Parents' Guide to Spot It: A Card Game to Challenge Your Friends

Though it puts a different spin on matching games, this game shows that "different" doesn't always mean "interesting" or "engaging." In the game of Spot It, you have a circle with a bunch of icons in it: a cat, a key, and so on. If one of them is the same as one that's in the main circle, simple tap it to match them, earning points. Just don't spend too much time thinking about it, since you're racing against the clock, and your opponent, to earn the most points. Along the way, you'll get help from such characters as Hattori, who changes unwanted symbols into ones you actually need. The thing is, while you're matching these symbols, so is your opponent. Also, if they match an icon that's both in the main circle and your circle, they take yours as well. Thankfully, though, you can do this as well, therefore earning even more points. The problem is that there's very little challenge to this game, but a lot of redundancy: once you've played a couple of rounds, you feel like you've played them all. Sure, your assistants do different things, but none change the game in any significant way -- certainly not enough that you'd want to play this very long, and that's only if you have nothing else to do. Which is why Spot It is ultimately as engaging as matching socks after you've done a bunch of laundry.