A roll and move game for 2-6 race car drivers
Playtime: 10-15 minutes
Designer: Jürgen P. Grunau
Publisher: HABA
Rowan loves cars (or vehicles, as he inexplicably calls them. We blame Blippi). He loves to drive them on pretty much any surface he can, including us, the dogs, the cats (who weirdly love it), and little brother (who also loves any and all attention from Rowan). The Disney Pixar Cars movies (ONLY 1 and 3…2 is forbidden) are playing on repeat most Saturday mornings. Actually, obsessed might be a more apt descriptor.
So naturally when we were wandering through a game store with Rowan and told him he could pick a game out (start ‘em young, right?) he picked up Monza, AKA The Race Car Game.
Monza is a simple roll and move game for kids ages 5 and up.
Gameplay Overview
To begin the game, players place their race car on the starting space associated with their color.
Players then roll the 6 dice for movement.
To move, match the color of the die to the space, always moving forward. Lane changes are permitted as long as forward progress is maintained,
The first to cross the finish line wins!
What do we think?
As with most kids games, the age range on Monza isn’t a hard limit. At 3, Rowan still needs help to play, but overall he can hold his own in this very straight forward game. The biggest risk for kiddos under 5 is definitely the size of the pieces. Those tiny, bold colored cars look like something our 8 month old would be determined to try to eat.
In typical HABA fashion, the components are high quality wooden bits and wooden dice. The colors are easily differentiated which makes this a great game for learning different colors. In addition to colors, other learning opportunities in Monza include counting, problem solving, and hand-eye coordination.
Moms Take
We are big fans of HABA games. We love that quality of the components and the skill building that each game offers. And we love being able to share our hobby with our kids…or one kid at this point but the baby watches with mild interest on occasion.
Monza is a fast game, both in play time and set-up and clean up, which is appreciated when it comes to kids games. It plays in about 10 minutes when everyone is in a good mood. We can only play it once or twice in a row though before wanting to stab ourselves in the eyeball with a pencil.
Rowan's Take
Mama: What do you like about the race car game?
Rowan: My favorite is the purple car. I like the wheels best.
Mama: Do you want to be the purple car, then?
Rowan: No, I want to be green ‘cuz it’s my favorite color.
Mama: Is there anything you don’t like?
Rowan: When I fall down. (We believe this may be unrelated to the game)
Rating Breakdown
Rulebook
The rules are simple, easy to understand, and well laid out.
First Play
On our first play, Rowan needed a lot of direction and mostly watched us demonstrate how to play. He did not grasp it during the first play.
Subsequent Plays
As we played more, Rowan started understanding the game more and more. From rolling the dice, matching colors, and physically moving his car. Now after many plays he is able to set the game up and take his turn with minimal direction from us.
Parenting note: It’s hard to watch your kid make sub-optimal plays. We explain the pros and cons of each option (when multiple options are available) but let him make the final decision. Allow your kid the dignity of making a mistake and learning from it.
Gaming Skills (for the budding boardgamer)
- Dice rolling, applying results
- Decision tree (if this, then…)
- Playing Independently
- Intro to planning ahead (if my car ends here, then on the next turn I can…)
Life Skills
- Colors
- Motor Skills
- Taking Turns
- Logic
- Good sportsmanship (winning vs. losing)
- Bonding with friends & family (we’ll just keep this here for every game)