I work at a book/toy store and am fortunately able to borrow quite a few demo games from them. Which means I get to try a lot of games out without risking money on them. The game Blink is one I've been curious about for a long time, and indeed heard positive things about, so when I saw the demo I snatched it up.

What You Get
~A deck of 60 cards in 6 different symbols (stars, moons, clouds, raindrops, triangles, lightning bolts), representing numbers 1,2,3,4, and 5, and 6 colors (red, blue, yellow, green, brown, and gray).
~A set of rules.
~Instructions on becoming an "Officially Rated Player."

How To Play
Blink is a two player game. Begin by shuffling and dealing all of the cards equally, face down, to both players. Each player then takes the top card from his stack and places it face down in the middle of the playing surface within reach of both players. Next, each player draws the top 3 cards from his stack into his hand and holds them so that he can see them, but his opponent cannot. Finally, each player flips over one of the two cards in the center of the playing surface.

Play now begins. Players simultaneously try to play their cards as quickly as they can onto the upturned cards. In order to play a card, the card must match the top one on the upturned card by color, shape, or number. Players do not take turns, but they may only play one card at a time. As they are playing they continue to draw cards from the top of their pile into their hand, having no more than 3 cards in their hand at any one time. The first player to play all of the cards in both his hand and draw pile wins the game.

Age Range
The age range on the box says for 7 to adult. Really, this game can be played by much younger children. The important thing here is not so much age as a matching of skills between opponents. This is one of those games where the older kid will pretty much always win. Since I buy games mainly to play with my child, it's not real fun for me to have a game where I basically decide who wins by either playing my best, or deliberately playing dumb. Out of the Box does offer a solution to this. They suggest handicapping the game by dealing more cards to the advanced players and fewer cards to the younger players. But this idea doesn't fly with my kid.

Variations
It is possible to play this game with 3 players, but this is lame and the game plays even faster than it does with 2 players only.

What We Like

~It is educational. At the preschool level, this game is effective at teaching colors, counting, sorting, and pattern recognition. At the early elementary level, it helps children hone early math skills and to use them fast.

~It's quick to play when you only have a couple of minutes and need something to do.

~In spite of my own reservations, my 6 year old enjoys it quite a bit.

~Good as a dexterity game for young children.

What We Don't Like

~There is very little strategy involved in playing this game, which means that adults are unlikely to find much enjoyment in it. No strategy = no challenge = boring.

~Should not be played by people of different skill levels.

~The game is so short (30 seconds to 2 minutes maximum) that a great deal more time is spent in shuffling, dealing, and setting up than is spent on playing the actual game.

Final Thoughts
This might be a fun game for perhaps 2 children of around the same age to play, but it's boring for adults to play together, and problematic for players of differing abilities. My son enjoys it, so I'll continue to borrow it occasionally for him, but I'm glad I don't have to pay for it.

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): Free
Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: Other