Sleeping Queens the Family Card Game has Stood the Test of Time
I’ve written about Sleeping Queens on Dad Suggests 4 times in the past - and all 4 times it was a game list like the best stocking stuffers or the best family card games. But Sleeping Queens has never been given its own featured Game of the Month article before, and that’s a travesty I’d like to rectify today. Not to mention, Sleeping Queens 2 is coming out soon, so it’s high time we showcase the original, and quickly!
Instead of constantly focusing on what’s new in board games, I like to look back on our favorite games of the past too. Just like with picture books, it’s a real shame to forget to enjoy your old favorites with the kids. And I’m glad we’ve never forgotten Sleeping Queens like we have so many other games. There are in fact very few board games that we legitimately return to over and over again as many years pass by and the kids grow up, and Sleeping Queens is one of them.
The game has a fun and memorable history, since it was famously invented by an imaginative 6-year-old named Miranda Evarts back in 2005. And we’ve been playing it in our house since our 9-year-old was very young, perhaps as young as 4. Despite the age recommendation of 8+, we ended up putting it on our list of the best board games for 6-year-olds.
I compiled that particular list years ago with my son in mind, but it just so happens that our daughter is 6 now, and I feel quite vindicated that she is starting to truly fall in love with Sleeping Queens herself. In fact, she just beat me twice in a row just last night. I have to admit, it’s always a beautiful thing when our daughter ages into old games our son grew up playing with us.
And it’s even better when our son still loves them too! That’s as sweet as it gets. I feel like a broken record player, but it’s remarkable how much both our son and daughter (and my wife too!) enjoy the game. It can be rare to agree on anything, but playing this card game is not something we argue about.
What’s So Great About Sleeping Queens?
So what’s the deal with Sleeping Queens that makes people love it so much? After all, it’s one of the most talked about family card games in the world. It’s extremely common for parents with a game collection of any size to talk about how much their kids enjoy this game.
First of all, it’s simple to learn and quick to play. It’s the type of game that you can easily play a few times in one sitting, and, believe me, the kids will ask us to play again. But, the great thing is that we never really mind at all. Especially if they just beat us.
It’s also good for gameschooling, because it has a simple math component involved. You can build an equation with your number cards in order to exchange them. You can also exchange just a single card or a pair, but if you’re able to build a math equation like 3 + 1 = 4, then you can exchange 3 cards in one turn.
However, perhaps the most obvious answer of all is that the art is easy to fall in love with. And the different names of the kings and queens are so fun and engaging. After all, that’s how Miranda Evarts first invented the game - thinking of cute queen ideas like the Pancake Queen, the Rose Queen, and the Cat Queen. And that’s undoubtedly the favorite part of the game for our daughter.
Even I am not immune to the excitement of seeing exactly which queen I will get when I play a king and wake up a sleeping queen. Not only do they all have cute names and personalities, but they also have different point values and even an occasional special power.
There’s lots of luck involved with which cards you draw, and that’s great for family games and getting the youngest involved. But it also features a nice bit of skill, like building the math problems and using special cards at the right time. For instance, you can play a dragon to stop a knight from stealing one of your queens!
As evidenced by the fact that my 6-year-old daughter beat me quite handily twice in a row last night, this is a well-balanced game that can be enjoyed by the entire family. Come to think of it, maybe that’s why both of our kids have enjoyed Sleeping Queens so much throughout the years. Not only is it fun and quirky, but they have probably legitimately felt like equal competitors from a very young age.
How to Play Sleeping Queens
As I mentioned before, the game is quick and simple. There are only a few special cards to memorize, and a few special queen powers to remember. To set up the game, all of the queens are placed face down on the table, and each player receives 5 cards from the deck.
On your turn, you either play a card or exchange cards with the deck - 1 single card, 2 if they’re matching, or 3 if it’s a math problem. But if you choose to play a special card, there are a few different possibilities. Kings wake up 1 queen, which you turn face up and place in front of you. Each queen is different and has a different point value as well.
To win the game all you have to do is be the first to collect 5 queens or 50 points. (And, now that I mention it, collecting queens sounds a lot like something Ice King would do in Adventure Time, and someone definitely needs to make an Adventure Time version of this game.)
Other cards include a knight that steals a queen from someone, and a sleeping potion that puts someone’s queen back to sleep. To counter these cards, there is a dragon to stop the night, and a magic wand to stop the sleeping potion. There is also a jester card that might give you an extra turn or a queen, but it might also give a queen to someone else.
And that’s basically it! The only other little thing to remember is that some of the queens are special. For example, you can’t have both the Dog Queen and the Cat Queen, and the Strawberry Queen can’t be stolen or put to sleep. Basically, just be the first one to collect 5 queens and you win.
My 6-year-old has been playing with her brother and mom a lot recently, and last night she took it upon herself to remind me all of the details I had forgotten, like how many cards you start with and what the dragon and knight do (I thought the dragon stole the queen and the knight stopped him). So it’s safe to say that young kids can’t only master these rules, but also teach them too.
Sleeping Queens has wormed its way into the hearts of families all over the place. With cute, imaginative art and elegant design, it’s earned a spot on a very short list of games. Quite frankly, if someone said they were looking to start buying games for their kids - and most certainly if they specifically mentioned card games - we would recommend Sleeping Queens in our first breath.
Are you Sleeping Queens fans in your house? Who is everyone’s favorite queen? Are you looking forward to Sleeping Queens 2? Let us know in the comments!
