Pictureka!

My kids often bug me to play games with them and most board games, well, leave me bored. The problem is most of them require a pretty lengthy playing time, something I'm too impatient to sit through. So when we discovered the card version of Monopoly, it became popular in our household cos one game usually takes only a few minutes and you can play several rounds.

For Andre's birthday, Lesley-Anne bought him Pictureka by Hasbro, the card version of the board game.

There are 4 ways to play this game but we only like to play it one way.

You take a mission card which has a choice of 2 "missions" (see picture below) and try to complete either one by matching it with 3 cards. The first to complete 4 missions wins.

What's fun is that it is very open to interpretation and depends on whether the other players will accept your rationale. Andre, especially, will try to talk his way into having his mission accepted, no matter how absurd.

In fact, I can almost hear his brain ticking when I see him looking at his cards with a gleam in his eye and mischievous grin. "Get ready," I'd warn Lesley-Anne, "he's going to bedek his way out."

For example, when he got the mission "Something sporty", his choices were:

"A golfer..."

"A boxer..."

"... and a sporty guy who's sleeping!"

In another game, he drew "Something hot". He offered:

"The sun is hot..."

"This is a hot dog..."

"... and the caveman is HAWT!!"

Not to be outdone, Lesley-Anne got "Something with wings" and tried:

"The fairy has wings..."

"The parrot has wings..."

(Pause) "Red Bull gives you wings??"

We're tough opponents, we don't usually buy what the other is selling. But we always end up laughing a lot and really, can you ask for anything more in a simple card game? I also like that it's small and handy to cart around. We'll probably pack it along when we go on our year-end holiday.

Sold at most department stores and Popular bookstores for $9.90 each.