LEGO Creationary is labeled for ages 7 - 12, but this game is really fun for all ages. LegoBoy (who is 6) loves to play this game, as do adults. The object is to guess what a player is building. This game, and
Harry Potter Hogwarts, are our two favorite LEGO games.
Unlike other LEGO games, there's not much setup to this one. You just have to sort the pieces however you want into the organizing tray which is provided. There are 96 cards divided into 3 difficulty levels which show pictures of different things to build, arranged into catergories. There are 4 different recommended styles of play, described below:
One builder: The builder rolls the die and selects a card at whatever difficulty she chooses. Everyone else tries to guess what the builder is building. One point is awarded to the correct guesser and to the builder.
One guesser: The guesser rolls the die and everyone else acts as builders, choosing a card at an appropriate difficulty level. The guesser tries to guess what each builder is building. One point is awarded for each correct guess and to the builder of that model.
Team play: One person rolls the die. On each team, one person acts as the builder, and the rest of the team tries to guess what is being built.
Collaborative play. One person rolls the die. One person is the builder, the rest are all trying to guess what is being built. Play continues for a set time limit. After a model is identified, the next player becomes the builder and play continues. The goal is to see how many builds can be correctly identified in a certain time period.
There are a limited number of pieces and not many specialized parts. Some may find this frustrating, but for our family it just adds to the challenge. You have to be really creative and resourceful, particularly when several people are building at the same time all from the same pool of pieces. Of course, there's nothing to stop you from adding pieces from your own LEGO collection to the game if you really are frustrated by the piece assortment that it comes with. Some may even want to go as far as buy the game multiple times so each builder has the same set of blocks to use.
As for the difficulty levels, most of the builds are in fact challenging given the limited supply of pieces. There are cards for the Eiffel tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which younger builders may not know the name of. From our experience with our 6-year-old, it's still possible to play. He can look at the picture on the card and build it, even if he doesn't know what to call it. With a little flexibility on the part of the players, this isn't a problem.
It's really entertaining to watch adults play the game, particularly those who haven't touched LEGOs in awhile. We played it at a birthday party, and everyone who wasn't playing ended up gathering around the table anyway. It was fun to watch as well as play. We also sometimes use the game without really playing it - we just choose a category and build & guess without keeping score.
This game inspires a lot of creativity because you have to use only what you are given. Those who are easily frustrated may not find this game entertaining, but our family loves it. It would be nice if LEGO would create expansion packs for the game, with new cards and maybe even new categories.
If you want to view demos of the game or read a pdf of the instructions, you can follow this
link.