We are always looking for games and activities that are educational, but still fun for our children to play with. Kanoodle easily fits that billing and has been a great addition to our game collection.
I first came aware of Kanoodle after my 7-year-old son said we need should buy it for him after he had been playing it at an after-school function. We decided to take his advice and it actually became a fantastic stocking stuffer for Christmas! It would also make a great smaller birthday present.
If you haven’t ever heard of this game before, check out this detailed Kanoodle Game Review so you can see why we like it so much and what our personal experiences have been with it!
Quick Kanoodle Review and Overview
Kanoodle is an educational puzzle game that is produced by the company Educational Insights. The best way to describe the game is it is a 2-D and 3-D puzzle game.
When you purchase the game, you are going to get a hard plastic black case that stores all the pieces and is also the actual game board. Inside the case is 12 differently shaped puzzle pieces. There is also a little booklet that includes 200 different puzzles for you to solve.
How you play is very simple. You remove the pieces out of the case and look at the booklet. The booklet will have different puzzle choices based on the difficulty you want to play. You arrange the pieces in the pattern the book says based on the puzzle you are playing, and your goal is to fill in all the remaining pieces into the open slots to fit all 12 pieces back into the case/gameboard. If you can fit all the pieces back into the gameboard, you beat that puzzle!
This game is rated for children 8 to 108 – but my 4-and 7-year-old love to play this game. The nice thing is this game has different difficulty levels, really making it easy for children of all ages to play. For example, here are your skill level puzzles:
- Pro – The book helps you place 11-pieces into the puzzle; you have one remaining piece to place.
- Super Pro – The book helps you place 10-pieces into the puzzle; you have two remaining pieces to place.
- Champ – The book helps you place 9-pieces into the puzzle; you have three remaining pieces to place.
- Whiz – The book helps you place 8-pieces into the puzzle; you have four remaining pieces to place.
- Expert – The book helps you place 7-pieces into the puzzle; you have five remaining pieces to place.
- Genius – The book helps you place 6-pieces into the puzzle; you have six remaining pieces to place.
- 3-D Puzzles – There are also three different difficulties of 3-D puzzles in the book!
And I’m not going to lie, I have spent a lot of time beating some of those genius puzzles. They are fun enough and challenging enough that even adults should have some fun with this one!
As your child grows up, those more challenging puzzles should become fun for them, and they can start from the beginning and work their way up!
Overall, it really is a great puzzle game that is both educational and helps develop some independent play time. The rules are also so simple, and the puzzle book is so easy to follow, that kids will get them as soon as you explain it to them.
A Complete List of all the Kanoodle Games
Kanoodle has become such a popular game that there are more variations to it than just the traditional Kanoodle game we reviewed above. They all follow the same type of rules and have the same type of 2-D and 3-D puzzles to solve. Here are some of those options:
- Kanoodle Extreme – Over 300 puzzles!
- Kanoodle Genius – 7-piece Puzzle Game with 202 puzzles!
- Kanoodle Jr. – 6-piece puzzle game with 60+ puzzles. Recommend for children 4-7.
- Kanoodle Duplexity – Puzzle game with 28-pieces and 200 puzzles to solve.
- Kanoodle Gravity – 10-piece puzzle game with 40 puzzles.
- Kanoodle Head to Head – 16-piece puzzle game with 80 puzzles – in a head to head 2 player format!
- Kanoodle Cosmic – 12 puzzle pieces (6 symmetrical & 6 asymmetrical) and 200 puzzles.
- Kanoodle Flip – 3 game pieces with over 100 puzzles.
Between all of these great Kanoodle options, we think you are going to find a board game that you really like!
Final Thoughts and Other Links of Interest
Because of how educational Kanoodle is, and how Kanoodle really helps encourage independent playtime, we are going to give it a gold star rating. Add to the facts that my children love playing the game – you got yourself a real winner here.
If you are always on the hunt for some new board games, we would encourage you to check out this list of some of the popular options in our household.
- Dog Man Attack of the Fleas Board Game Review
- Bluey Bingo’s Bingo Game
- Super Mario Brothers Trump Match Game
We are always adding new board games to our review list, so check back from time to time if you ever need some new toy ideas!