Dobble, Dobble, Dobble

This is a joint review, of both Dobble Kids and Dobble Junior. The rules for all three sets are the same, it’s a  matter of preference of theme. Dobble Kids is cartoon animals and Dobble Junior comes with two sets, Fairy Tales and Sweet Treats. 

For a quick run down for those who haven’t played the grown up version of Dobble. Every round card has several pictures on and has exactly one picture in common with every other card in the deck. I don’t know how it’s done, but I assume it’s magic. Included in the instructions are several different ways you can use this deck to play different mini games. 

The kids version all have less pictures on each card to make spotting the matching pair easier, though sometimes I bet you still wont be able to see it. I’m going to quickly run through each version of the game (feel free to skip this bit and watch our video where we show how to play each one): 

Hide and Seek: You have four cards face up each and a face up card in the middle. In real time (there’s no turns in Dobble!) everyone finds the match from each of their cards to the one in the middle. When the match is found you flip the card over. First to flip all four wins. 

Peas in a Pod: Very Similar to Hide and Seek. Set up is exactly the same, but when you find your match you put your card in the middle. This regularly changes the card that everyone is looking at. 

The Tower: Everyone gets one card face up, and the rest are put in a face up pile in the middle of the table. When you spot a match call it out and put the card on the face up pile in front of you. Continue until the whole pile in the middle has been claimed in this way. Most cards wins. 

The Well: This is the opposite of the Tower. Deal all the cards out and put one in the middle of the table, when you spot a match put your card in the middle. First to run out of cards wins. 

The Poisoned Gift: The most complicated and fun of the games included in the kids sets. One face up card to each player and the rest in a face up pile in the middle of the table. Now if you spot a match between the middle card and any of your opponents cards you grab the card and put it on their pile. This is the only game that has a bit of strategy, allowing you to target winning players. 

Phew, That’s a lot of variations! And while some don’t have that much variation it’s fun to be able to mix up the ways you can play. I do have a few things I’d say about these versions of Dobble:  

1. It’s best to match similar age groups together, Adults are going to beat younger kids the majority of the time (although grandparents vs kids might be a fair match, Sorry mum!).  
2. I think the more people you play with the better, 1 vs 1 can feel a bit rubbish if you’re getting whooped.  
3. The short playtime for these games is a great thing when playing with young kids. 

All in all I think these Dobbles teach some important skills and are great quick game to bash out anywhere and with anyone!