uno, featuring characters from all the Pixar films (up to that point) from Toy Story through Brave in a tin collector's box! For Christmas, my parents totally surprised me with this and I was actually really excited, given that it was something I didn't have or know about.

This version of Uno is recommended for ages 5 and up, is for 2-10 players and has the same, classic game play that you know and love (just adds 112 custom Pixar themed cards). It retails for around $18.00.

You can find this set easily on Amazon below or other online game retailers. If you're an avid "eBayer", visit this direct link to current listings: Disney·Pixar Uno Card Game