Jumbo, Stratego – Original, Strategy Board Game

If you played Stratego as a kid, this original board game is a great way to revisit those memories and create new ones with your own kids.

Stratego is a great choice if you are looking for a strategy board game that’s simple enough for kids to play but also offers a good amount of challenge. It’s a 2-player game you can play with your child or have your kids play together.

Stratego Board Game Review

What Are You Buying?

1. 2-Player Family Board Game

You can play Stratego at whatever level of complexity you want, making it a great family game ideal for kids as young as 8 (though some parents say 6 and 7 years olds are also able to quickly get a hang of it).

Younger kids and new players can play it in a more straightforward style, while teens and adults can execute more complicated strategies. The game is just as fun and challenging for an 8 year old as it is for an adult.

2. Strategy-based Board Game

If you or your kids love games like chess where winning depends on strategy, not luck, then Stratego is a good choice.

It is a wargame where the goal is capturing the flag of the opposing army. There are 40 pieces, each with different rankings and abilities. Each player must plan their tactics for attacking the enemy pieces, while at the same time trying to read the other player’s tactics.

Winning at Stratego requires bluffing, a bit of mind-reading, long-term thinking, and lots of confidence. It’s the perfect board game if you want a good mental challenge for your family.

3. Easy to Learn Rules

Many strategy board games tend to have rules that are more difficult to master than the game itself. Stratego is nothing like that. Despite having 40 pieces per player, rules are simple, brief, and straightforward.

One reason for this simplicity is that winning or losing moves are based on the rank of the pieces, which is a number that’s printed on each piece. When one piece attacks another, the highest rank wins and the lower ranked piece is taken off the table. It’s as simple as that.

There are only four special pieces: bomb, miner, spy, and marshall, so it’s easy to remember the special rules that apply to them.

Most kids are able to learn the rules quickly and play the game comfortably after 1-2 rounds.

How Fun Is Stratego?

The combination of easy to learn rules, strategy-based gameplay, and the ability to play at any level of mastery makes Stratego one of the most fun board games to play.

It’s designed such that each game doesn’t last too long that it gets boring. The average length of a game session is 30-45 minutes.

The fun is all in the tactics and strategy. The fact that you can’t see the rank of your opponent’s pieces adds an element of tension. When you attack, you have no idea whether it’s a winning or losing move. You could take out a lower-ranked piece or find yourself going against a higher-ranked piece or one of the six bombs, in which case your piece is taken out of the game.

Once you’ve mastered Stratego, you could try one of the many variations online to add a new twist to the game. One of my favourite variations is the option of ‘rescuing’ one of your lost pieces by adding it back to the board when you reach certain squares.

What Accessories Are Included?

The kit includes:

• A game board.
• 2 packs of 40 pre-printed game pieces.
• A screen that’s used to hide each half of the board when you are setting up pieces.
• 2 Sorting trays.
• A storage box.

Pros

• Easy to learn rules.
• Fun and challenging to play.
• Great for older kids (8+) and adults.
• High quality pieces.

Cons

• Numbers on the pieces are too small.

Anything Else You Should Know?

In addition to the ‘rescue’ variation I mentioned, a couple other popular variations to the classic rules are Silent Defense and Aggressor Advantage.

In Silent Defense, only the attacker reveals the rank of their piece. The defender declares whether they’ve won or lost, meaning the attacker doesn’t know which piece they’ve taken out or been taken out by. This allows players to hide their strategy more effectively.

In Aggressor Advantage, when two similar-ranked pieces fight, the attacker wins. In the classic rules, if neutral players battle, both go out. This variation rewards an attacking strategy.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a board game that’s simple to learn, fun to play, and challenging to both kids and adults, Stratego is probably one of the best around.

Where To Buy?

• Amazon UK: > CLICK TO CHECK TODAY’S PRICE