Game closet refresher: Doodle Quest challenges grown ups, too

It's not always easy for us to find a game for kids that is doable, yet challenging, and that the entire family can play. What can we say, we have high standards. However cool-game maker Blue Orange's new Doodle Quest is giving my family a run for our money, just in time for us to refresh the game closet as the weather starts to cool. And parents: Don't get too cocky. You may find that this is one game you don't have to pretend to lose. Doodle Quest is easy to start playing, something this impatient mama appreciates since nothing grinds my game-playing mojo to a halt like pages of confusing rules and instructions to read beforehand. In fact, there are only three easy-to-follow steps. And since this is a game that can be played alone, for practice, or with up to four players, it's pretty flexible for days when not everyone feels like playing. To get started, study a colorful ocean-themed scene card for a few moments before drawing an image prompt on a blank transparent sheet.  You might have to draw a path through a group of fish, or circle all the dolphins you see, then put the transparent sheet on top of the scene card to see how well you did. If you've got great hand/eye coordination, this will be a cinch. For the rest of us? Not so easy. Fortunately the scoring instructions are easy--and somewhat forgiving. In fact, with very young kids, I'd forget scoring altogether and just play for the fun of it.       With 18 double-sided Quest cards which vary in difficulty, I know my kids and I will be playing this for a good long while. And since we found the "easy" cards to be plenty challenging, I have a feeling it'll be a while before we can say we've mastered this quest. Doodle Quest by Blue Orange is available for purchase at our affiliate Amazon or your local indie toy store.