The Scrambled States of America is based on a book of the same name by Laurie Keller. It involves making geography fun for young children through a story in which the states get mixed up and need to be put back in order. You don't need to know the story to enjoy the game, however.

The games involves two decks of cards - a state deck and a "scramble" deck. Players bring states "home" by following instructions on the "scramble" deck. These instructions involve things like: the state's color, letters or words found in the nickname, states that border that state and how many syllables in the capital. There are two levels of play. For younger children, anyone with a state matching the instructions on the "scramble" deck gets to bring that state "home." Older children can play a fast-paced version in which the first one to find a qualifying state gets to bring it "home."

The illustrations are a little "goofy" (each state is drawn with a face on it), but we found that our four children capable of playing (in our case, ages 5 1/2 through 12) enjoyed the game very much at their appropriate levels. I think the children practice valuable skills - searching for states on their maps, identifying attributes and learning about syllables (to name just a few).

You know it's a good game when children and adults both enjoy playing it!!!