Brain Blox - Fun Family Chess Review

A few years ago Caty decided she didn't like chess because of the amount of rules.  I was hesitant about asking Caty to play chess with me when I found out we were getting to review Fun Family Chess from Brain Blox.  During the review period, she decided that she now loves chess and can't wait to take on more challenging chess partners.
Fun Family Chess brings the fun into learning chess.  This game was created for families with members ages 5 and up.  This game introduces those new to chess of all ages to learning the moves and creating strategies of chess.  It offers a specially created color coded learn-as-you-play method.  Plays are not automatically taught to you, but it gives each person time to strategize each move that they make.

Each Fun Family Chess set includes a wooden chess board with velvet lined storage case, wooden chess pieces with two velvet storage bags, a wooden dice, and two sturdy reference cards.  Also included is a card for a two month free Gold membership to chesskid.com.

Fun Family Chess is meant to set you up for success.  The board is clearly labeled for students learning.  Along with the reference cards in the picture above, players really know how pieces move and when.

In the included instruction book, there are brief explanations about various questions you may have about playing the game of chess.  But Brain Blox also gives you access to instructional videos on playing chess.

To start out, you set up the chess board.  We opted to play with the wood dice the first few games.  It gave a new take on chess play.  Caty kept the reference card by the board to make sure she had a place to check herself.  The first few games, this took her guess work out of what piece to play.  Playing this part of Fun Family Chess really helped to build her confidence in playing chess.  

When you roll the die, you are to move the piece that matches the cube.  If you cannot move that piece, then you roll again.

It did get annoying the few times we could not move and had to keep rolling to get a piece that we could move.  But by that time her confidence had built and she had gotten more comfortable with the direction and moving capability of her chess pieces.  She was watching each play that she was making to ensure that she wouldn't lose that piece.  That's when she asked for us to play without the dice and she said she was ready to take on dad (he's the chess player, not me).

Fun Family Chess has been a great addition to our family.  You can use the sturdy, and well built board for not only play with the dice, but also you can play standard chess.  So as you or your student grows in the understanding on how play, they can graduate into higher level chess principles and strategies.  
I really like having access to family friendly how-to videos, instead of needing to search and weed through appropriate videos on youtube.  Fun Family Chess has been super easy to use.  The quality of the board and materials is phenomenal.  It has been a real confidence builder for Caty, and we cannot wait to keep playing.
Other members of the Homeschool Review Crew were given the opportunity to review Fun Family Chess from Brain Blox.  Click on the box below to read how they used this product in their homes with their families.