Cal, her brother, Mahlon, and her mom, Ramona
Last weekend, Cal & I got to take a trip to her parents’ cabin in Big Bear where we hiked, sledded, and played games with the rest of her family (yes, yes, we are TOTALLY spoiled). While we usually play word games like Mad Libs, Apples to Apples, or A2A’s R-rated cousin, Cards Against Humanity, this time around, we played a new-to-us game: Camp: The Board Game.
Well, OBVIOUSLY we were interested in playing a board game based on one of our favorite activities. While the games are a bit short, the gameplay is actually designed to be challenging for both kids and grown-ups.
After picking your animal character (I called dibs on Bruce the Moose while Cal picked Eisenhower the Owl), you roll a single die, where you land on a variety of squares. Should you land on a white set of footprints, your turn is over. However, should you land on green footprints, you get to be asked a question that can earn you another roll. This is where the game difficulty scales up or down.
The question cards offer four levels of nature-based trivia, with levels one and two great for the younger set, and the higher levels appropriately difficult. The questions run the gamut from easy “Which of these birds can’t fly” to questions about fishing lures that I had no clue about (what the heck is a Texas Jig?!).
On top of this, there are some Go to Clubhouse spots that can send you gleefully ahead on the board, or frustratingly backwards on the board. While there’s no trigger to get out of the clubhouse, you do have to read a “fun fact” during your turn. THEN there’s the Compass card and the shortcut, but that you’ll have to play to figure out.
Priced at under $20, it’s definitely a great deal to have some fire-side fun with family and friends. At least until the kids go to sleep and you can pull out Cards Against Humanity and make your in-laws question their daughter’s choice in men.
