New games take their turn

Move over, Chutes 'n Ladders. Step aside, Pictionary. Old-time favorites are getting a gentle nudge from new board games that incorporate some cool ideas not found in the standard fare.

The games category has made significant gains—across the board—over the past two years, as families opt for more quiet get-togethers in light of troubling times. Affordable entertainment close to home has marked a huge resurgence in the category with notable entries in preschool, trivia and party games that reinforce math skills, delve into history and even dabble with sculpting dough—all while providing the necessary fun factor.

Classics like Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly will never miss a beat, but right now these new games are making winning moves.

Bring the jungle into the living room with Measuring Monkeys! from Learning Resources, a board game that kids ages five and older are bound to go ape over—and learn how to read a ruler while they're at it. Players twirl the spinner to move their monkey up the 18-inch tree in ¼-inch, ½-inch, ¾-inch and one-inch increments. But be careful not to drop the banana or the player's monkey slides down to the bottom. Make it to the top of the tree to be the first to win.

In the case of The Mysterious Medicine Man, Dr. Paine practices medicine on those who can't speak. If he is discovered practicing on anyone who can talk to him, he will lose his license. The doctor is not an M.D., and his patients often make noises to communicate.

Think it's easy to figure out who this doctor is and who his patients are? Not with 30 Second Mysteries for Kids from University Games where time is of the essence. Junior sleuths have a mere half-minute to figure out who dunnit?

To win the game, two teams of two or more players must unravel the riddles and brainteasers to reveal the mystery in 30 seconds or less. 30 Second Mysteries for Kids is recommended for players ages 8 and up.

Ever try to sculpt a wetsuit out of dough? Game creator David Manga gets downright crafty with Conjecture from Outset Media, a new game that uses scented modeling dough for hours of party fun where players express themselves artistically, often with comical creations. The object is to sculpt the dough into a topic identified on one of the more than 270 game cards your teammate can identify before opponents make a correct guess. Conjecture is for teams of two or more players and includes four containers of scented dough, a score pad, clue cards and instruction sheet.

Some adults could probably benefit from Get In Gear from International Playthings/I Play. This game for junior speedsters ages 5 and up lets players "drive" their cars on an ever-changing road, while avoiding such obstacles as glass or rocks on the road, oil slicks or even a cow blocking the thoroughfare. Damage cards drawn keep tabs on maximum speed, gas consumption, brake condition and engine temperature and are marked off on each player's dashboard card. Draw the steering wheel card and be relegated to staying in one lane for the remainder of the race.

No bowling shoes are required when playing Spare-Time from Think Fun, the game that scores like real bowling without the alley. Rolling the 10 "pin" dice in a bowling pin-shaped cup with cover, players can roll a blank to score a strike, a red "O" for a split or go for a second roll for a spare if any pins are left standing. Spare-Time can be scored in two ways: like regular bowling during which spares and strike points are totaled from the next frame, or a modified version during which spare and strike points are totaled in each frame. The person with the highest score after 10 frames wins.

TransAmerica by Rio Grande Games goes back to the 19^th Century's pluck and spirit with a 30-minute board game that has players quickly trying to connect five cities with a network of train tracks. With a game board that depicts America's vast landscape from Boston to Seattle, the game begins with one track laid as a barrier on the scoring track that marks the game's end. The remaining 84 tracks are used throughout the game by all players when building their networks.

Wooden locomotives serve as scoring markers. During a player's turn, one or two tracks must be laid on unoccupied single lanes over flat land, one track on an unoccupied double line as a bridge over a river or as a tunnel through a mountain. The game ends after several rounds when at least one player's locomotive has passed the barrier with the winner securing the most points.

Fact or fiction? 1. President Harry S. Truman had no middle name. 2. No two snowflakes are alike. These are just a few of the trivia questions in Stalefish Labs' new Tall Tales Pocket Edition. Tall Tales differentiates itself from other trivia games by adding a storytelling element. Players are story- tellers when it is their turn and can draw one of three cards: A Tall Tales card has a question and three possible answers that each player has a chance to answer. A Humdinger card has fact or fiction answers. Topper cards have topic statements, such as the worst experience you've ever had on a boat or the strangest thing you've done in front of a mirror. These cards require each player to concoct a story that is voted on by opposing players for its one-upmanship. Each correct answer in the three different categories is worth a point, with the winner reaching 10 points first. (Answers to above: 1. fact; 2. fiction).

Middle-earth and the Hobbits that inhabit the enchanted land have been made child-friendly in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings board game by Eagle Games, a division of Sophisticated Games. Young players are Hobbits who must leave the comforts of Hobbiton and travel over mountains, across rivers and through forests of Middle-earth to Mount Doom to save the land from the Dark Lord Sauron.

New friends will offer help along the journey, and the Ring may sometimes prove to be a detriment rather than a help. The first Hobbit to defeat Sauron wins the game. Unlike the lengthy books, Lord of the Rings game runs 15 to 30 minutes long to keep within the attention span of young children.

Children ages 3 and up have their work cut out for them when playing Orchard, the board game from Haba that encourages cooperation. Players must pick fruit and defeat the brazen raven before it gets its fill. The young farmers each roll the colored dice and pick a fruit of the corresponding color to put in a basket, while placing one piece of the jigsaw into the middle of the game board on the corresponding place. Gathering all the fruit before the ravenous raven jigsaw is complete is a win for all the players.

Proper behavior and civility are alive and well, thanks to the First Edition Etiquette Awareness Plus interactive board game from the company by the same name. More than 600 questions focus on dining environments, proper introductions, wedding and cell phone etiquette and what behavior is acceptable from children at a young age. Correctly answering questions like 'For a formal dinner, how far should a tablecloth hang from the table?' can get players' tokens around the game board and to the finish, if not bumped off by their opponents in the interim. The game is designed not to embarrass anyone, so answers are a group effort.