A few years ago, I thought I would help out the parents of my gifted and talented students by writing about some games, toys, or books that I thought might make good purchases during the holiday season. I called the series of posts, “Gifts for the Gifted,” and I have continued to do it annually on every Friday in November and December. These gifts are suggestions for any child – not just those who qualify for a GT program. Sometimes I receive a free product for review, but I am not paid for these posts, and I never recommend a product that I wouldn’t buy for my own child. For past “Gifts for the Gifted” posts, you can visit this page.
I found Anaxi at Marbles: the Brain Store when I was hunting for a gift for my 13-year-old daughter. We both love word games, so Anaxi caught my eye with its, “Connecting Words in Surprising Ways” subtitle.
Anaxi is for 2-6 players, ages 8-99. I could actually see it being played in the classroom, especially with my gifted students, with some minor rule adjustments (particularly the time limit).
In the box you will find a 1-minute-timer, instructions, and round, translucent cards in 3 different colors. There are also 2 “base” cards to help you place the colored cards in the correct positions for each round of play.
A round consists of choosing a card of each color, placing them on the base card so they form a Venn diagram, and then trying to name as many people, places, or things that you can which connect overlapping cards. After a minute is up (which I recommend changing to longer time periods if the players are elementary school age), you receive a point for each answer that connects 2 overlapping cards, and 4 points for the ones that connect all 3 cards – but you only receive points for unique answers. If anyone else has the same answer, it is eliminated. You can see a more detailed explanation in the video below.
Anaxi slightly reminds me of Apples to Apples as both games require the players to make connections, and there is opportunity for a lot of creativity. There is also opportunity for a lot of arguing, which you might want to address before you begin a game.
Anaxi would be fun for a family game night – maybe giving adults a one-minute time limit and giving children 5 minutes to level the playing field.
Sounds like a fun game! Reminds me of “Code Names,” which involves teamwork to guess words, given clues that have something to do with 1, 2, 3, or even 4 of the words on the table.
I need to check that out! Thanks!