MAPOMINOES EUROPE – The Ultimate Geography Game – Fun and educational travel card game for kids teenagers and adults. Like dominoes with maps.

This was a gift for my daughter. Looks fun & interesting. We are yet to play it but i'm sure we will enjoy it :)

Great for any geography enthusiast. Cards show countries in Europe and which countries border them, so even if you don’t know European geography you can play along without a problem. I’d say if children are able to read the words they would be able to play, but would probably say age 7 or 8+.

As the blurb suggests this is a sort of map-based dominoes, with each country card linking to a card representing a country with which it shares a border. Its a simple concept but took us a little while to work this one out as, going by the illustrations on the box, we assumed that the links could only be in the right direction - ie. France could only be places left/west of Germany, which makes the game seriously hard! In practice this is not the case, which means that the geography of the resulting games can be... interesting, though the game play is improved. The game itself, while being portable, is certainly not a travel game - you need a big table to play it on, indeed playing it on a table is quite important. One other curiosity is that the winner of the game is the first one to get rid of all of their cards... which is something we have not achieved yet (after 3-4 games). Its does have the feel of an idea that doesn't quite come off - its fun and challenging but a better scoring system would be a bonus.

I bought this game as a cheap portable game that I could play with my partner, who likes games based on geography, maps, countries etc. We played it for the first time during a weekend away and we really liked it. As the name suggests, it follows the same principles as dominoes but instead of matching up numbers you're matching up international borders. That means that some cards are a lot more versatile than others and you have to think quite carefully about where you play your cards. People are correct in saying 'But the borders are all written on the cards, so kids don't learn anything.' Well, first of all, it's not a quiz game, and if your kids had to learn a map of Europe by heart before they started playing, they probably wouldn't be that thrilled. Kids would learn geography by playing the game and remembering what's on the cards, and by working out from their own hand what countries the other players must hold - it's not a quiz, it's a strategy game. Similarly, the criticism that 'it doesn't build a true map of Europe' is a bit weird - it's not a jigsaw puzzle. It would be pointless and dull if it built a true map of Europe because you wouldn't have to make any decisions for yourself about where to play your cards! It's fair to say that the rules aren't especially well-written, but basically if you understand dominoes you'll understand this - plus, the one thing that we thought was a little ambiguous in the rules is cleared up by the image on the box, which clarifies how the cards are permitted to fit together. In terms of the playing area, a dining table or the floor is fine. We found this game fun and strangely addictive, particularly when we started to get a feel for the strategy element of it. Yes, it's quite nerdy and if you aren't fascinated by geography and borders, it's probably not for you, but we love it. It's not at all expensive and if you take it out the box it's literally just the size of a pack of playing cards, so it's a good one for taking away on a self-catering holiday or something. I also think you could devise other games of your own making with the same set of cards; there are lots of possibilities. I don't have children, but any bright kid could easily play this provided they can read the names of the countries. It doesn't take a huge amount of time to play at all, so a long attention span isn't required.

Super little game for passing the time, a little tricky for younger players to grasp initially but after a couple of run throughs it’ll make more sense. Game will travel well, it’s light and compact, it’s not a car game though as a large, solid surface is required for play. It’s not the game for you if you want to learn how Europe looks on a map, however, It’s super if you’d like to learn the various country flags and country boarders. Smaller hands will find it tricky looking through a big pile of cards, especially as you have to check all four sides to see what they're adjacent to. Playing co-operatively to begin with may help with engaging younger players, with cards face-up for all to see. It’s paramount to remember that although you're building a map of sorts, it will rarely end up a true representation of Europe because of how the cards function - which means that there is some variability in play.

My son adores these games. Whether you play by the rules, or make up your own, if you have a child who is interested in geography, puzzles, order and mapping, these games are for you. We have purchased all the editions (they became rewards for good behaviour), and have just purchased the newly released USA version for Christmas. When we got the first games (Mapominoes Europe), our son along with grandad, dad, & uncle all sat around and had a game. You really can involve a huge range of ages. My son also loves sorting the countries out on the floor to create (as near as possible) the actual map of the world. It does mean we have to push back all the furniture in the living room. I have also purchased this game as a gift for like-minded children, and they have been a hit in my friends' families. Wild Card games has become a go-to shop for me. If you have an interest in these topics, you will love the games.

good game, lots of fun for the family, easy to play and you learn a little along the way

I could play this game all day - it's brilliant. Its easy rules allow you to play straight away, yet you can use their suggestions to make it more difficult to win once you are used to it. It's so educational, yet fun. My nine year old nephew keeps going back to it and playing it on his own when no-one else is available! It's also totally portable - small and light-weight. I am definitely going to buy the other Mapominoes in the series and put them together to make one HUGE game!

Es un juego muy divertido que en principio es bastante simple por sus instrucciones y enseguida engancha a mayores y niños dirían que a partir de los siete u ocho años cuando empiezan a conocer Europa. acaba haciendo que cada uno quiera controlar su parte del mapa que al final memorices la zona sin querer lo cual es bastante didáctico y encima divertidísima muy buen juego de geografía. entretenido y muy adecuado para jugar padres e hijos a la vez

Ein interessantes Spiel für fortgeschrittene Schüler. Praktisch für den Erdkunde- und Englischunterricht...

Je n'ai pas encore eu le temps d'y jouer avec mes petits enfants mais cela semble ludique et pédagogique. En tout cas, bien fait. Merci

Concept sounded good so bought some for Xmas presents, but it's quite complicated, poor instructions and basically not fun. We ended up just making up/playing our own simplified version. Maybe some time we'll have another go at it, but not rushing to do so.

It is a team that requires players to think ... we liked that. There is strategy involved.