Mermaid Island Co-operative Board Game

This game was a hit with my 6 year old cousin. She has a knack for making every game ultra competitive (round two - the mermaids who aren’t “hers” die and/or get sent to the seaweed and only one can “win” lol) but it’s good to see her using her imagination to make new rules. Haha Game pieces are the usual high quality from Peacable Kingdom. This is the fourth game I’ve bought from this company and they’ve all been great for the 3-6 year old range. Her fave is still Fish Stix, though!

Great Game for my grandchildren to play, hours of fun with all playing together

I got this game for my 4 year old and she loves it. I really like how it is cooperative rather than competitive. You work together to beat the sea witch. It encourages problem solving and critical thinking skills.

I first saw Peaceable Kingdom's cooperative board games as a preschool teacher, and knew that I wanted to get some for my children as they grew. I chose Mermaid Kingdom for my 4 year old who loves mermaids. We have been playing with it for over a year (she's now 5), and she still enjoys it. She has also taught her 2 year old sister to play, and it's simple enough that they can play together without adult input.Basically, the players work together to advance 3 mermaids along the board using a spinner. They have to get the mermaids to their kingdom before the sea witch (who has her own "slice" on the spinner). There are also "wands" that players can choose use if the sea witch is closing in. In terms of strategy, it's not too challenging-- it is geared for preschoolers, after all. I found it really helpful for teaching my girls how to take turns and move game pieces without the anxiety that winning or losing seems to cause them. As they get older, I imagine that they will start to use strategy and social cues to move their mermaids more intentionally (even now they talk about how the mermaids "feel" about being left behind or how happy they are to be together sharing a space. This would probably be a good opportunity to discuss friendships and feelings with them, but I haven't taken the time yet).The game is bright and appealing, without extraneous packaging or pieces (ie, it is easy to clean up). We have had it for a year and a half in a home daycare setting and it has been relatively durable. We did lose one part of the spinner, and the company was exremely pleasant to deal with and quickly replaced the spinner.Incidentally, although this is a cooperative game and is very fun and useful as such, it can also easily be modified into a more traditional competitive type board game for individuals or teams once your child is ready for or interested in practicing good sportsmanship. Or if grandpa just can't wrap his head around cooperative play. ;)

I bought this game for my granddaughters, ages 4 and 7. It is a wonderful family game that teaches how to play and us strategies as a team. There is not a "winner", either the team wins or the board wins. We had so much fun, they asked to play it over and over. Highly recommend!