28 August 2013

Sleeping Queens - Game Review

We were given the fantastic and addictive Sleeping Queens card game by our friends when we looked after their kids a few weeks ago. It's an engaging family game, but equally fun just for 2 players.


And boy has it been played and played and played and played and then played some more. A sign of a great game for me is when kids are playing it over and over every day.

The instructions state that it's for Ages 8 and up but Mylo at age nearly 4 is happily understanding the concepts and even winning his own fair share of games.

The aim of the game is to 'wake up' all the Sleeping Queens, and the player with the most points once the queens have all been woken up is the winner.

Here's the basic rules of how to play:

  • Each player is dealt 5 playing cards and must ensure they have 5 cards in their hand throughout the game, so every time you put down a card you pick another one up
  • The 12 different queens start the game placed face-down on the table. Each queen has a different points value, and some have other special attributes. More on that later.
  • On your turn you play one card. 
  • If you play a king, you can wake up a queen. This then stays face up by you.
  • If you play a knight, you may steal someone else's queen - unless they have a dragon in their hand which prevents the queen being stolen.

  • If you play a sleeping potion, you may return someone else's queen face down back to the middle of the table where it becomes available for anyone else to take in the future - unless the person has a wand in their hand which deflects the sleeping potion.
  • If you play a jester, you may pick up one card. If it is a picture card, you keep this for your next turn. If if is a number card, you count out the number of points around the players starting with yourself. For example, if it is a 4 and you are playing with yourself and 2 others, you would say '1' to yourself, '2' to the next person, '3' to the next person, and then '4' back to yourself. Whoever the number lands on may pick up a queen.
  • If you have number cards in your hand, you may play a single number and draw a new card.
  • If you hold doubles of the same number value, you may play both and draw 2 more cards. 
  • If you can make a sum, you can play as many cards as you wish to make a sum. For example, if you hold a 4, 6 and 10, you may put all three down stating 4+6=10 (or 10-4=6) and then draw three new cards to your hand.


Once the final sleeping queen has been awakened, players count up the value of the queens in front of them, and the player with the highest points wins.

I not only love the uniqueness of this game, but also the beautifully illustrated cards. The Queens are all named something different, i.e. the Rose Queen (special as you can wake another queen straight away if you pick this one up), the Pancake Queen, the Starfish Queen, the Dog Queen, the Cat Queen etc.



The kings are all named differently too - Puzzle King, Chess King, Tie-Dye King etc.

And like the catch-phrase says - it certainly is a 'royally rousing card game'.

This would make a great birthday or Christmas present for a little person in your life and can be found online at stores such as IQ Toys

N.B. I was not paid or given this product to review - the opinions are entirely my own based on the enjoyment our family has had from playing it over and over!

2 comments :

thid coull chick said...

Sounds like a awesome game!! thanks I'll check it out!!

Sophie said...

Oh I'll look out for that one!
Each Christmas we try and buy one game for the family to play and this looks like a fun one!

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