My son really enjoys board games, but lately we’ve been trying to challenge ourselves to break out of the rut of playing the same game over and over. There’s nothing wrong with classic titles like Monopoly or Sorry of course, but it gets hard for these to hold his interest after a few rounds. As a Lego fan, some of his favorite games are the buildable Lego board game titles.
In March, Lego released City Alarm, a game that sends players on a chase through the streets of Lego City. It is intended for either two players or two teams of players. You play as either the cops or the robbers.
If you’re the cops, you win by catching all of the crooks. If you’re the robbers, you win by getting all of the stacks of Lego money. Like the other Lego games, you can customize the basic rules a bit to fit the age and ability of the people who are playing.
My son loves pretend play, so I wasn’t surprised he liked this game. He was thrilled with the tiny figures and the stacks of money, so we had to have a long talk about not running off with those pieces when we were done because then we wouldn’t be able to play the game any more. (We have several other Lego games he’s received as gifts and the cool pieces always seem to mysteriously disappear from them when I’m not looking.)
I like the Lego City Alarm game because it was fairly short and easy to understand as a casual player. Having him build the game board gave me a few minutes of peace to get dinner started, then we were able to play a quick round while our meal was cooking. For us, it’s the perfect low stress “family fun” activity to incorporate into a busy day.
Disclaimer: A sample of the Lego City Alarm game was provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of writing this review.
Photo credit: Lego.com
