If you normally sit there, shouting answers at the TV during quiz shows or happen to be a master of memory, then Junior Tension, and its non-kids version Tension, is a great game for you and your younger children.
Specifically aimed at 6+ and with simpler prompts than its 8+, family-focused Tension, Junior Tension has players form into teams and take turns guessing 10 items within a category before a timer runs out. It’s very much a family-focused game, and you’ll likely be skipping some of the categories regardless of which age group you fall-under, as — as with all trivia-style games — there’s no perfect cross-section of media or knowledge between two six year olds, let alone a six year old and a seventy-four year old.
That said, Junior Tension is incredibly fun and accessible. It’s also very tactile. While the players who are guessing are kept engaged by, well, having to guess 10 things within a category before time runs out, the players who are collecting the answers have a cool little tracker to manage. The tracker fits the current category card in the middle and then has ten little rails which can be pushed in from either side to move them to cover green, or red, markings on the tracker. It’s an easy and effective way of keeping score, one that’s easily reset and that’s also satisfying to click between the options.
In addition to the tracker, category decks and the hourglass, Junior Tension also comes with a board, die and counters, as there’s a simple points tracker to slide your way around for the win. There are Snakes & Ladders style icons on there which tricker a dice roll (moving you back, or forward, to the colour you roll) which adds a little bit of an equaliser when it works in your favour, however, the tracker itself is pretty straightforward — albeit, certainly better than nothing.
Aside from some of the categories being a bit tricky, and so some house-rules likely having to be put in place, Junior Tension is a perfectly serviceable family game. I don’t think that anybody actively declares trivia games their favourite games, however they do serve as a great equaliser, an easy boredom solve, and a great way to get family members to interact with each other at gatherings — Junior Tension is a great add to the library if you’re looking for any of those.
Junior Tension is available now from Amazon.
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