Ta-Da! Dice Game Overview
By now, I think I’ve made it abundantly clear that I love dice games. The randomness of the dice levels the playing field or at least gives me an excuse if I don’t do well. I’m also pretty sure that I’ve not been shy about expressing my feelings about games of speed / dexterity. Yes, I enjoy them; I just never expect to win. Because of their quick reflexes, the girls find favor in any games that intersect these two game genres.
Last year we told you about a game based on the Alice in Wonderland theme: Play Me from Cool Mini or Not. It was a dice game that involved the ability to roll quickly. If you happened to look at the photos, you’ll see I’m laughing and enjoying myself. Winning, not so much. First and foremost, gaming should be about enjoying yourself. Winning is just a bonus.
With that in mind, let me introduce you to another Cool Mini or Not game that I suspected would fall into my category of never-win-but-always-have-fun: Ta-Da! dice game. Much like Play Me, Ta-Da! utilizes a combination of dice and speed. When we first learned about this game, I was pretty sure I would never win. For the record, I HAVE won this game so let this serve as a reminder to never judge a book (or in this case, a game) by its cover!
Wizards are competing before judges to showcase the skills they have learned for the Wizard Talent Show. The game takes place over a series of rounds. At the beginning of each round, players draw Spell Cards until they have two in their hand.
Then a Feat Card is revealed that explains the judges’ restrictions for that particular round. Feat Cards are designed to make the talent show more entertaining for the judges. Some examples include “You must keep one eye covered with your hand at all times” and “Your elbows must touch the table at all times”.
Once the Feat Card has been read aloud, wizards determine which of their two spells they think they’ll be able to successfully cast. That selection is revealed as each wizard reads the title aloud. The second Spell Card remains hidden for possible use in a future round.
Then the magic really begins. Simultaneously, as quickly as they can, wizards begin working to complete their spells. Here’s the catch though. It isn’t like Yahtzee where you roll and scoop up as many dice as you want. Each time the dice are rolled, the wizards may only select one to place on their respective spell card.
The remaining dice are returned to the cup and re-rolled, keeping in mind the Feat Card requirement for the round. This process continues in rapid succession until one wizard yells “Ta-Da!” and slaps their cup on the table to signal the end of the round. That wizard creates a stack of successfully cast spells.
All remaining wizards place their failed spells in a discard pile then everyone draws back up to two spell cards. A new Feat Card is drawn and read aloud for the new round as well. The process continues until one wizard has completed six spells and claims the judges’ approval as victor of the talent show.
With a price tag around $21, Ta-Da! is very affordable on Amazon (or a few bucks more on the CMON website) and accommodates 2-6 people. While the box indicates the age range as 14+, I suspect that’s due to consumer product testing. There isn’t anything graphic or mature in nature and the game logistics are not difficult to understand. In our opinion, it would easily be playable by kids as young as 8.
It’s the time of year that we’ll start seeing magical announcements about their new releases so be sure to follow CMON Games on Twitter and Cool Mini or Not on Facebook for the latest news.
Who do you know that likes wizardry stuff? (Be sure to share this with them so they can come read about Ta-Da!)
Oh. My. Gosh. I need this game! I especially like the Feat cards just to make things interesting.
What’s better is that I can totally imagine what the Wizard talent show would be like, so I have a mental story already going through my head, and I haven’t even played it, yet!
Makes you want to jump on a stage, doesn’t it, Brett? 🙂 The interesting thing about the Feat cards is that they really leveled the playing field. My daughters may have speed and agility on their side, but the Feat cards often helped tip the scales in my favor or at least bridge the gap some!
Yay for wizard games! This looks like a lot of fun for everyone. I like the graphics on the cards, too.
I like how this game gets the players to do hands on activities. That chopstick one might truly be a challenge for me.
I thought the same thing, Carlee, but the chopstick one ended up being the one I did BEST at! Well, at least better than the kids. LOL
My nephew really loves wizardry games. I think he would enjoy this. It’s definitely a good gift idea for when his birthday comes around.
Omg we played this game over the weekend it was tons of fun. I ordered two more today.
Cool, Ranesha! Giving the extras as gifts? Which was your favorite Feat card? I personally really liked the one where you hold the card above the table.
I love the randomness of dice games as well and this Ta Da game looks fun. The feats add the silliness that spark the laughter and when there is laughter, you know you have a good game.
This looks like a lot of fun. Glad you mentioned Yahtzee because I am so addicted to it and frankly, I think I’m the best at it. With that said, I need to try this game. I’m a fan of family game nights and this would be cool.
i haven’t heard of this one. i’ll have to check it out more as it looks really fun.
Any game that adds extra things that the players have to do outside of moving pieces across the board and counting will always create extra laughter in my house. With six of us, that’s a lot of laughter!
We are always looking for more fun games to play. I like that I can purchase it right on Amazon.