I Saw It First! OCEAN, illustrations by Caroline Selmes
illustrations by Caroline Selmes
I Saw It First! OCEAN (and JUNGLE) is a brilliant, beautiful game from a publisher that consistently puts out beautiful, wonderfully designed, quality books, games and puzzles for kids (along with stunning books for adults focusing on the creative arts). In fact, I love everything they do so much that I created a label just for them: Laurence King. A game that does not require players know how to read, this was by far the most popular game in my school library, played by students from first through sixth grade. It sets up and cleans up fast, too!
Six triangle pieces fit together to make a (double sided!) hexagon populated by three hundred ocean creatures! Selmes carefully engineered the game board to include familiar ocean creatures like the blue whale, sockeye salmon and the clown fish and lesser known sea life like the water bear (also known as a tardigrade), barreleye and horse-eye jack. Taking turns, players pick a counter from the box (which folds down easily to fit back in the box) and place it in the middle of the board. The first person to spot the creature on the counter first points to it. You can make up your own rules from there - players can keep their pieces, with first to collect 5 (10, 20, 100) pieces wins. Or you can play just to play - it's equally fun. My favorite way to play is to have a book (or website) on hand to look up the sea creatures on each token and learn more about them.
However you choose to play, I guarantee you (especially as someone who loathes most kid games) you will have a great time AND you will appreciate the design of this game and all that comes with it.
