Lifestyle

Game Review: Gnome Sweet Gnome

Today, I’m reviewing the adorable Gnome Sweet Gnome puzzle game from Smart Games.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary game for review from Timberdoodle. All views expressed are my own. 

Gnome Sweet Gnome

Like most other Smart Games, Gnome Sweet Gnome is a single-player puzzle game. It focuses on language, logic, problem-solving, and visual perception. It is recommended for ages three to seven.

What’s Included

Gnome Sweet Gnome includes three painted wooden gnomes of varying heights, three corresponding wooden flowerpots of varying depths, and a spiral-bound challenge book. The gnomes and flowerpots are in primary colors: yellow, red, and blue.

How to Play

The objective is to stack or arrange the gnomes and flowerpots according to the challenge diagrams. There are 48 challenges of progressive difficulty.

For example, the first challenge at the Starter level is to put the yellow gnome in the blue pot. This is perfect for little ones just learning colors and matching skills.

The Junior level requires a little more manual dexterity and involves more pieces and steps: stack the blue gnome on top of the yellow gnome in the red pot.

The Expert level introduces deductive reasoning. It’s nighttime, so we can’t see the color of the gnome in the challenge book, but which gnome has two segments on its body? The red one! Oh, and the yellow flowerpot is turned upside down!

The hardest challenge at the Master level involves all three gnomes and flowerpots. What? You only see two gnomes?

This is a tricky one! The blue gnome is hiding hunkered down inside the yellow flowerpot! There’s a hollow area inside the blue pot for his hat to fit into. (Also, apparently, this challenge was too hard for me even because I see I got the red and yellow pots reversed. If the yellow gnome were sitting in the yellow pot the way he’s supposed to be, you would only see his head and hat, as shown in the diagram. Silly me!)

My Thoughts

Gnome Sweet Gnome is a delightful preschool game that helps children practice a variety of developmental skills. The pieces also lend themselves well to free play, which is always a plus.

The game box is somewhat bulky, but the pieces and the challenge book could easily be tucked in a small zipper bag to take along with you to keep little ones occupied during waiting times, such as at the doctor’s office or a restaurant.

I love that the pieces are wooden rather than plastic. They would hold up to many hours of play and can be passed from one child to the next or even saved for the next generation.

More Reviews

If you’re intrigued by single-player thinking games, check out these other Smart Games I’ve reviewed:

* preschool games

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