Funnybone Toys
Three design-oriented card games build off of the color spectrum
A new line of games from Funnybone Toys looks to the design world as inspiration. The three innovative card games, Array, Cubu and Spectrix, build off of the color spectrum, sequencing and counting to create engaging children’s activities. While the rules for each game are somewhat similar to traditional dominoes, the punched up colors and non-traditional shapes of the colorful trio are bound to enhance both creativity and cognitive learning.
Spectrix is the most approachable of the three games, and arguably the most entertaining. Players are dealt a hand of cards with the purpose of getting rid of it before their opponents do so. By combining colors pairs and arranging cards into a communal spectrum, players gradually unload their hand in a colorful, number-free variation of gin rummy. When a player finishes off a spectrum, he or she calls out “White Light” to tack on five extra points to other players’ scores. Spectrix cards also function as simple memory game for young children.
The nicely free-flowing Array uses twelve-sided cards that players must lay down and connect by color, with the ultimate goal of eliminating your hand while creating the highest number of different color arrays. If players are particularly creative in their strategy, they have the ability of playing multiple cards per turn, based on the different combinations available. Additionally, the game is mixed up by “slam” and “splatter” cards, which add cards and points to a fellow player’s hand.
Admittedly more complicated, Cubu uses a radial sequence of multicolored squares and rectangles to determine player moves. In order to use a card, participants must play a series up or down from one of the cards on the table. For example, a card with a red rectangle at position three could be followed by a card with a red rectangle at position four. While it takes a little while to get used to Cubu, it is by far the most challenging and well-suited for older players.
