Don’t Be A Donkey.

Ahh. Christmas time. Mistletoe and Wine.
Swiftly leading on to family game playing that gets competitive pretty quickly.

I have said many times before that we love playing games in our house but it’s not just us as in the four of us.
Oh no, no. All of my family loves a good game, especially over Christmas.

Boxing Day is spent at our house eating, drinking and playing games.
We have been abandoned this year though so…..
NOT BITTER.

My brothers fiancée is Czech, her English is fantastic but some games are a bit harder for her to play.
I know the answer in Czech, I just can’t think of the translation!

That never works for me…

When they visit we tend to veer toward more action board games, that can be played quickly and with no misunderstanding.

Don’t be a Donkey is one that will make that will make the cut.

For 2-4 players aged 4+ Don’t Be a Donkey is like Happy Families with a twist.

Each player puts on a pair of donkey ears (laid flat) and one less carrot than the number of players is place on the table.
The cards are then dealt out. All players choose a card from their hand and pass to the next player. Keep swapping until someone gets a set of four matching cards. Once you have four matching cards shout ‘DONKEY’ and grab a carrot.

The player without a carrot has to put an ear up. Once you’ve lost three times you become a donkey.

This game is fast paced and fun, there’s very little time for thinking. It gets competitive very quickly.

At 3 Seth is definitely a little too young to play this properly. He doesn’t grasp the concept of swapping cards at speed and just wants to hold a carrot and wear the Donkey mask – it’s the small things.

Aoife is all over it though and the game is straightforward enough that she can explain it to and play it with her friends.

Don’t be a Donkey was also declared best game on ITVs How to Spend Well at Christmas AND the Schofe put it in his top 3. If it’s good enought for the Schofe, it’s good enough for us! (Did I tell you about the time I met him?)

Don’t be a Donkey is available from all good toy stores.
You can follow John Adams on Twitter here  and find Ideal Games Facebook page here.

I was given Don’t be a Donkey for purpose of review. All opinions, as ever, are my own.