Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Game: A Nostalgic Family Night
There are many common threads that tie together what we like to write about on Dad Suggests. We often talk about the importance of imagination and empathy, for instance, and it’s no secret that I like to take a trip down nostalgia lane every once in a while. So it’s always a great occasion when we get our hands on something that checks many of those boxes all at once - kind of like the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Game.
Mister Rogers was the king of empathy - a man who seemed to know exactly how to talk to kids and how to say just the right thing. His kindness and his sincerity continue to be just what our world needs - perhaps today more than ever - and I get enormous pleasure sharing reruns of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood with the kids.
So imagine my delight when I saw the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Game from Buffalo Games appear on the shelves at my friendly neighborhood Target - a store that has developed a well-deserved reputation for a great board game selection. It seemed like the perfect storm of our interests on Dad Suggests - and of course I knew instantly it was a game I wanted to share with the family.
It turns out that the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Game is a press-your-luck card game where you try to fill your neighborhood with matching sets of popular characters from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. And the designers did a great job weaving the nostalgia into an enjoyable and original game.
You’ll find several sets of numbered cards featuring illustrations of many fan favorites - like Mr. McFeely, Henrietta Pussycat, and Lady Elaine. And more iconic characters like Daniel Striped Tiger, King Friday, and Mister Rogers himself serve as special action cards.
The mechanics of the game involve taking cards from your opponents’ hands, and pressing your luck to draw as many as you can without finding a stoplight. But if you draw a stoplight, you aren’t allowed to place any cards on the table in your “neighborhood” that turn. That’s where you’re trying to be the first to lay down a certain number of matching sets to win the game.
On a normal turn, you draw cards from your opponents without looking. But if you draw Daniel Tiger you actually get to look at someone’s hand and take any card that you want. And drawing King Friday let’s you ask for a specific card - like when you’re playing Go Fish. And there’s even a Trolley card that lets you steal a card that someone has already placed in their neighborhood. But the best special card in the game is undoubtedly the Mister Rogers card.
If you draw a Mister Rogers card, you have to do something special for the person you drew it from. You could say something nice about them, tell them why you love them, or just give them a hug. I absolutely love these moments. I’m personally a big fan of creative rules like these in family games. I think they really add something special - especially when playing with kids. And this rule is most certainly the most Mister Rogers-y thing about the game.
The heart of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood comes from his kindness and empathy, so it’s very fitting to include this element in the game - and it’s particularly fun with siblings playing together and complimenting each other. And it’s a real pleasure to hear our 4-year-old come up with gems like, “I love you because you bring me food when I’m hungry.” She really cuts right to the heart of love, doesn’t she?
The second-most-Mister-Rogers-y thing about the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Game is that it includes a touching and thoughtful thank you note inside the game. There’s no doubt that Mister Rogers had impeccable manners, so it’s very clever and delightful to add this special touch. When we tore open the envelope we found a card with this very fitting quote from Fred Rogers inside:
“It’s the things we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in our lives.”
I had never heard that quote before, but as true believers in the importance of play, imagination, and childhood wonder - we found the inclusion of this message really quite special.
On the box you’ll notice that the recommended age is 10+, but quite honestly I’ve never seen a recommended age so far off before. My wife and I played the game with our daughter before her 4th birthday, and the only problem she really had was holding her cards - a problem easily solved by a cute little plastic card holder for little hands.
Of course she wasn’t fond of the concept of people taking cards from her - particularly if we tried to steal any girls wearing pretty dresses like Queen Sara Saturday or Lady Aberlin - but she got used to it. I’d probably set the recommended age at 6 or 7. After all, it’d be a real shame to have a Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Game and not be able to share it with the little ones.
One adjustment that may be helpful when playing with younger kids is to require less sets to win - or less cards needed for each set. Both adjustments would definitely speed up the game. This of course will either allow for more rounds to be played - or for young attention spans to be rested.
The Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Game really is a remarkable mashup of our interests here on Dad Suggests. Just providing good entertainment for family game night is typically enough to sell me - but throwing a dash of kindness and empathy and a heap of nostalgia on top really fits the bill for us. And the box itself looks like Mister Rogers’ sweater for crying out loud. This one will be living on our family game shelf for a long time.
Do you like to share old episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood with your kids too? Have you played the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Game? Let us know what you think in the comments!
