ChiIL Holidaze Giveaways 11A: Ice Cool Award Winning Board Game By Brain Games ($39.99 Value)

 Most Awarded Kids Game of 2017 “Ice Cool” 

All unmarked photos by B. Kenaz-Mara, taken at ChiTAG 2017

At the core of Ice Cool are two significant innovations: the box-in-a-box setup and special flicking techniques. 

ENTER HERE 

ENTER HERE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN ICECOOL ($39.99 value).

Open nationwide/USA through midnight 1/20/18.

A little more than a year has passed since Ice Cool was introduced to the US public at Gen Con 2016. Since then, the game has received 16 prestigious awards from all over the globe, mostly in the children’s games category. In June 2017, Ice Cool received the most significant prize in the board game industry: the Kinderspiel des Jahres Award as the Best Children’s Game of the Year. The game has also received UK Games Expo Award as the Best Children’s Game of 2016 and Deutscher Spielepreis 2017 as the Best Children’s Game of 2017.

This is the first year when Brain Games is exhibiting at ChiTAG Week, the largest toy and game fair in North America targeting families, where the company is presenting its award-winning flicking game Ice Cool. ChiTAG visitors will also have the chance to try out three new children’s games from Brain Games: Woo-Hoo, Reef Route and King Frog, as well as Game of Trains and Logic Cards, which are exciting games for all ages. 

Ice Cool is a children’s game for two to four players aged six and over, which takes approximately 30 minutes to play. It takes you to a penguin school, where rascal penguins have decided to skip class and sneak some fish. The main innovations of the game are the unique flicking technique and the new ‘box-in-a-box’ concept, enabling a 3D game board to be constructed in under a minute.

 

Egils Grasmanis, CEO of Brain Games, says: “As we constantly strive for innovation in every board game we release, ChiTAG’s slogan, ‘Connecting through play and innovation’, perfectly matches our work philosophy and vision. Chicago has one of biggest board game communities in the US, and we are happy and proud to present Ice Cool here. We think it’s great that ChiTAG targets families, given that our main aim is to create board games that help kids, parents and other family members spend quality time together.” 

About Brain Games

In 2004, three board game enthusiasts embarked on a mission to develop the board game culture in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Having started with the localization and distribution of the popular game “Settlers of Catan”, Brain Games is now the largest board game distributor in the Baltic Countries. In 2011, Brain Games began developing and publishing new original games and later established Brain Games Publishing. Since then, Brain Games Publishing has developed and released nine games, which are currently available in more than 40 countries.

Click image below for lots more opportunities to enter and WIN through 1/20/17.
ChiIL Mama's Holidaze 12 Days of Giveaways Gift Guide is LIVE

Holiday Gift Guide, Giveaways, Discount Codes, Product Reviews and More! 

Disclosure: Thanks to Brain Games for providing complimentary games for review purposes and for our giveaway. As always, all opinions are my own.

PHOTO RECAP: ChiIL Mama's Adventures at The Chicago Toy and Game Fair 2017

This year my 16 year old son, Dugan, took one camera and I took the other, and we tag teamed coverage of ChiTAG, the largest annual public Toy & Game Fair in the country. We've included all our collective shots in the SLIDE SHOW here and some of our favorites are embedded below, from meeting inventors to our Star Wars themed press/blogger lunch. Dugan did a fabulous job documenting the fun. His photos and mine are watermarked individually in case you're curious who shot what. Enjoy!

The ChiTAG fair is a great way to meet toy and game inventors, get great gift giving ideas, check out brand new releases, and revisit old favorites. They even have show deals and merch on sale on the spot. If you're still stuck for gifting ideas for the holidays, birthdays and beyond, let us be your guide. 

Full ChiTAG 2017 Slideshow Here:

Some highlights this year were: 
seeing Jane Labowitch: AKA Princess Etch and her amazing Etch a Sketch art again, 

meeting Adam Hocherman, the inventor of Playmonster's Tinkineer's Marbleocity,  





checking out the intricate, amazing buildable creations by UGEARS (They sent us two to build, The Theater and the train, and they're incredible!), 











and getting a lesson in how to play Charmed from one of the co-creators, .




Some of our favorite low tech play spaces were the cardboard creative area where kids could DIY anything out of discarded boxes and the Legos area.

Looking for great family game ideas to play in 2018? ChiIL Mama's giving away Chrono Bomb, myPad, and a buildable Mini Skate Park Maker Kit from Playmonster, the award winning IceCool game from Brain Games, Charms game from Studio 9, a Happy Salmon Card Game and more!

Click image below for lots more opportunities to enter and WIN through 12/20/17. 
ChiIL Mama's Holidaze 12 Days of Giveaways Gift Guide is LIVE

Holiday Gift Guide, Giveaways, Discount Codes, Product Reviews and More! 

Disclosure: I have sometimes been given complimentary games for our giveaways and for review purposes and/or I have been compensated for sharing with our readers. As always, all opinions, photos and adventures are my own.

 More ChiTAG Photo Favs Below:

ChiIL Mama's Holidaze Giveaways 7: Charms Game ($40 Value)

We've been loving ChiTAG, the Chicago Toy and Game Fair for years. This season we're giving away several of our favorite games from the fair to one lucky reader. We have been given complimentary games for review and for our giveaway. First up we have new release, Charms, A Game of Insight (ages 12+/$40 Value), from Studio 9 Games. We got to meet one of the game co-creators, Lisa Blecker, who had a dream about the game and helped bring it to fruition! Check out the video below for more about game play and the origin of the game. We'll be doing a full review of our own shortly. To order Charms and for more info, check out their site at  www.charmsgame.com.

ENTER HERE  FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! Open nationwide/USA. Enter early and often through midnight 12/20/17.

For 3-8 players

30-90 minute playing time

Fun, easy to learn party game

Charms is a fun, easy to learn party game where each player takes a turn as the quester by asking a question from the quest cards (or their own question). everyone else finds their inner Sage and tries to write the wisest answer based on the quester's roll of the charms, their meanings, and where they land on the board. The quester then picks the winning answer. The player with the most winning answers wins the game. Understand the game in 4 basic steps. 1. Draw a card, read a question to the Group, and roll 9 random charms onto the board. Remove "out of play" charms. 2. Use the key card to review charm meanings. Other players quickly write an answer to your question based on the charms, where they landed on the board, and what this could mean for you. 3. The answers are read aloud. You pick the one that best answers your question, and the author is revealed as the winner of the round. 4. Pass the charms to the left and play again until everyone has asked a question. The player who writes the most winning answers is crowned the charms champion of insight!

Click image below for lots more opportunities to enter and WIN through 12/20/17.
ChiIL Mama's Holidaze 12 Days of Giveaways Gift Guide is LIVE

Holiday Gift Guide, Giveaways, Discount Codes, Product Reviews and More! 

Disclosure: It's our pleasure to partner up with Jay@Play and Twinkle Tents. They have provided complimentary tents for our giveaway. As always, all opinions are my own.