Game Review: Frog Juice

Frog Juice is a card game made by Gamewright. We have owned it for about a year now and it continues to get regular play. Recommended age is 8-12, but if your child has a good memory or is playing with someone else who can read, I think this game is wonderful for the 5-7 crowd as well. You need to be able to read the spell cards so you know which ingredients to add to your spell. However, there are only a handful of spells so last year my 4yo (not reading) was able to remember most of them, or ask for help from his brother or me. The math portion only goes up to 12, so it is not too cumbersome for your K or 1st grade students.

Image from Amazon

How does it work? You can collect ingredient cards by summing. For example, to collect to "Fair Maid" card above (number 12), you could combine a 7 and a 5 card, or a 9, 2, and 1 card from your hand and collect it from the center. You can also use a 12 card to pick up cards that sum to 12 from the center. In the end, you don't add the face value, but just count the number of ingredient cards you have. There are also fifteen power cards, which are worth one point each. If you get a witch card, you get to sweep up all the cards in the center!

When I first read the instructions, I thought it would be difficult to learn how to play. However, it really is straightforward and after playing through once your kids will remember how to play again in the future. This is one of those games that is helpful to play as you read the instructions for the first time. For classroom use I would suggest purchasing two sets of this game. The deck works best for two players, and well for three, but for four or more I suggest using two decks (combined).

In addition to this game being a ton of fun, you will get brought back to your youth occasionally when this happens:

I know you are glad the Spin Doctors are in your head. You're welcome.

Skills practiced: Math, reading, strategy
Mama Rating:4/5
Kid Rating:3.5/5