Jumbulaya Game

My Fiance and I love word games, scrabble, boggle, bananagrams, etc. So for our anniversary, I wanted to get him a new word game that we would both enjoy. I looked for a while and after reading the reviews decided on Jumbulaya. It's an ok game, and it is certainly challenging, but it's kind of a slow play, and it is more fun with 3 or 4 people (instead of 2). I'm not sure what would have made this game better, really... a bigger playing surface, less rigid rules, or more variety of ways to win... We don't really rush to play this game, usually just think "oh we haven't played that in a while" so we'll pick it up and try it again. We always end up tweaking the rules of play, and usually move on to something else after about 45 minutes of slow play. It's fun, don't get me wrong, it's just not the next best thing, and you have to be in a concentrating and thinking mood (and not get too caught up in the written rules). Hey, for $11, it's worth having as a variety in our game collection, and you'll probably think that too.

Jumbulaya: 2-4 Players, Ages 13+, Average Play Time = 30-45 MinutesHaving recently reviewed "You've Been Sentenced", I was excited to play yet another educational game that encouraged the kids to expand on their vocabulary. Anything that forces the kids to think whilst prepping them for the future gets an "A+" in my book. The ability to add, trade, and shuffle tiles (and in combinations thereof) on any given word helps to keep a player from getting too stumped. I really appreciate the amount of flexibility that players are given in order to come up with new words.This game reminds me a little of Upwords and Scrabble, though it is unique enough to set itself apart in many ways. Claiming a line with a player marker is a fun mechanic, forcing players to think outside of the box. Swapping out a letter for a letter to turn "cat" into "bat" might be legal, but it's still an easy target to be expanded on. Although, some players may swap out tiles just so that they can gather the letters they need to make a longer word down the line.The components are sturdy and well made. I like how the plastic cover on the board keeps the tiles in check so that I can swivel the board around to face the current player. The rules are also flexible enough to where players can come up with their own variants, making the age limit on the box seem a bit high. My eleven year old, Vinnie, did just fine and I was more than happy to work with him once the words began to get bigger. Parents can adjust the seven letter word requirement to say, five letters, for a shorter, easier game with their young ones. As such, I think the age limit can be lowered to about eight years and up, though parents will have to use their best judgement and coach them when appropriate.Vinnie and I had a blast playing this game. I put the sand timer aside and let him work out words at his own pace and helped him where he needed it. I found that I was able to help him in his spelling at the same time, so from a dad's point of view, everyone ended up being a winner. I highly recommend Jumbulaya as it will appeal to a wide range of people...family, friends, kids, adults, you name it.

Okay game. Lots of rules. Provides a great challenge.

My kids love this game. It challenges them to really think :)

The rules were very restrictive, and required a second reading of the rules after playing it the first time, to verify the playing requirement and strategies. It required a lot of involved thinking to be able to not only create a constant new word, using only two or less letters each turn, but then to discover a JUMBALAYA at the same time. It was a great new game for the holidays. We played with adults.

This is a fantastic, fun game. Yes, it is more difficult than something like words with friends, but so much more fun and challenging.

This game can be frustrating because just when you think you've played an unchangeable word, your opponent comes along and changes it, but that's part of the fun. Great game with unique play.

This game is fun, challenging and can be modified to make it easy on the brain when you're looking for anight of unwinding over something not to brain intense.