Combinations Aplenty in this New Smart Game

Timberdoodle recently sent me a fun new smart game to review. This one is called Combinations. It’s a one player game designed for ages 7 and up.

I got it with a 7-year-old grandson in mind, but his 4-year-old sister took first crack at it, and did surprisingly well.

There point of the game is to combine the contents of two squares to make up what’s in the same color circle (as in the addition problems pictured below).

As you can see, the numbers in the two green boxes (2+2) add up to the number in the green circle (4). Ditto for the blue boxes and circle (5+4-9) and the red shapes, as well (2+5+7).

In the starter puzzles, the numbers are all colored, so it’s just a matter of fitting the matching color pieces around them properly so that the addends are in the squares and the sum in the circle.

Combinations includes 72 challenges in all, and the higher the number of the puzzle, the more difficult the challenge.

I was expecting the entire game to be number based, but I was happily mistaken. The challenges progress from numerals to dice to colors (blue+yellow=green), but they all follow the same rules: the items in the two squares combine to form what’s in the same color circle.

In addition to color combinations, there are also shapes — an upside down triangle might combine with a right side up triangle to form a diamond or a six-pointed star. Or a circle and a triangle could join forces to create a raindrop.

By the time you make it to the “Hard” level, you are back to numerals, only this time the game cards have no empty spaces and include lots of two digit numbers. It’s up to you to determine which numbers can combine to form a useful sum and which numbers should be ignored and covered up by the game pieces.

When the game progressed past the skill level of my 4-year-old granddaughter, my daughter Abby took a turn.

The puzzle she picked combined facial features — hair styles, glasses, beards, hats, earrings, and mustaches — which combined to form various mugshots.

That particular puzzle stumped me momentarily, but Abby was able to solve it in short order. If you or your kids love puzzles that sharpen critical thinking skills as much as we do, you can grab your own copy of Combinations from Timberdoodle as a stand-alone product or as part of their 2024 Ninth Grade Curriculum Kit.

And while you’re on the Timberdoodle website, I’d encourage you to look around. We love everything we’ve ever ordered from this small family-owned company!

Be sure to sign up for their Doodle Dollar program to save on future purchases. And to read more of my Timberdoodle Reviews, follow this link.

PLEASE NOTE: As a member of the Timberdoodle blog team, I routinely receive free or deeply discounted products in exchange for writing honest reviews. Opinions expressed in these posts are 100% my own. I’ve been a happy and enthusiastic Timberdoodle customer for decades — long before I ever started blogging for their company.