Anti-Virus (A Timberdoodle Review)

 

Challenge games are the perfect addition to any homeschool bookshelf—or travel kit. This past summer our family traveled to several homeschool conventions. The kids had filled their backpacks with coloring books, printable games, snacks, and small toy cars to keep them entertained in our monstrous 15-passenger vehicle with no CD, DVD, or even tape players. The radio works, but when traveling across state lines, attempting to find a radio station everyone agrees on without exposing the kids to unpleasantries never seems worth it. Even though going in, I knew the car rides were covered (after many years of practice!), I had a different challenge in front of me—keeping the kids entertained at the convention booth for each event.

My kids can only visit the other booths at events so many times—even with my strict rule of only one piece of candy per booth per day. (I do not want my kids to be the annoying ones visiting booths throughout an entire event, wiping all of a company's marketing funds dry!) Plus, most conventions have the rule that kids are to stay with their parents the entire time at an event. I knew I had to have activities, games, or something on hand—especially while I was presenting a workshop and my husband was busy talking to families who stopped by the booth.

That is why, this year, I brought new, never-played-with challenge games for the kids to keep them entertained!

 

One game was Anti-Virus, complete with 60 challenges of varying levels. Perfect for players ages eight and up, I was able to have this on hand for my eight-year-old as we traveled. After a busy day of travel and helping to set up the booth, this was a perfect way for him to unwind, focus, and have fun. 

I was so thankful I brought this game because, as easy as it would have been to hand him a device, I wanted to give him something to do that would not only challenge his mind but also engage his senses. Hands-on games such as Anti-Virus work portions of the brain that video games never will, helping him to gain lifelong skills—all while having a good time.

This game is for all ages; even older children will be challenged, but I appreciate the solutions in the back for younger players. Having the solutions on hand helps the struggling player and gives the player peace of mind as he is working through the challenge—if the challenge is unattainable, he can see where he went wrong using the enclosed book. 

That said, the challenges are set up in a way where they build on one another. Beginning with simpler challenges and slowly increasing in difficulty, players are able to gain confidence early on so they are ready to tackle more difficult challenges as they progress. 

How Does the Game Work?

The goal is to remove the virus!

• Each challenge requires you to slide the red virus off the board through the exit. 
• Game pieces can only slide diagonally.
• You are not allowed to move the pieces horizontally or vertically.
• You are not allowed to rotate the pieces.
• You are allowed to move pieces together as a group. 
• You are allowed to push part of the game piece through the opening to make space.
• You are not allowed to move the white pieces. 
• Once you complete a challenge, move on to the next one!

This game might seem intimidating at first, but once you explain the rules to your child and walk him through the first one or two challenges, he will be well on his way to keeping himself entertained for hours. Once he works through all sixty levels, put it away for a rainy day and bring it out for him to work through again!

Order Anti-Virus from Timberdoodle today!

Disclaimer: Many thanks to Timberdoodle for providing the product above in exchange for an honest review.