HCM Kinzel has announced numerous autumn innovations, including puzzle and skill games, but also the first electronic game from the Swabian publisher, which expanded its portfolio in 2015 to include children's games, family games and party games. Just in time for SPIEL.digital, the online offshoot of the International Games Days canceled this year, families and children in particular can look forward to some new releases, including a game that has been nominated for the "Tommi" children's software award.
All publishers are presenting their autumn timetables these days: Numerous new publications come onto the market every year around the SPIEL trade fair, including in 2020 - despite the cancellation of the physical game fair in Essen. Instead, there is a lot of program to join in and watch, which the Friedhelm Merz Verlag on the platform created for this purpose GAME.digital rolls out. The publisher HCM Kinzel, who developed online versions of the games “Box of Rocks” and “Trilos” for the virtual offshoot of the trade fair, will also be there.
HCM Kinzel publishes new games for children and families
Just in time for SPIEL.digital, HCM Kinzel is celebrating something of a premiere: under the title Tap it! the publisher's first electronic game comes onto the market - and the Swabians receive recognition for this. The game has been nominated for the "Tommi" children's software prize and, among other things, has to compete against the Super Mario Lego set prevail to win the award. The winners will be announced on October 17th.
At Tap it! Different game modes are intended to train speed, responsiveness and attention. At its core, it is a movement game in which four wirelessly connected buzzers are distributed around the room and, depending on the rules, must be pressed when certain conditions are triggered. The buzzers can light up in eight different colors, meaning eight players can take part. The new electronic action game offers four game variants: Tap it, Switch, Memo and Pong.
The 8,5 centimeter hemispheres flash depending on the game mode. In the Tap It game mode, you press the buzzer with your own game color as quickly as possible to get the point. But be careful: If the color changes, you should keep your hands off it, otherwise the point goes to the other player.
With Switch, it's "running to the right buzzer" before another player can press their color, because with a "touch down" all colors change. Memo is a classic game in a new form where the challenge is to repeat the order of the buzzers that light up correctly. The fourth game mode, Pong, is a type of table tennis where the ball of light is hit back and forth. It doesn't matter which game you have chosen, after each game round the buzzers show which color was pressed the most.
Another highlight of the game: Thanks to the master buzzer, the game can be expanded by up to 23 additional buzzers and distributed in the room at a distance of up to five meters. The interactive movement game costs around 40 euros.
Box of Rocks: Man vs. Rock Cooperative Trivia Game
Also new from HCM Kinzel is the quiz game Box of Rocks, in which players compete together against "two stones". The basic principle is somewhat reminiscent of the pub quiz from the Moses publishing house. There are 300 questions from different areas: music, art, sport, nature, science or technology, including "useless knowledge". The questions are spread across the 100 enclosed cards. The answers can be found on the backs of the cards – in the classic way for a quiz game.
The special feature is the course of the game: the players draw a card, choose one of the three questions and try to answer it correctly. The highlight: The answer is either 0, 1 or 2. The game is played against two tokens, each of which has a blank side and a marked "1" side. If the box is now shaken and the lid opened, the two stones show one of the numbers 0, 1 or 2. Who gave the correct answer? human or stone? The title of the guessing game can be derived from this process: the round of players competes against the "Box of Rocks". The score is noted with two pawns on a game board.
The quiz game is suitable for players aged twelve and over and costs around 18 euros in stores.
The "Ollyball": Alone against the dishes
Children will be happy, parents will probably throw up their hands over their heads, lock the Ming vases and bring the dishes to safety: With the "Ollyball", HCM Kinzel is bringing the "perfect indoor ball" onto the market, according to the publisher . The toy was one of the winners of the "Toy of the Year 2019" awards in the USA last year.
The prototype for a sporty family shows in the video how you can play with the "Ollyball" - while there are picture frames on the mantelpiece:
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Throwing and kicking, paddling and digging - and that in the apartment. Parents panic when their offspring dribble around the dining table laughing, screaming, cheering. But: Which children don't want that when it's wet and cold outside? asks HCM Kinzel and answers the question himself by offering the "Ollyball". It has a diameter of 32 centimetres, weighs 30 grams and – attention, dear parents – is shock-absorbing.
"With the patented KrunchCOR technology, the impact of the ball is absorbed while maintaining its shape and physical properties," says HCM Kinzel about his fall novelty. "The double-walled ball is also inflatable and its outer shell, which is hand-sewn in the USA, can be colored in with felt-tip pens and colored pencils." The indoor ball costs around 15 euros.
Crazy Cubes: Brain Game for the whole family
Logic and brains are required with Crazy Cubes, a family game that the HCM Kinzel publishing house is rolling out as an autumn novelty at a price of around 30 euros. Crazy Cubes requires a good eye, logical thinking and abstract imagination.
With 20 building blocks and 60 task cards from level one to five, the game promises lasting fun. Behind the game is Jeppe Norsker, a Scandinavian who came up with abstract games while studying architecture at the art academy; some of his ideas were published, such as Match Madness or Bermuda Pirates.
Each player gets a set of five game blocks. Then one of the task cards with easily recognizable symbols is revealed and all players try to copy the pattern at the same time - each with their own set. Different levels of difficulty make the game exciting. Whoever is fastest in reproducing the pattern correctly gets the card. "Totally crazy" is the name of the variant for experts: the higher the selected level, the more points are awarded. But with the risk of taking more time than the others. Giving up is not an option as each task can be completed with the set at hand.
Trilos: Solo puzzle game with 60 tasks
Instead of fun for the group, the puzzle game Trilos offers tricky brain teasers for a single player. Good visual perception is required in order to be able to master the logic of the tasks. Anyone who invests around 20 euros receives a task block with 60 tasks in various levels of difficulty, so that sufficient challenges should be provided in the medium term.
A pattern must be laid with five differently shaped game pieces, each with three differently colored gears depicted - there is always only one correct solution. The aim of the game is to place all the puzzle pieces on the task pattern so that the colors of the gears match the task pattern.
The higher the level, the more difficult it will be to put the gears down properly. If a higher level is played, there are several color variants in the pattern. If you fail and should therefore have sleepless nights: The solutions are included in the game.
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