Blue Orange Games

Get Your Game On

If you’re tired of TV, sick of surfing the web, and ready to exercise your brain, it might be time to give Blue Orange a try. Don’t worry, we’re not daring you to sample some oddly colored fruit. Blue Orange is a game maker.

Founders Thierry Denoual and Julien Mayot have been developing games together since 2000, when Julien embarked on a 600-stop road trip to introduce their first game to specialty retailers and game enthusiasts across the county. The company name was inspired by surrealist poet Paul Eluard, who wrote “the earth is blue like an orange.”

We’re featuring four of Thierry and Julien’s games: Trigger, Yamslam, Spot it and Sumoku. In Trigger, players strive to be the first to answer true-of-false statements correctly. It’s trickier than it sounds, since you also have to use the correct hand when you’re answering. Yamslam is a dice game that challenges players to roll different combinations, such as five of the same number, or a full house (one pair plus three of a kind), in order to earn points. There are four different ways to play Spot it, which consists of cards with symbols that you try to match. Sumoku is a crossword-style game that can be played solo, in teams or with multiple players. Players work to arrange numbered tiles in rows or columns that add up to multiples of a number shown on the die.

Each of the games is fun, fast-paced, and appeals to all ages. They’re also travel-friendly, so you can take them on a road trip or to a restaurant. You’ll think, you’ll laugh, and you’ll feel a surge of adrenalin when you make a smart play. What more can you ask for?

— Ann

Available for shipment to Canada.

• Trigger: Ages: 8 to Adult 3 to 8 Players; 5.3” x 3” x 5.3” (LxWxH)

• Spot it: Ages: 7 to Adult 2 to 8 Players;  3.8” x 3.8” x 1.8” (LxWxH)

• Yamslam: Ages: 8 to Adult 1 to 4 Players;  1.57” x 9.75” x 9.75” (LxWxH)

• Sumoku: Ages: 9 to adult 1 to 8 players; 4”x 4”x 8” (LxWxH)