It’s time for little princesses and princess to put their devices down, roll up their sleeves, and get moving to protect their castle.
Action Princesses, from The Haywire Group, is a charming cooperative game where players must work together to defend their high tower from the dragon that took it over.
Setting up the game is super simple, so players can get their game started right away. The game comes with the castle that goes in the center; five character pawns; 15 moat cards that form a circle around the castle; 40 path cards split up between players to create a path to the moat; and die.
The youngest player goes first (an advantage I always reap the benefits from!) to roll the die and move the number of spaces shown towards the castle. As players land on their path pieces, they must flip the card over and perform that action, which features all kinds of pretend play ranging from conducting an orchestra to flying around the room like a bumblebee. Some of my favorite cards were the active cards, such as running in place for 10 seconds, doing a crab walk around the room, and doing a Hula dance—although I did not appreciate getting the push-up card ????. Every turn requires players to get up and perform the silly action before they can roll again.
As players make their way down their path, they will eventually hit the moat. The moat cards include more action cards, where all players must do a fun challenge together; a key and a sword, which are both necessary to defeat the dragon; and three dragon cards. Action cards include everyone forming a conga line and dancing around the room, twirling around like tornadoes for 10 seconds, and a a quick round of “I Spy.”
If players find a sword card and a key card, then the dragon has been defeated! Slaaaay princesses! However, If three dragon cards turn up before both of they key and sword cards do, then the game is over. But, don’t stop there! Players can mix up all the cards, reset them, and play again. Best of all, every single piece fits inside of the main castle component, so it all packs up very compactly for storage.
Our main motto in our office is that, “Teamwork makes the dream work,” and we are all princesses (and princes) here, so I suspect someone might be spying on us to make the perfect game just for us.
This game is recommended for kids ages 5 and up, but I also encourage kids younger than that to get in on the fun. I can guarantee you that everyone will have as much genuine, laugh-out-loud fun as I did while playing!
