We Think TENZI’s Tons of Funzi (Review)

I’m back with another Timberdoodle review today. This time, we’re reviewing TENZI, a family friendly dice game that provides hours of fun.

True Story: My husband bought TENZI several years ago when he spotted it in a Children’s Museum gift shop. The game has won all sorts of awards, which my husband found most impressive.

We played it exactly ONE time, then he sent it to Goodwill, because he thought it was too loud.

Granted, with twelve people playing and 120 dice bouncing around all over the table, we did make a bit of racket, but I got the distinct impression that our kids were not only vying to see who could roll the target numbers the fastest. They were also competing to see who could make the most noise doing it.

They’re overachievers, that way.

Problem is, Dad donated the game without first consulting the family — a bad habit of his we’ve been trying to break for years, without success. So we never got a chance to see if we could dial the decibels back a little on our play.

Remembering how disappointed the kids were to discover the game was missing the next time they wanted to play, I jumped at the chance to review TENZI when Timberdoodle offered to send us a new set.

A Few of our Favorite Things about TENZI

A review of what we love about TENZI:

Fun for all ages –

It’s easy enough that little ones can play with little/no help, but challenging enough to be enjoyed by older kids and adults, too.

Expandable sets –

The dice come in enough different color combinations that the entire family can play without using duplicates.

Limitless ways to play –

Endless game variations keep things interesting. The TENZI card deck boasts 77 different ways to play, but you’ll soon be inventing your own, as well.

Builds thinking skills –

Tenzi is so much fun, your kids will never suspect they are learning pattern recognition, strengthening math skills, and improving hand-eye coordination while they play.

Great for a crowd –

No bumping heads trying to get a good glimpse at a game board — TENZI lets you spread out without missing any action.

Easy to pack –

TENZI is compact and completely portable. Tuck it into your suitcase before your next vacation so your kids will have something to do in the hotel room besides watching TV.

Short rounds of play –

Some board games are so involved, it takes hours to play them from start to finish. Not so, TENZI. Each round takes no more than 2-3 minutes, so you can play as little or as much as time allows and always be at a good “stopping place” (if stop you must).

Really, our only complaint about TENZI is the noise issue, but we’ve figured out a couple of workarounds for that.

We were originally using plastic cups to shake and roll the dice, thinking that would make it easier for the kids to keep up with them. It did, but it also made the game about ten times noisier than it needed to be, as we demonstrate in this video:

Dropping the dice from two cupped hands, kept close to the table, cuts down on the noise considerably, as you can see in this clip:

If using cupped hands still seems too loud, try playing on a carpeted floor. Or when Dad isn’t home. Or wearing earplugs. Once the game gets rolling, you’ll be having too much fun to notice the noise. 🙂

Well, that wraps us our review of TENZI. To read more of our Timberdoodle reviews, follow this link: Flanders Family Timberdoodle Reviews