Mensa Select 2008 Winners

After a marathon game-playing session, members of American Mensa named five new games as Mensa Select®. In alphabetical order, this year's winners are:

• AmuseAmaze – At last a word game with a difference ... where words don't have to be biggest to be best ... where even little words are winners. Race to spell your way through the maze. Use and pick up letters tiles as you go. block opponents and thwart their moves. Published by HL Games.
• Eye Know – It's time to put your visual memory and general knowledge to work. Identify great images and place strategic bets on trivia to build your stack of chips. Challenge your friends and compete to collect the most game chips by identifying images and answering intriguing trivia questions. Published by Wiggles 3D.
• Jumbulaya – Jumbulaya is an addictive, multi-faceted word strategy game in which each player works with five letter tiles on his/her tray and all the letters on the board, rearranging, adding, and trading them, building and claiming longer and longer words each turn. Published by Platypus Games.
• Pixel – Don't let the situation slide out of control in this fun strategy game of slide, point, align and win! Move a slider and place your piece in the intersection. But there's a catch! Only one slider may be moved on each turn. Published by Educational Insights.
• Tiki Topple – Welcome to Tiki Island, home to nine colorful carvings all competing to be the top Polynesian Idol! In this fast-paced strategy game, try to maneuver your secret tikis to the top of the line by playing the right combination of action cards. Published by Gamewright.

Mensa Select winners are chosen annually at the Mensa Mind Games® competition. During the competition, Mensa members play and rate new board and card games. The five games that rate the highest are named Mensa Select and may display the Mensa Select seal on their packaging.

“You don't have to be a genius to enjoy these games - you just have to enjoy a challenge,” said Pam Donahoo, executive director of American Mensa. “This year's winners have earned the Mensa Select seal because they are well-designed, original and, best of all, fun to play!”

This year's Mind Games competition was held in Phoenix, Arizona, with more than 210 players reviewing the 54 game entries. During the event, Mensa members also filled out thousands of comment cards, which will be returned to the manufacturers. Suggestions from the comment cards are often used to improve the games.

Based in Arlington, Texas, American Mensa is an organization open to anyone who scores in the top two percent on an accepted, standardized intelligence test. More information about the organization may be found at www.us.mensa.org. More information about Mind Games may be found at www.mindgames.us.mensa.org.

See Also: Mensa Select winners from previous years.

Mensa Select®, Mensa Mind Games®, and the Mensa Mind Games logo are registered trademarks of American Mensa.

Note: This is an archive post; it was originally published on September 11, 2008.