That's Z's story, anyway. Lately for some reason she has been afraid of dinosaurs (like, nightly nightmares afraid) and seems to see sharks as her protectors. She has a shark stuffed animal she got at her recent kids' birthday party as a parting gift from the museum staff and sleeps with it sometimes.

Gamewright's Chomp, a simple battle card game that is at its most fun with several players, combines the alluring fearsomeness of sharks with the concept of a simple food chain. Big fish, little fish, plankton, and more are played as each player plays a card from their blind hand, and the first player to slap a creature who has something to eat gets everything that creature can eat. Sharks are at the top of the food chain. Electric eels are the wild card, just like in Jacques Cousteau.


If this food chain had been a food web, this game would have been much less fun. As it is, the slap-happy routine proves a basic rule of card games: If you're going to play cards with kids, physicality is the great equalizer.


The littlest card shark. Whoops, it's card sharp. There goes that pun.

Gamewright claims this game is for kids ages 6 to 8. Z had this game down pretty well at four, and hey, she's smart, but I think the issue really is Gamewright's underestimation of kids, or of parents' willingness to help train them up. I'd go with 6 to 8 if you are looking for a game that you can throw on the table in front of a group of kids and say, "Here."


Gamewright did a nice job with the graphics - they're sort of cute and rounded but also a little mysterious. Especially that ferocious-looking shark.

You can get Chomp for $10 on Amazon.com. We'll donate ours to a place where kids can sit around and play it.