Story Time is back at it, this time with an inventive, playful, and simple way to learn Backgammon. The beauty, ingenuity, excitement, and endless fun packed into a single box blew testers away. To begin, this box is stunning and is reminiscent of how game boxes used to be decades ago. The characters are delightful, and the illustrations are detailed and contemporary with bright, captivating colors. The instructions are extensive yet clear and direct you to first dive into the storybook, where you will find mini-stories that perfectly guide you and your child through a step-by-step process of learning Backgammon in a way that’s a whole lot of fun. It is a steady, guided process to go through the stories and practice with the mini-games, but if you take that time, you’ll achieve success. The board has two sides, so you can try the playful “cartoon” style with ships and pirates or flip it over for more traditional Backgammon. Much appreciated by parent testers is how the creators at Story Time chose to make the pirate a girl, as so many game characters (especially pirates) are boys. Chompus the Great is fun (very similar to King Chomper from the Chess version). Wind the Dragon and Wave the Turtle are adorable sidekicks for each and help young children understand how to move along the Backgammon board. Because Backgammon can be complicated yet doesn’t hold as much complexity as Chess, it can be overlooked. Still, it’s vital for spatial intelligence, critical thinking, variance, and probability. Fortunately, Story Time is bringing the game front and center with this enjoyable storyline. The game itself is of high quality. The board is thick and durable, and the ships are as well. Testers were so impressed that every piece, including the dice and dice barrels, was created and assembled with such detail and quality. With all of the included components and the additional educational advantages of Backgammon, the price is a steal.