Kids•Reviews

Match Madness

Enjoy racing your family to build patterns using blocks in Match Madness!

This game will put your puzzle solving abilities to the test!

How Do You Play Match Madness?

Each player has a set of five blocks. Together everyone decides how many rounds they want to play and places that many pattern cards in the center of the table in a stack.

Players will race to assemble their blocks into the pattern depicted on the card. The first person to successfully recreate the pattern gets to keep the card.

The player with the most cards at the end of the game wins!

What Do We Think?

Match Madness makes me feel like I’m out on the island playing a Survivor challenge!

This is such a simple yet fun game that is great for kids and adults to play together. I love that kids are constantly having to problem solve as they turn blocks around trying to find the correct order to make the pattern on the card. Many blocks have similar pairs and there are sometimes many different ways to match up the blocks to build the pattern.

Match Madness helps players think critically and work to find new ways to build their pattern when their first attempt doesn’t pan out. Building up their determination to persevere is a great skill to develop early on!

One thing I love about Match Madness is that it’s not only fun for players old enough to race each other, but it’s also a great puzzle activity for children who may enjoy a more solo experience.

My son Oliver is 4 and he has a real knack for puzzles and loves working with Match Madness on his own during quiet time. He’s a bit too young to race his siblings and come out on top, but allowing him the opportunity to work through the challenges at his own pace is not only helping him get to that level faster, but it’s so rewarding to see his gears turning as he tries out different blocks to make each pattern!

If you are looking for a great quiet activity, this definitely fits the bill. Since multiple kids can play at the same time, you can give out a stack of cards to each kid and they can all work on their own at their own pace if that is of more interest to them!

Match Madness Extreme – Expansion

The expansion adds a sixth block to the mix. The game comes with a large selection of 60 new cards to work through! Since the sixth block is just a single rather than a double, it creates even a greater challenge for players to work through as their pattern can be arranged in new ways!

While the expansion is fun, it is not necessary as there are plenty of cards in the original game.

The good news is, if you do get the expansion, simply toss out the insert in the original box and all of the bocks and cards will fit inside and save you some shelf space!

Summary

Match Madness is a great puzzle game that helps players develop faster processing and critical thinking skills.

Because of its simple rules, this makes a great game for the home or classroom that kids can confidently play on their own as well as a wonderful solo activity! While great for kids, it’s also fun for the whole family — mom and dad will undoubtably enjoy playing along and racing the kids as well!

While not necessary, the expansion Match Madness Extreme is a great addition to the base game for players looking for an even bigger challenge.

You can find Match Madness and Match Madness Extreme on Amazon!

To find all our top game recommendations, make sure to check out our Amazon Storefront!

Game Info:
Title: Match Madness
1-4 Players Ages 7+
Designer: Jeppe Norsker
Artist: Karl Malepart
Publisher: FoxMind