Disclosure

The more I travel, the better I get at it. I remember how I used to go to conventions, having packed only a few hours before. Most of my preparation time was spent making sure I had remembered everything required for work, and I knew there would be little free time to worry about. At the time I only had to be concerned with getting myself and a couple employees to our destination on time. Things changed when the kids came along.

Not only were we packing for four, having toddlers in tow meant bringing what seemed like their entire toy and stuffed animal collection. I swear I paid countless times because we were over the baggage weight limits due to way too many sippy cups and hardback books. Thankfully those have been traded in for iPads and headphones.

We’ve never been ones to fully plan out our entire vacation itinerary, knowing full well there will be plan changes and weather interruptions. Thanks to our love of playing games as a family, we travel fully prepared for almost any type of inclement weather. No, not with umbrellas and raincoats, but with board and card games to pass the time as we wait for the system to pass. We were fully prepared during our summer vacation to Washington D.C., and just this past week while we sunned ourselves in Jamaica!

We learned from our last trip and came prepared for the rain with Passport Game Studios' Voodoo Mania! Even better since our trip was to Jamaica! - SahmReviews.com

Not just any old travel game that would fit into our suitcase, we made sure our game choice fit the theme of our getaway! Since we were headed to Jamaica, an island experiencing a resurgence in the practice of Obeah (a belief system with similarities to Haiti’s Voodoo), we carefully selected Passport Game StudiosVoodoo Mania to be our bad-weather backup plan!

And as we feared…it rained.

While Nicole was away in a conference seminar, the girls and I chose to break out Voodoo Mania and ‘chill’ on a covered patio. It was still 80+ degrees out and we couldn’t justify holing up in the hotel room. The buffet area wouldn’t be open for a couple more hours and the tables were perfect for an impromptu round of cards!

We learned from our last trip and came prepared for the rain with Passport Game Studios' Voodoo Mania! Even better since our trip was to Jamaica! - SahmReviews.com

Designed for 2-6 players and recommended for ages 7+, Voodoo Mania is simply comprised of a deck of 91 ingredient cards and six legend (player help) cards. This is another one of those games where quick wit and physical speed is necessary as every player plays at the same time.

One ingredient card is placed in the middle of the play area and the rest of the deck is dealt out evenly to all players (with any extras being returned to the box). On each card there are four items of four colors. Your job is to figure out which color and item is missing and play a card with that colored item on it. To make things a little more difficult, the cards are double-sided.

We learned from our last trip and came prepared for the rain with Passport Game Studios' Voodoo Mania! Even better since our trip was to Jamaica! - SahmReviews.com

Each player always has a hand of three cards to work from, discarding one to the bottom of their stack if they cannot find a match, and drawing a new one. When you find a match, lay it down on top of the center pile and call out the color and item you are claiming. Then everyone must look at this new card, figure out what is missing and try to match it!

We learned from our last trip and came prepared for the rain with Passport Game Studios' Voodoo Mania! Even better since our trip was to Jamaica! - SahmReviews.com

You can also try to play a card that has the exact color and item missing from its face. If successful, call out “Voodoo Mania” and all other players must draw a card from the bottom of the center stack and add it to the bottom of their pile. It’s a great way to punish those players who get off to an early lead!

We learned from our last trip and came prepared for the rain with Passport Game Studios' Voodoo Mania! Even better since our trip was to Jamaica! - SahmReviews.com

Voodoo Mania is played over three rounds. Each round ends when one player plays all of the cards from their hand and stack, with the other players receiving points for every leftover card in their possession. At the end of three rounds the player with the lowest total score is the overall winner!

A pretty good value for around $10 on Amazon and should probably be separated from the box if you’re planning on taking it with you when travelling. Super easy to teach and one of the more frustrating speed games we’ve played, you can expect your kids to have an advantage over our older minds.

Be sure to check out Passport Game Studios‘ entire game lineup on their website and pay close attention to their Facebook and Twitter feeds – I know they have some very exciting things in the works!

What game(s) do you like to take with you when you travel?

12 thoughts on “Voodoo Mania Card Game Overview

  1. We always pack games in our suitcase as well! Sometimes in case of bad weather and sometimes we just need to relax after a busy day. Thanks for sharing about this game!

  2. I love the peculiar games like this. We have quite a few at our house, like Gloom, and Guillotine (which I believe I heard about from this blog) and they are easily the most fun.

    It’s really a blast to play a game where the kids can play too, especially when it’s unique nature makes passerby stop and watch because of the kind of game it is.

    If you’ve steered me right before, I know you’ll do so now with VooDoo Mania!

    1. Thanks Brett! I’ve tried Gloom once at a convention and didn’t wrap my head around the instructions well enough to enjoy it. Voodoo Mania is certainly another one where the kids have an advantage – my old brain just cannot keep up with them! Can’t beat it at that price either!

  3. Interesting. It makes me think of Spot It. We already have Spot It and we don’t play games enough to get similar ones but knowing it is out there allows me to consider getting it for someone else that enjoys Spot It.

  4. I love the connection you did between your travels and the games you play! What a way to bring it all home. I want to get better at ubiting us and playing games. Thanks for the example!

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