This cooperative table game allows players to explore a fantasy world using a smart device.
We recently had the chance to check out Kids Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stones, a table game from Lucky Duck Games, the company behind titles like Tasty Tasty Monster Belly and Chronicles of Crime.
What is Kid Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stones? What is this game about?
Designed by David Cicurel, Kids Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stones is a cooperative table game for 1-4 players with a recommended age of 7+. The game combines the use of a game board and real cards with a mobile application that can be downloaded for free on iOS and Android devices.
In Kids Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stones, players will become apprentice magicians and explore a fantasy world on a quest to find four missing moon rocks. The game features five different scenarios, or stories, to complete, which players must experience in a set order.
Any game of Kids Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stones has an expected running time of 30-45 minutes, although this time can vary widely depending on how many scenarios you decide to complete in a single session.
How do you play this game?
Kids Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stones contains a double-sided game board and two decks of cards. One side of the board represents the Summer Kingdom, while the other side represents the Winter Kingdom. Each side of the board contains multiple locations that players can visit during each scenario, as well as spaces intended to hold the game’s cards.
There are two types of cards: character cards and item cards. Character Cards contain the characters and creatures that players can interact with throughout the game, while Item Cards contain items that players can discover and take with them on their quest.
The game board and cards feature QR codes that can be scanned with the camera on a smartphone or tablet. Depending on their progress in the current scenario, scanning a QR code can allow players to travel to a different location, talk to a specific character, use a specific item, and so on.
Players are guided through each scenario by the game’s mobile application. There’s a lot to read here, so younger players may need help following the game’s story.
As players visit different locations on the game board, the application displays 360 images of these locations on the screen. A player can hold the device in their hands and move in a physical circle in the real world to view the entire in-game environment. As players explore these environments, they are encouraged to search for characters/creatures and items that also appear on the game’s maps.
Once players explore an environment using the application, the app will tell them how many important items and/or characters they needed to find. When players have seen the correct number of items, they can scan the corresponding cards to advance the story. If not, they have the opportunity to look at the environment again.
As players discover new characters and items to work with, they must scan cards in the correct order to advance the story. For example, they have to scan ingredients (item cards) to make a potion, or travel to a specific area on the game board to talk to a specific character. If players ever need help figuring out what to do next, they can talk to their cat buddy Nils, who will give them an idea on how to proceed.
Is this game fun to play?
we loved Kids Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stones. The game encourages players to think critically and reason deductively to figure out which card to scan next, and the stories are very entertaining.
If we have one complaint about the game, it’s that it’s not replayable. That is, once you’ve completed all the stories, you won’t have any reason to play them again. However, the game is still a lot of fun to experience the first time.
Is there anything else parents should know about this game?
If you have your smartphone or tablet in a case that obscures the camera on the back of the device, you may want to take the device out of the case to make the game easier to play (for example, we have our iPad Pro in a folio-like case that covers the rear camera by default). When removing the device from the case, children should be encouraged to use the device with extra care while playing the game.
What is the final verdict?
Kids Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stones is a very enjoyable table game that even adults can enjoy. We strongly recommend that you pick it up.
Kids Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stones is available for $24.99 on the Lucky Duck Games website and other retailers.
Disclosure: Receive SuperParent Kids Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stones for hedging purposes.
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