Ravine: A Crafty and Cooperative Card Game

Playing most games with the kids has been a bit of a mixed bag. With two loud and fiercely competitive boys pretty much any board or card game can quickly turn into a bloodbath.Ravine has proved to be a success so far though. The game itself is a hoot particularly when players start to go mad (much amusement to be had by all when I had to sing my way through most of the game). Even negotiating cooperation can prove hilarious with the youngest scoffing all the food - life imitating art!The rules are very easy to learn and the game challenge can gradually be increased as you grow in confidence. The game box is very compact so Ravine is ideal for taking away on holiday and the cards and game pieces are simple and nicely made. The number and variety of cards available means that the game doesn't get repetitive. Probably the only unavoidable issue is trying to adequately shuffle the large number of forage cards but that has more to do with my lousy shuffling skills than any issue with the game.At last count we have something like forty odd games but I can see us coming back to this one over and over. Give it a try - it's a real laugh.

A fun and quick game for a small party. Some rules are not clear but I think you can add your own one

Simple idea and different every time you play. This is a great game for the family and one that really gets you thinking as a team which is particularly good when you have an 11 year old who can't bear to lose! The company have been great to deal with too. I lost a tiny part to the game in the first week of owning and they sent me another free which I was very impressed with.

It's retry quick to pick up. There's a good YouTube video which demos how to play. Ravine is quick and changeable. It can cause subtle group friction but also offers comic outbursts. It also gets quite addictive. There's usually someone in the group that won't stop playing until you win. You can also gear the games difficulty to your own needs. If there are fewer people in the group you could give extra lives to make it easier or change the number of night cards to change the difficulty. We have also played this with more than the recommended players, just divvy up the lives. It makes it harder but the more people the more fun.

I bought this so that my girlfriend and I would have something to do during lock down. Foolishly I didn't realise that it was 3+ players, however, we've been playing it just the 2 of us and it still works, looking forward to being able to play it with more though! It's easy to learn, well designed and alot of fun. Would definitely recommend.