If you’ve read any of my game and toy reviews, you know that I love a kids’ activity that is not only fun, but educational. The latest on my list of games worth having, you ask? Fur-Ever Home, The Animal Rescue Game by Petsapalooza. Fur-Ever Home is a great board game that is not only fun to play, but teaches money management, business skills, strategy, and of course, a love for shelter animals.
A Little About Fur-Ever Home, The Animal Rescue Game
Fur-Ever Home is the brain child of Petsapalooza’s CEO, Carianne Burnley. She developed the game out of a life-long love for animals, and a desire to raise awareness about the wonderful animals in our shelters that need to find loving, forever homes. As a mom to two shelter dogs, and a board member and volunteer at The Greater Akron Humane Society in Twinsburg, OH, Carianne knows a lot about the ins and outs of sheltering animals. She also knows how important it is to educate folks on the value of supporting our animal shelters. And, she puts her money where her mouth is: 20 % of Petsapalooza’s profits go to shelters across the U.S.!
Fur-Ever Home, The Animal Rescue Game is a fun, Monopoly-style board game. It’s designed for ages 8 and up, with space for 2-4 players. Many who have played it have commented that it is a bit more challenging than The Game of Life, but easier than Monopoly. I would agree.
Players start the game by choosing one of the four animal shelters to run, and also which dogs and cats they would like to care for in the shelter. The object of the game is to be the first player to earn 15 points placing animals with fur-ever/forever homes without going bankrupt. To add to the adventure, and to bring light to real life situations, animals that are harder to place due to being seniors, or having behavioral issues (that can usually be fixed with a patient owner) earn players more points than easy placements like puppies. Players also have to juggle the costs of running a shelter, needing vet care for the animals, raising funds for the shelter, etc., all while finding homes for the animals in their care.
Our Experience with Fur-Ever Home, The Animal Rescue Game
My girls and I were excited to try this game. We are all animal lovers. We’ve also had two rescue dogs as our family pets. It seemed like a game right up our alley! We were not disappointed. While we took a little longer to play the quick-play version of the game with Lila, my four year old playing, she was able to keep up pretty well with some reading and money help. For our first time playing, I acted as the banker. Future rounds will have Alyssa, my 9 year old at the helm. I love sneaking in a math lesson where ever possible. 🙂
It was fun seeing how attached the girls got to some of the pets “in their care.” It was also neat to see Alyssa catching on to the strategy of the game, and using her noggin to try and be the first to earn the 15 adoption points and win the game! I love that Carianne included some chance to the game as well – when it’s time to adopt out a pet, you must spin a wheel to find out which color-code/point value of animal you must choose. So, much to Alyssa’s chagrin, she couldn’t choose a 3 point dog or cat each time to get to the 15 points faster – it was up to the spinner to decide if she had to pick a 1, 2, or 3 point animal for which to find a home.
I think Fur-Ever Home, The Animal Rescue game would make a great gift for any child 7 or 8 and up. Younger kids can play with a bit of assistance. My girls keep asking for us to play it again, and we plan to do so over the weekend. There’s enough action to keep everyone’s interest, and enough layers of chance and skill to maintain the intrigue during the course of the game. Fur-Ever Home is a game that is fun, educational, and socially conscious–a real winner in my book!
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Buy Fur-Ever Home, The Animal Rescue Game
Fur-Ever Home, The Animal Rescue Game can be purchased on Petsapalooza’s website for $31.99, and Best Friends Animal Society’s on-line store Locally, it can also be found at the My Little Red Wagon store in Hudson, OH.
Win Fur-Ever Home, The Animal Rescue Game (Cl0sed)
Petsapalooza is generously offering a Fur-Ever Home, The Animal Rescue Game to one lucky AOM reader!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on March 12, 2012 when a winner will be drawn at random. I will notify the winners and they will have 36 hours to respond or another winner will be selected!
This was not a paid post. My own opinions were used based on my perceptions and experience. Thank you to Petsapalooza who supplied the products for review and giveaway.
