| User | Rating | Min. Age | Adults Too | Comment |
| smithhemb | 10 | | | Ubongo is a spatial relationship game in which each player races to solve a (different) tangram puzzle before the timer runs out and ahead of as many opponents as possible. Once finished, a player has the chance to snatch a pair of jewels in the time remaining on the clock. The first player to finish has a wider range of choices (determined by pawn movement) than subsequent ones. The game is ultimately won by the person who has collected the most jewels of any single color by the end of a set number of rounds.
The jewel-snatching component takes this game out of the realm of simple puzzle-solving and it helps even the playing field (often the winner is not the person who solved the most puzzles or solved the puzzles fastest). Another crucial feature is that there are two levels of difficulty (3 piece puzzles (easier) and 4 piece puzzles) and different players can be assigned different levels of difficulty in the same round, so handicapping is simple.
Amazing replay value. We've probably played this game over 40 times and no one has tired of it or gotten to the point where they look at a puzzle and remember the answer. Obviously, if spatial relationships or speed games aren't your thing, stay away, but if you find them fun, this is a great game.
Thus far, it's been an import-only (and somewhat hard-to-find) game for Americans, but Z-Man has an edition coming out soon.. |
| cindy | 9 | 10 | Yes | Great family game if you like puzzles. it plays very fast because of the time restrictions. The one caution is that someone that is significantly better a spacial organization can dominate the play. |
| davebo | 8 | 8 | Yes | Fun game. Can be a bit frustrating, perhaps for the young ones you need to give them more time than the timer allows. What is very nice though is the game has an easy and difficult mode by just flipping the game boards over. |
| ef | 8 | 8 | Yes | |
| sandys | 8 | 5 | Yes | We have played this as a family with all my boys, ages 5, 12, and 15. Everyone really enjoys it, including my 5-year-old. In fact, it is one that he will ask for often. I thought it would be too hard for him, but we handicap it by letting him play the easy side of the card and the rest of us play the harder side. He actually very rarely doesn't solve a puzzle and often finishes first or second. A really fun puzzle game. |
| CDRodeffer | 7 | 6 | Yes | Spatial speed games are not my area of expertise, but even so, I have enjoyed Ubongo, and I can see kids enjoying it as well. Imagine doing a jigsaw puzzle against the clock, while next to you another group is doing the same thing, and you'll get the feel of the game. In that respect, it's distantly related to other time pressure spatial games like Perfection / Superfection and the newer Later Mater game based on the Cars movie by Pixar. But it's not a high dexterity speed game like Run Yourself Ragged / Snafu. There's a bit of take that in the game, so it can be frustrating to easily hurt kids if someone takes a gem that intentionally damages their chances. But on the whole, I think kids as young as about six can enjoy Ubongo. The publisher's age floor is probably more related to the safety of the small bits than it is the difficulty of the game itself. |
| Doomfarer | 7 | 7 | Some | The puzzle part is nice but the gem collecting could have been done better. |
| wkusau | 7 | 8 | Yes | The puzzle solving is the most interesting part of the game. However, the gem collecting may help the slower kids at least feel they have a chance. |