Go Away Monster!

I started looking for games for our two kids when they were very young, but quickly ran into a problem: most games are designed for five-year-olds and up. It was downright challenging finding a game for a three-year-old and a one-year-old that was any good.

Enter “Go Away Monster.” We got this game for my daughter for her second birthday, and it became an immediate hit in our family, despite its simplicity.

The game consists of four small fold-out boards of bedrooms and one bag with a bunch of cardboard pieces for furniture and monsters in it. To play, each player gets one of the bedroom boards at the start of the game. The goal is to complete your bedroom by getting one each of the four missing items: a lamp, a bed, a picture, and a teddy bear.

Play goes in turns, with each player reaching into the bag and pulling out a game piece. Each type of piece is a different size and shape, and players can’t look into the bad while picking, so gameplay facilitates some sensory skill building. If the piece is a piece of furniture and the player can use it, the player adds it to her bedroom. If the piece is a monster, the player tosses it into the gamebox (or somewhere else, if you like) and says “Go Away Monster!” To encourage cooperative play, if the player picks a piece of furniture that she already has, she can give it to another player that needs it. The first player to finish her bedroom is the winner.

You can play a game with four people in about ten minutes, depending on the mood and concentration level of your kids. Two-player games are even faster.

All in all, I’d have to say this is one of the better purchases we've made for our kids when they were very young.

Available at Funagain Games and BoardGameGeek.

Enjoy!