Chinese Checkers and Dominoes from Jaques of London

Last week we were lucky enough to be gifted some games from Jaques of London. We love playing games as a family and we chose Chinese Checkers/Go Bang and Dominoes to review.

I can’t believe that this is the first time I’ve heard of Jaques of London, they have been making qualities games and toys since 1795 and the company has always been family run.  Jaques have been responsible for inventing many well known games, such as Croquet, Ping Pong, Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, Tiddley Winks, The Staunton Chess Set, Happy Families, Snap and many more.

You only have to browse their website to see what wonderful toys they produce, there is something for anyone of any age. Imagination and fun has no limits.

I had my Little Man choose what he would like to review and we looked at toys for older children. After much consideration he chose Chinese Checkers/ Go Bang and Nine Dot Dominoes.

The first thing that impressed us both was the lovely packaging. Each game was packed with care and looked amazing. They would make a perfect gift.

Chinese Checkers/ Go Bang

Chinese Checkers/Go Bang is a Double sided game with two sets of game pieces. You get a solid wood board with a gloss varnish finish. The game pieces are solid wood which have been hand carved by craftsmen. Even my children could tell that these are quality games and I’m sure they are going to last a very long time.

My Little Man wanted to play straight away so we roped in his big brother and the three of us played a few games. The game is simple, you have to move your coloured pieces to the opposite side. You don’t have to capture anyone else’s pieces, and no pieces are removed from the board during play. The rules of moving are that you can move one piece on space, but you can jump directly over another piece. We’d not played before but my eldest soon worked out that you can arrange your pieces to jump right across the board in one turn! It became competitive very quickly. It’s a great simple game for all ages and abilities, we played with two adults and a child and everyone had the same chance of winning. We hadn’t played before but picked up the rules quickly and started using strategies on the second game.

The board was sturdy and didn’t move around and the pieces slotted into the holes perfectly. It is truly a lovely board to play with.

The other side of the board was Go Bang and the rules were rather more complicated. Each game is provided with a detailed sheet of how to play but sometimes you have to learn as you go along. I’m sure we’ll get the hang of Go Bang with practice.

Nine Dot Dominoes

I’ve played dominoes many times before but this is the first time I’ve played Nine Dot Dominoes

Again we were impressed with the quality of the product. The dominoes are hand painted and have a brass pin in the middle. You get a total of 55 dominoes and they come in a box with a sliding lid.

Dominoes is a game for all ages and we have all been having a go. My daughter and her friend were playing for ages over the weekend. It’s one of those games that will last forever, and even when the children have left home I’ll be able to play with my husband.

Jacques of London

If you are looking for indoor games then you will be happy with a browse around Jacques of London website. You can find games for all ages and abilities, and every item is such good quality. They are so well presented they would make perfect gifts. I already have my eye on a few things that I would like. I have two little great nephews that would love some of the toys, like the shape sorters and puzzles. The prices are great for the quality that you get, with some toys starting at under £10!

I am already writing my list for my children, even though they are older they still love games and I would love to get them learning Backgammon (they already know how to play chess.) I also have my eye on some of the single player games like Solitaire and Shut the Box. And I’d love to replace our plastic Mastermind with missing pieces with their wooden Mind Genius.

What’s your favourite family board game?

We were gifted the two games from Jaques of London in return for our honest review of them. You can read my Privacy and Disclosure Policy here.