Dann Sullivan, Author at Jupiter & Dann ⋆ Page 15 of 23

Mud & Bloom Subscription Box – Four Months On | Review

Posted on August 1, 2020February 26, 2024 by Dann Sullivan

Back at the start of the year, I made a decision that the house would try and do more activities away from screens. There were a lot of reasons why we decided to make a move – the adults of the house both work in games, and work from home, so a lot of our time is spent working in front of monitors, but that is very much a situation we have chosen ourselves. As we work in games we always have something new for the kids to watch or play with, and it’s certainly nice (for me) to have them share a hobby with me. However, they came to expect it, and they came to be very reluctant to move away from the screen. I would suggest we go to play in the garden and be met with grumbles!

So, we took to the road more often, saw more sights. We got a new printer so we could print more stuff off and then… well, Covid-19 happened and all of a sudden there was more time (and we needed the printer) and the way that the day worked changed. We also couldn’t get out to the same places in the same way, uh oh!

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Delton Bags – Dark Grey Canvas Satchel | Review

Posted on July 29, 2020August 27, 2024 by Dann Sullivan

[Ad- gifted product] I’ve had quite a few messenger bags (or satchels, if you will) over the years, due in part to the fact that the best ones can fit a tablet or laptop in them with no issue. They also give ample space for cables, promotional goods and the mass of business cards which I receive whenever I attend an event for work, and all without having to pull the thing off of my back.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, something happened to my previous, trusty bag, and all of a sudden I was in need of a new one. Perfect timing for us to grab a Canvas Satchel bag (from Delton Bags), which we got from the Trendhim site, then, and – as it happens – it is incredibly similar to my previous ones. So no complaints there. Most importantly, the bag had an absolute mass of storage locations. On either side of the bag, there are drink holders which are always welcome when you’re working your way around an event hall – although these don’t tend to see much use if you have a laptop with a 17″ or greater screen.

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7ate9 Family Friendly Game | Review

Posted on July 3, 2020August 27, 2024 by Dann Sullivan

[Ad- gifted product] 7ate9 is the latest one of the Ideal family game collection to be doing the rounds at the house – it’s a fun little card game based around quick maths and hand management. It’s also, like the other recent Ideal games which I’ve written about, got a really cool, compact storage option that comes with it. In 7ate9 the goal is quite simple, as a matter of fact, you just have to get rid of all of your cards before the other players.

Each card is oval-shaped, with a main number printed twice in the middle of it – so it can be seen from upside-down and right-side-up. This number can be from 1 through to 10, with ten. Then, in the corner of each card, there is a plus and minus symbol as well as a number from 1 to 3. Each card is coloured to match this little, top-corner multiplier – useful to remember for quicker play.

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Grabolo! Family Friendly Game | Review

Posted on June 26, 2020August 27, 2024 by Dann Sullivan

[Ad- gifted product] I only recently wrote about the fantastic Slam It! one of the family-friendly tabletop games that Ideal have on the market. Alongside that, there’s been a couple of other Ideal games that have been doing the rounds with the family. The favourite, by far and large, is Grabolo, a game of quick reflexes and memory.

Grabolo is a favourite for a couple of reasons, I’ll get into those reasons in a moment, but let’s talk about what it actually is first. Grabolo is a tub of 36 pieces, an instruction leaflet and two dice. There are six designs for the pieces, and six colours for them too. This means that you’ll have six (for instance) pig pieces, but each one will be a different colour. One die has the colours on, and the other has the shapes on.

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Slam It! Family Friendly Game | Review

Posted on June 17, 2020August 27, 2024 by Dann Sullivan

[Ad- gifted product] There’s a lot of different tabletop games out there now, and more people than ever playing them. Slam It! from Ideal is certainly a bit more Table Top Toy rather than a board game, but it was a welcome addition to the physical games rotation that we’ve set up with the kids this year.

Slam It! has a lot going for it. Much like a lot of Ideal’s current kids range it is designed to be compact, contained and quick to learn. Once the outer packaging is removed Slam It! is reduced to a simple yellow case which clicks open and shut. Within it, there are pre-divided compartments, where you can separate out the cards which are introduced in each of the different difficulty games. Some of these are bombs, others reverse the direction of play and others mean that a turn is skipped. It’s incredibly simple to pick up and play, as simple as Say it, See it, Slam it.

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