Hand-Eye Coordination is not something you usually associate with board gaming. Most folks might think about strategy or tactics when picking a game to play but Dexterity games are a great way to change things up for a game night. Dexterity games make for excellent party games where lots of people may be just a bit too excited to sit and focus. Some games involve elaborate setups where players have to navigate a maze type scenario while others use cards or dice to show the skills of the players.
Tumblin Dice from Eagle-Gryphon Games uses a multi level board where players roll dice shuffleboard style trying to get the dice to stop just short of the end of the board for maximum points. Each area has a multiplier and dice are scored by taking the top number of the die and applying the multiplier. Players take turns so there is a bit of strategy trying to knock off opponents dice.
Maximum Throwdown is a fantastic game by AEG where players each have a deck of cards and throw them on to the table. Cards have icons on one side and artwork of the other. The icons represent points or various bonus abilities a player can earn on their turn. Turns are structured where players score any icons that are face up and uncovered. The goal is to throw cards on to opponent cards covering up vital icons blocking points and bonuses. Tricky part is getting cards to land where and how you want.
PitchCar has been around for many years and has several expansions. This racing game has players flicking car tokens around a race track. The track is constructed out of puzzle like pieces to be all sorts of configurations. Players simply try to get their token across the finish line first.
The Dexterity genre of games lends itself very well to kids versions. Mayday Games has two different style of dexterity games that are great for kids. Tok Tok Woodman (aka Click Clack Lumberjack) is a game where bark pieces attach to tree bases and are stacked up. The goal is to take an axe and tap the tree bases so the bark pieces will fall off. Each bark piece scores one point while the tree base piece scores negative five so you have to be cautious and not too eager or you could have a pretty low score. There is also a gemstone variant that has slightly different scoring.
Coconuts is Mayday Games other great dexterity game. In Coconuts, players have a monkey with a spring loaded arm that flings coconuts over his head. The goal is to get coconuts into cups laid out in the center. If a coconut lands in a cup, you take the cup and build a pyramid on your board. Players can aim for cups in the center or cup on player boards. The winner is the player to first build a 6 cup pyramid or all the coconuts are gone. Most coconuts in your cups wins if they should run out. This game is fun for all ages. Be careful though as you may spend a fair amount of time chasing stray coconuts.
HABA is a company out of Germany that has out out several childrens games. A couple that have been well received here are Super Rhino where you build a card house and Animal Upon Animal where you stack wooden animal shapes to score points.
Dexterity games are a great way to switch up your game night and try something different. There are many more types and themes to explore so have fun and let me know what is your favorite dexterity game.
