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I’d normally start my reviews with a little bit of waffle about something spuriously related to the game in question. But on this occasion I’ve got nothing! Never been camping, never needed to survive in the wilderness, never needed to create a heat source by rubbing two sticks together. Having three kids I do however, have plenty of experience lighting birthday candles – somewhere over 200 (yes I did the maths) so really I’m just like Bear Grylls…
Luckily you don’t need to be a survival expert like me to play this game as it has nothing to do with being in the wild, and everything to do with having a steady hand and keeping any wobble risks away from the playing space! I was lucky enough to be gifted the tiny tinned Tinderblox for my birthday and it did not disappoint! Tinderblox is a dinky dexterity game designed by Rob Sparks…. no really, I kid you not! - sparks and tinder, this game better be fire!
Watch the sparks fly
Tinderblox is all about using a tiny pair of tweezers to stack wooden blocks on top of previously placed (often precariously) blocks without causing any of them to fall. Quite simply, if they fall, then you fail and you are out of the game! You’ll start by setting up the game and choosing a side on the ‘campfire card’ and placing the required amount of log blocks as shown on it. Each player takes turns to reveal a card which tells them what formation of blocks must be placed on the fire, the catch here is you must create the combination featured on the card before transferring it to the campfire.
Sounds super simple, and I’m not gonna lie the idea behind the game is, but somehow the execution is so much more difficult. Sometimes you have to stack a long cuboid on its end, or use your non dominant hand as the viable space in the fire is rapidly running out!
Add fuel to the fire
A game of Tinderblox plays through super quick – like super super quick, but once it’s over you’ll be eager to set up for another round, and why not when it’s so easy to pick up and play but devilish to master. This could easily be pulled out at a games night as a quick little filler or indeed as an any type of occasion filler.
Because it comes in a tiny tin rather than a box it makes it so much more transportable and sturdy for chucking in your bag if you go somewhere. You could sneak in a quick game while you’re out and waiting for a meal, or at a hospital appointment or even stuck in a traffic jam - although that last one provides its own jeopardy if the traffic starts to move!
Reminds me of men at work, but on a much smaller scale, it’s all about the stacking of the cubes, (which happen to be ever so slightly different in width to the logs, very devilish) and having to use the tweezers to manoeuvre them adds a surprisingly difficult element. Somehow the blocks can slightly shift and before you know it, you’ve dropped cube shaped embers everywhere!
Don’t ember-es yourself
Tinderblox is recommended for 2 to 6 players, but you could probably play with more, or even in teams, in fact in teams you could bring in all kinds of house rules. Bring back a team member if the opposition drops a red ember, or perhaps if a piece is successfully placed with non-dominant hand, that team member gets a second go? Theres so much flex to be had with this game.
You’d be surprised how much discussion about rules happens with this simple game, there has been some contention in our household about correct tweezer usage and many times I’ve been accused of squeezing them ‘illegally’ Apparently I hold them too far down and not directly on the grips, now
while there is no guidance in the rules for this, I do see how this could benefit me, so house rule now in place - I mean, if I remember…
We also once played a very tense game where we very nearly used every card and block, at which point I actually discovered we were one log short of being able to complete every card (should we ever be that skilful!) Luckily the publishers of Tinderblox, Alley Cat, have a great website with lots frequently asked questions and a section for missing parts. I was able to fill in the web form and within a week or two a little replacement log landed on my doorstep which was excellent customer service!
People say good things come in small packages and I’m often inclined to agree – obviously being 5’1 has nothing to do with that… In short (some pun intended) Tinderblox is pretty great, it’s great fun and a brilliantly transportable time killer game.
