Play your favorite app game in real life with the Angry Birds: Knock on Wood Game! The age-old battle between Angry Birds and the egg-stealing pigs continues, and the birds will have their revenge. Draw cards, build castles, and knock them down in this hands-on version of the touchscreen hit. First one to 100 points wins!

Angry Birds: Knock On Wood

• Ages: Five and up
• Requires: Ready to play

At a Glance:

• Brings the popular touchscreen app to a hands-on playing field
• Build, launch, and destroy to win!
• Three levels of cards with different building ideas and fourth-level freestyle options
• Experiment with freestyle building and launching distances

Exciting board game based on the best-selling phone app. View larger.

Launch an Angry Bird and knock the pigs down to win points. View larger.

Hands-On Version of the Touchscreen Hit

The Angry Birds: Knock on Wood Game brings all the fun of the touchscreen app to a new, tactile playing field for two to four players. This game follows the same goals as the online version: launch the Angry Birds toward the egg-stealing pigs' wooden castles to destroy them and advance to the next level. With three Angry Birds, four pigs, a variety of "wooden" pieces, and a bird launcher, you can now bring the same action to your living room.

Build, Launch, and Destroy to Win

Play consists of drawing cards from any of four levels, building a structure on the card, and then knocking it down. To play, you draw a card--the higher the card the more points possible to earn. Give it to the next player to build that card's castle. Then, use the bird launcher to shoot it down with the birds indicated on the Mission card.

Go Crazy with Wild Cards

Our testers enjoyed the challenge of playing within the game's rules, including the ways the structures can be built and the birds that can be used during particular launches. They also had fun with the special fourth-level mission cards that allow for freestyle building for more creative play. They enjoyed experimenting with the distances from which they could shoot the birds toward castles. With so many possibilities for hands-on play, this game will keep you and your family and friends occupied for hours!

What's in the Box

3 Angry Birds, 4 pigs, 1 bonus points star, 1 bonus points egg, 1 bird launcher, 14 building blocks, 40 mission cards, 16 points cards, and instructions.

An addictive strategy game in the tradition of Sequence, Scrabble, and Othello, the Qwirkle Board Game from MindWare has a simple, straightforward premise: match tiles and win points. But the real joy of the game lies in plotting and scheming your way to victory. Winner of the Parent's Choice Gold Award and a Mensa Select National Competition Winner, Qwirkle is destined to be a family game night favorite. This game is designed for ages six and up and for two to four players.

Qwirkle
Board Game

• Ages: Six and up
• Players: Two to four

At a Glance:

• A fun twist on Scrabble and matching games
• Players strategize to make matches and earn points
• Comes with 108 wooden tiles
• Winner of Parent's Choice Gold Award and Mensa National Competition
• Includes drawstring bag for tile storage and instructions

This award-winning strategy game is easy to learn. View larger.

Match colors and shapes in this enthralling strategy game. View larger.

Mix, Match, Score, and Win

Qwirkle consists of 108 wooden blocks with six different shapes in six colors. Using the blocks, players attempt to score the most points by building lines that share the same shape or color. The simple setup makes this an instant winner for younger kids, while adults will enjoy strategizing to win.

How to Play

A typical game of Qwirkle lasts about 45 minutes--longer when you're first learning how to play--and players will likely catch on to the rules in no time at all. The game can be set up anywhere, although a large tabletop is best to accommodate the generous number of tiles. The only other thing you'll need is a pencil and paper to keep track of everyone's point count.

Each tile has an illustration on the back (circle, eight-point star, four-point star, square, clover, or diamond). Each of these symbols appears in six different colors (red, yellow, orange, green, blue, and purple). In total, the game has three tiles each of the 36 possible color-symbol combinations. To help make sure you don't lose any tiles in between games, Qwirkle comes with a drawstring storage pouch.

Straightforward, Easy-to-Follow Rules

As in Scrabble, the game starts with players drawing their own "hand" of six tiles. The player with the most tiles that share something in common (color or symbol) plays their pieces and wins points. And so it goes until the pieces make up a giant grid. One rule adults will likely need to reiterate to little ones is that duplicate tiles don't count. For instance, if someone has three diamonds, and two of them are green, they can only count one of those diamonds for points.

As play continues and the stakes get higher, younger kids may need some help deciding where to build to maximize their points. Our testers found that the length of the game may make younger kids squirmy halfway through. To keep them engaged, parents can always distribute half the number of tiles to start. The game is over when all the tiles have been played and all the points have been tallied.

What's in the Box

108 wooden tiles, cloth drawstring bag, and instruction booklet.