Review on Little Detective Memory Game For Kids And Family - Educational Matching Board Card Game With Foldable Mat, Perfect For Preschool Learning Toy For Boys And Girls Ages 3-7, 23 Inches by Justin Larjin

We've been wanting to branch out into different board games. Chutes and Ladders can only be played so often. I was a bit skeptical about this game and I wasn't that sure how it was played, but it really is a lot of fun.There's a felt-type play mat, a stack of cards with three images on each card, a sandglass (small) , 60 detective rings and 4 sets of place markers (4 different colours, 3 in each set).The instruction sheet wasn't that clear but as we played, the rules became easier to understand. There were 3 of us including a 5 year old.We each got 8 cards. Then the youngest player put one card in the centre of the felt board--no peeking before flipping up the card at the last minute. Then the sand glass is turned over for timing purposes.The goal is to find the images on the card. If you find an image, you place one of your detective markers on the spot and get a detective ring (which you place over the marker.)The object is to find all three of the images, with three rings being at stake for each card. Then when all three images are found, it's the next player's turn to flip a card.In my experience, I found 8 cards for ALL three players a bit much. The 5 year old loved the game and finding the images (and it's much harder than it looks, by the way), but 8 cards x 3 players is 24 cards. We cut it down to five each the next time we played.We also stopped using the hourglass. Sometimes we forgot to flip it in the excitement of trying to find the images. Then sometimes when we played, the sand hadn't fully run out and no one wanted to wait for the next round, so we just by passed the sand.I wish the board was a little bigger as we were leaning over it to see images and sometimes this blocked a clear view. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. The 5 year old loved it and the modifications mentioned suited our situation.Plus there's canvas type bag for storage which is really handy.