Game Reviews: Mensa Mind Games®, year 2010

These are Wei-Hwa Huang's personal reviews of games that might or might not have been submitted to the Mensa Mind Games event in 2010. (You'll have to go to that site to get the official list of submitted games, when they decide to post it.)

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, ratings, and reviews stated in this document and related webpages are the sole personal opinions of Wei-Hwa Huang and Wei-Hwa Huang alone. Wei-Hwa Huang does not speak for the more than 100 participants on the Mensa Mind Games selection panel. This is not an official site of Mensa Mind Games or Mensa Select, although the statements on which games are winners of Mensa Select are factually correct. Mensa Mind Games and Mensa Select are registered trademarks of American Mensa.

If you have any questions or concerns about my reviews and comments, please feel free to mail me.



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Party Games: Word-based
  • Truth Be Told (7;5;6;31st/28th)
    Party Games: Artistic skill
  • Sounds Like a Plan (7;6;4;21st/11th)
  • Stix & Stones (6;7;9;36th/20th)
  • Yamodo Party Time (8;6;5;29th/25th)
    Quiz Games
  • Locale (6;5;3;37th/29th)
    "Roll Dice And Move" Games
  • DECALOGUE The Ten Commandments Game (3;1;1;45th/44th)
  • Riches 'n Rascals (2;4;6;8th/7th)
    Number and Math Games
  • Ergo (6;4;6;14th/27th)
    Word and Language Games
  • Letter Roll (7;4;3;19th/17th)
  • Scravage (7;6;6;7th/31st)
  • Spellen-Meister (7;3;1;46th/45th)
  • Syllaballistic (6;4;4;27th/18th)
  • *Word on the Street (9;9;8;1st/1st)
    Reflex and Reaction Games
  • *Anomia (7;8;7;12th/5th)
  • Circle Out! (3;4;1;43rd/39th)
  • Hands Up! (6;6;4;44th/38th)
  • Q-bitz (7;6;5;25th/19th)
  • 7 Ate 9 (5;7;4;39th/30th)
  • Tri-Spy (4;7;5;22th/24th)
    Dexterity Games
  • Bisikle (6;7;8;3rd/13th)
  • *Yikerz! (4;7;6;11th/10th)
    Strategy Card Games
  • Cornucopia (8;7;7;5th/26th)
  • Ingenious Inventions (3;2;3;48th/36th)
  • Masters Gallery (9;7;7;32nd/16th)
  • Opus-Dei: Existence After Religion (7;4;4;24th/21st)
  • Prime (6;5;7;33rd/32nd)
  • Rowboat (9;7;5;30th/41st)
  • Simpatico (4;4;2;38th/34th)
  • Triplica (4;3;2;34th/33rd)
    Family Strategy ("German") Games
  • Fish Stix (5;6;4;20th/22nd)
  • Gems of Virtues (8;7;7;9th/3rd)
    Abstract Strategy Games -- Pure Abstract
  • Arimaa (10;6;6;4th/9th)
  • Cannonball Colony (7;8;6;10th/6th)
  • Octatrix (8;1;1;49th/49th)
  • Pentago Multi-Player (8;6;9;15th/14th)
  • Rapid 4 More (7;4;3;13th/8th)
  • Zenith (7;5;7;18th/15th)
    Abstract Strategy Games -- Luck or Hidden Information
  • Be FOUR You Know (5;5;2;42nd/37th)
  • *Dizios (6;8;9;6th/2nd)
  • Kachina (9;7;8;2nd/12th)
  • Tri-Cross (7;4;6;41th/36th)
    One Player Games
  • AnimaLogic (2;5;4;17th/40th)
  • Cobra Cubes (2;6;5;28rd/43th)
  • Crazy Cheese Puzzle (1;3;2;47th/47th)
  • Dig It (2;6;7;26th/35th)
  • Mirrorkal Escher Puzzle (3;6;5;23rd/23rd)
    Games With Original Themes
  • Agreed (2;2;1;35th/48th)
  • *Forbidden Island (7;9;10;16th/4th)
  • Rory's Story Cubes (9;1;1;40th/42nd)
  • Dizios -- Mensa Select® Winner

    (search on Board Game Geek)

    small pic of *Dizios in play small pic of *Dizios in play

    • Replay Value (1-10): 6
    • Fun Factor (1-10): 8
    • Worth Buying (1-10): 9
    • MMG Popularity Rank (out of 49): 6th/2nd
    A simple tile-matching game. Each piece is a square, mathematically equivalent to a 2x2 piece where each cell is one of four colors. Players have a "hand" of tiles, and take turns putting a tile onto the board (subject to edge-matching constraints) and drawing a new tile into their hand. Tiles have dots on them that roughly correspond to how likely it is for another tile to match with them, and you score points based on the number of dots on the tiles touching the tile you just placed (but the number of dots on the tile you just placed itself doesn't affect your score). The game comes with a starting tile and a complete set of 70 tiles where all combinations are represented.

    A very simple game in theory but very well-execited. Each tile has a Photoshop "twirl" effect in the center of the tile, which creates a unique look that distinguishes the game but without detracting from actual gameplay. The tiles are made of high-quality die-cut cardboard and are pleasing to hold. The gameplay itself is simple enough for a child to understand, but with just enough strategy for an adult to not get bored. I didn't expect to find the game particularly remarkable, but I was pleasantly surprised.


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    By Wei-Hwa Huang