(You may want to read my review of Squint before reading this one)
When I first played Squint a while ago, I was very pleased by it, since I'm a horrible artist; and this game allowed me to make pictures without having to show this fact to the world (or at least the folks playing the game with me). I enjoyed the game, although in my review I remarked that the game lacked a certain "spark", something that required me to keep playing it. Yet, the game still had a certain charm and was attractive to the younger set, especially teenagers.
As the father of young children, I was certainly pleased to see that Squint Junior (Out of the Box Publishing, 2004 - Deborah Boss) had been released; because the concept of Squint, forming pictures with cards, seemed great for kids, but the words in Squint were often too difficult. I was assuming that Squint Junior would be the same thing, with easier words. I was correct with the guess that the word selection would be lowered, but there were some other critical changes, also.
For one, players now used forty-two TRANSPARENT cards to form pictures from. That's right, I said transparent. The idea of transparent cards isn't new; I've seen them in a few other games, but in Squint, they work supremely. Indeed, I'm actually going to loot them from Squint Jr., to use in the parent game when I play it; I like them that much. A player can place the transparent cards on top of each other to form pictures that are much easier to see than using the opaque ones in the original game. Of course, this makes the game easier, to be sure, but I don't mind.
The cards in the game are also different, coming in a plastic box that acts as a card "viewer", allowing only one player to see the card that is the clue for each turn. The player, under a time limit, must form the word on the card. The card itself actually shows a picture of the object that is the clue, and the player simply needs to find the cards that are necessary to build the object.
As players attempt to guess what the picture is, the builder can answer "yes", "no", or "hot" and "cold". This, coupled with the fact that the cards show the exact way to draw the picture, has led me to believe that OOTB extremely was generous when they said the game was for ages eight and up. My daughter Melody was easily able to play the game at age five; and while as a parent I like to brag about her, she isn't an anomaly - just a typical five year old. The game is certainly geared towards younger kids, and adults will play just to see their enjoyment. If you're playing with a group of teenagers or even upper elementary, you're much better off playing the original Squint.
There is a variation in the rules (which are very nice, by the way), that allows players to simply read the word on the card without looking at the picture. For kids that are nine or above, I would recommend ALWAYS playing with this variant. For the younger set than that - the pictures work just fine.
The components of the game are top notch - not just simply the clue cards. The timer is a really neat piece of work with green metallic paint and black sand; it really looks good on the table. The box is the same long, sturdy, thin box that OOTB always uses.
Is it worth it to get Squint Jr.? If you own Squint, my answer would be yes, because it's worth it just to add the clear cards to the original game. If you have small children, I would also recommend it highly. It's great with young children and will stay on my shelf, simply because it's an excellent game for my daughters to play.
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.tomvasel.com
