Game Review: Not It! The Camping Chaos Edition
Today’s review is for Not It! The Camping Chaos Edition, a camping-themed visual discrimination game for 3-6 players.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary game for review from Timberdoodle. All views expressed are my own.
Camping Chaos
Not It! The Camping Chaos Edition is a fast-paced game of matching elements on the dice to those on the cards in your hand.
What’s Included
Camping Chaos is packaged in a clever game “tent vent tower” game box that is utilized as part of the game.
There are three dice, each featuring unique elements: camping icons (binoculars, compass, map, lantern, hatchet, canteen), colors, and patterns. Thirty-one of the 36 cards feature a combination of the three elements. The other five cards are “Wild Raccoon” cards.
How to Play
Shuffle the 36 cards, then deal 5-8 cards to each player (depending on how many are playing). Place the remaining cards face down in a stack off to the side to form the penalty/discard pile. The youngest player is the Ranger and is in charge of the dice tower and the dice.
The Ranger drops all three dice down the tower, where they tumble out onto the table. Players then race to find one card in their hand that does not have any of the elements on the three dice. As soon they find one, they slap it on the table face up and call out, “Not it!” The Ranger is the judge of who called “Not it!” last. This player is “It” and must return the card he played back to his hand.
The Ranger also checks to see if any cards played do match one or more of the dice. If so, the person who played that card has to turn that card into the Ranger to be set aside for final scoring and take a penalty card. Wild Raccoon cards can be played at any time, but if more than one Wild Raccoon card is played at the same time, both players are penalized.
At the end of the round, the player to the left of the Ranger becomes the new Ranger for the next round.
My Thoughts
Camping Chaos moves quickly. Once a player successfully discards their last card, the game is over. The score is tallied, and the player with the lowest score is the winner. When you want something with short playing time, Camping Chaos is a great choice.
It is recommended for ages 6 and up. Since it involves visual discrimination (no reading) it could easily be adapted for younger children as a matching or cooperative game.
I love the compact, take-along-friendly design of this clever game. And since camping trips are often when we find time to play family games, it’s fun to have a few games that tie in with the wilderness and camping experience. Not It! The Camping Chaos Edition will definitely find a place in our RV cupboard to pull out when there are at least three of us in the mood for a lively game at the picnic table.
More Camping/Wilderness Games and Activities
- Grizzly Gears game review
- Tally-Ho game review
- Ideas for Camping with Kids
