This month the Blogger Boardgame Club have sent us Set from Asmodee to review. Suitable for 1 or more players aged 6+, this is a fast-paced card game which really challenges your visual perception. Stay alert and you might have a chance of winning...


Inside the box are the instructions and the pack of 81 cards. Each card has 1, 2 or 3 symbols, in green, red or purple. Each symbol is clear, partly shaded or fully shaded, and each card has symbols that are ovals, squiggles or diamonds. No 2 cards are the same.

Inflata Nation is a group of indoor inflatable theme parks and the Manchester venue is the original. The UK’s first permanent indoor inflatable theme park was launched by a local husband and wife team and they already have 4 sites in the North West and the Midlands.


We were invited to Inflata Nation in Manchester to review and we booked our visit for last Saturday afternoon. An indoor inflatable theme park is unlike anything I've ever been to before and the Manchester site is inside a huge warehouse at Trafford Park.

Parking was a bit ad hoc. There is a large car park, but arriving on a Saturday afternoon we weren't exactly surprised to find it full. There's more on street parking, so we weren't far away.

Independent Toy Manufacturer Emmerse Studios have sent us 2 of their new Quirk! Card Game packs to take a look at. Suitable for up to 6 players aged 5+, Quirk! promises to be a very different sort of game which is funny and easy to play, and accepts you for being totally odd. In fact they encourage it...


We've been sent Original Quirk! and Quirk! Legends to review. Each pack contains Instructions and 56 Cards including:
39 Character Cards (13 different characters).
7 Tactic Cards
7 Skip Cards
3 Defence Cards


This is an ideal travel game as everything is contained within the pack of cards. The aim of the game is to collect Quirks. A Quirk is a group of 3 matching Character Cards. The person with the most Quirks at the end is the winner.

This week my 8 and 10 year old boys were in for a REAL treat. Rollplay have sent us the 12 Volt rechargable Nighthawk Ride-On to review and it's been a massive hit here! Very different to anything we've ever owned before and with a full 1 hour battery life, this is the stuff of your childhood dreams...


There really is no assembly, your ride-on arrives in a huge box and needs 12 hours to charge fully, stick in the flag at the back for visibility and you are ready to go. Ours is the 'Black' model, which has a lot of red too. White is also available.


The box has the Nighthawk, flag, power supply charge adapter cable with UK and European adaptors, plus instructions.

Fortnite Battle Royale is a very popular game here and has been played by most of us at some point, although I can't say I've had more than a try! The talk of the playground, what every player aims for is to be the final character left on the map from the 100 who start.

Carlton's Fortnite Battle Royale Ultimate Winner's Guide is released on 1st November and is designed to give you hints, skills and tips to help you stay safe from the storm and earn the coveted title of Winner. We've been sent a copy to review and it's my youngest son who has taken a good look at this one...


Fortnite has age guidance of 12+ and my younger children do play under my supervision. Full of illustrations and simple to follow diagrams and instructions, Fortnite Battle Royale Ultimate Winner's Guide is a full colour guidebook. My son sat and flipped through for ages before he settled on what to read first...

Brick Or Treat is an annual event at the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre at October half term leading to Halloween. Running until November 4th this year, we were given free entry and it was such a good visit that it would be rude not to tell you about it.


Brick Or Treat this year includes a pumpkin patch where you can add your own creation, a ‘Scarevenger’ hunt, spooky stop motion animation, Halloween character meet and greet, scarily themed mini land and until they run out, limited edition pop-badges and factory bricks!

Not only that but each paying adult can take one child who is dressed in Halloween costume with them for free!

This half term in the lead up to Halloween, Sea Life at the Trafford Centre in Manchester (like several other Sea Life venues) has been transformed into the 'Ascarium'. From 20th October to 4th November you can take part in special activities to celebrate Halloween....


As well as all of the permanent exhibits, there are lots of special displays and activities for visitors to discover, highlighting some of the spooky creatures that lurk beneath the waves. There's also a special challenge to find the missing magic ingredients around the centre to help the Sea witch cast her spell and claim your reward!

The Chameleon is another game from Big Potato which is aimed at more grown up members of the family. Suitable for 3-8 players aged 14+ (although younger players can join in, see below), this is a family party game which we found hilarious. The answers can be brilliant.... and so random.


Packaging is great, with only a plastic wrapper to discard. The box is beautiful quality. Inside the box are 2 packs (green and blue) of Code Cards each with a Chameleon Card, larger green Topic Cards, a huge 'make your own' Blank Topic Card, 2 Dice and 1 dry-wipe marker, plus the rules.


There is no set up time and the rules are simple, so you can play straightaway once you've opened the box. The cards are all shiny coated, so they are okay to draw on with whiteboard/drywipe marker and they'll last you a lifetime.

Digital Kids Show will be back for it's third year this November, bigger and better, and in a brand new location! This year it will be taking place at Manchester Central, which is much easier to get to if you don't have a car. The event runs over the weekend of 10th and 11th November and we'll be there again as guests to review!


My boys are the sort of kids who carry Funko Pop! drinks bottles and wear retro t-shirts. They're huge fans of anything digital, so they are very happy that we'll be going back. The show covers just about anything tech, gadget, game or internet related which is child-safe and kid-friendly.

I love Digital Kids Show because I feel like a 'kid in a sweet shop' with all of the STEM toys, games and tech on offer. It's always so much fun and I get to see a hint of some of the independent toys which will be coming up next year...

Your Full Day Ticket includes all this (and more to be announced)!


It's nice to see something especially for the grown ups this year. Personally I'm a huge Clint Boon fan, I won't be wearing my 1990 Inspiral Carpets Cool As Heck T-shirt though...

There are going to be 11 different zones and here's a taste of what you'll find...


The Greatest Show! - The live stage with a host of stars including original Minecraft legend iBallisticSquid, Amy Lee, The Wizard, Kiddyzuzaa, AshDubh, Speedy, SB737, DJ Clint Boon, Little Fix, DragonHat, BinOfTrash, Flax and aerial circus and dance artists, Zu Aeriel, and more....

Our latest toy review is Spy Code - Operation: Escape Room from Yulu Toys. Sent to us for review by Smyths Toy Superstore, it's suitable for 2-6 players aged 6+. This is a really brilliant game and we love playing it, the boys laugh and watching them running about frantically is great fun...


The box is sturdy and great for storage between uses. There are plastic bags protecting parts in transit, but unwrapping is almost instant. Minimal assembly is required before first play, which looks daunting at first, but is straightforward and only takes 5 minutes.


The game is played by two players at a time over 4 different parts. The concept is that one player is locked up and it's up to another to rescue them by solving the puzzles dotted around the room and collecting the keys locked inside. The final key stops the timer and releases the trapped player.