Monsters are storming your castle! Players work together, using color and shape matching, to capture monsters before they get to the castle. This is the perfect family game for preschoolers (and up!) as they practice turn-taking, strategic teamwork and conversation.

My First Castle Panic encourages players to work together towards a common goal. Monsters move along a path, headed for your castle, in hopes to knock it flat. Players receive cards with shapes and colors to match along the path. If you get a match, then you’ve captured your monster and can [very emphatically] throw them in the dungeon.

On each turn, a player works through a sequence of 4 steps – (1) draw a card, (2) play a card or ask for help from another player, (3) move the monsters either in the dungeon or forward on the path, and (4) draw the next monster token. This sequence alone was great for kids to practice temporal words like first, next, then, and last. These words help children with sharing sequential events and assist with storytelling, which is essential for language development.

The cooperative aspect of the game encouraged conversation and strategic planning amongst players. They strategized as to which monsters would be targeted (typically those closest to the castle!) and how the advancement of the monsters would affect team decisions. Ultimately, players concluded “the more the merrier” as we were much more successful in winning and capturing all the monsters when more players were involved.

Available at Fireside Games, Walmart and Amazon