Troublesome Tots was reviewed as part of the Tiny Tome collection!  Check out the Tiny Tome page here for others in the collection and more info on the anthology.

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• Age target
• Mechanics
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Age target: All Ages (some reading + counting to 10 required)

Troublesome Tots is set for some all-ages friendly shenanigans as each player is trying to complete a secret goal.  You roll dice to check your successes (or failures) and introduce some interesting events from the chaos table whenever a low roll comes up.  As long as your players can count up to 10 (or you are OK to help with this part) and can read their secret goal (or you can help them track), you should be able to play!

Mechanics in Troublesome Tots

Collaborative world building

At the start of the game, you create the scenario together – you each go around the table and help color in the surroundings.  For example, in our game, my kid wanted there to be a bag of goldfish crackers somewhere in the room waiting for snack time, then I added a box of musical instruments.  We went back and forth like this to create the scene, and it was a lot of fun!  Throughout the game, more opportunities come up for players to add to the scene as well.  I mention this as a key mechanic because it ended up being an awesome part of the storytelling experience, and it very much helped my kid become invested in the game.

Secret goals

Each player, whether they are a caretaker or a tot, has a secret goal that they are trying to complete over the course of the game.  This means that each player is working on their own agenda… and probably conflicting with some of the other player’s goals.  In our game, the daycare teacher was trying to grab a quick lunch break, but the tot was trying to get to the top shelf of a cabinet to get a big bag of goldfish crackers for an early snack!  With competing goals, we had a very fun time going back and forth trying to nab just enough time to complete our tasks.

Overall thoughts on Troublesome Tots

Troublesome Tots was fun, lighthearted, and easy to pick up.  We enjoyed getting to mess with each other in the game and definitely had some laughs as our characters competed for their lunch and snack privileges!

Links to Troublesome Tots!

You can find the creator, Cameron Frament, here on twitter, and you can find a copy of the game on itch.io!

You can also find Troublesome Tots in the Tiny Tome anthology with 49 other awesome 1-page games.

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