Mensa Mind Games selected for 2010 (card/board)

[Ignis]

Word on the Street by Out of the Box Games
After playing Word on the Street, I knew it would be one of the winners. It’s a fun group game, but it also requires you to think. To play, make two teams. On each team’s turn, they are assigned a category and need to quickly come up with a word fitting that category that uses as many letters that are still on the board as possible. Those letters are then pulled closer to their side of the board, or off the edge. The first team that gets at least eight tiles of their side of the board wins.



Yikerz! by Wiggles 3D
This game comes complete with its own sound effects! You place special magnets on triangular pieces of mouse-pad-like material, trying to stay out of the magnetic field of the other magnets. The object is to get rid of all of your magnets first, but beware! If you cause magnets to stick together, or if you push any off the edge, you have to pick those up. The noise the magnets make when they click together adds to the fun!



Forbidden Island by Gamewright
This cooperative game was often compared to Pandemic at Mind Games. It wasn’t on my voting sheet and I regret not making time to play it. Here is the game’s description from Gamewright’s website:

Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss!

-- Wired: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/04/2010-mensa-select-games/

Mensa usually selects great games--past winners include Fluxx, Apples to Apples, Set, etc.--so I'm excited about trying a few of these 2010 winners.