SmartGames Genius Gems

Ten thousand ways to fill a board, and you will get most of them wrong.

Coloured jewel pieces, a shared board, and an opponent racing you to fill it. Genius Gems is the second entry in SmartGames' Genius line and the most straightforwardly competitive of them: no dice, no setup lottery, just the same puzzle in front of both of you and whoever sees it first. The pieces are translucent and pleasant to handle, which matters when you are turning one over for the ninth time.

Five levels, each adding pieces or taking away room, with over 10,000 combinations across them. You can start at the bottom and work up over weeks, or agree on a level and settle it in a single race. The cruelty is that both players can see the whole problem at once, so losing is never bad luck. It is simply someone else being quicker, which is worse.

Perfect for: siblings, and anyone who has ever claimed they would have got there eventually.

1–2 players | 10,000+ combinations across 5 levels | Age 8+