Gameplay

There are two different ways to play Stratego Junior, but both have the same goal: be the first player to reach the last row on your opponent’s side of the board and retrieve your stolen dinosaur egg!

Stratego Junior comes with:

• One game board
• One six-sided die, with one different type of dinosaur on each side
• 16 purple dinosaurs and 16 orange dinosaurs, each set including:
  • 2 rocks
  • 1 Pterodactyl
  • 4 Parasaurolophus
  • 4 Triceratops
  • 3 Stegosaurus
  • 1 Brontosaurus
  • 1 Tyranosaurus Rex
• 3 purple eggs and 3 orange eggs
  • One stolen egg, one empty nest, and one meteor of each color

Stratego Quest!

Stratego Quest is a memory game where essentially, you roll the die and try to find the matching-colored dinosaur. The six-sided die shows one of the six different dinosaurs. After you roll, select one of your opponent’s dinosaurs and see if it matches the dinosaur on the die. If so, you can remove the dinosaur from the board. If not, put it back in place, but remember where it is so next time, if you roll that dinosaur, you know where it is.

At the onset of the game, you can only pick up dinosaurs in the first row of four. After you remove one of the four, you can pick up the dinosaur behind it. Each time you remove a dinosaur, you unlock a new one that can be uncovered.

Notice there are no rocks on the die. If you run into a rock, you must go around it; it cannot be removed.

If you remove a dinosaur from your opponent’s back row, on your next turn, you can try your luck at picking your stolen egg from one of the three eggs at the back:

• If you choose the egg, you win!
• If you choose the empty nest, put it back in place and try again next turn.
• If you choose the meteor, you must put all of your opponent’s dinosaurs back on the board and start from the very beginning!

Stratego Triumph!

Stratego Triumph is a game of strategy, where you move your dinosaurs around the board, attacking opposing dinosaurs as you attempt to reach the last row of your opponent’s side, so you can rescue your stolen egg.

In this version of the game, the numbers on each of the dinosaurs come into play. The numbers signify their strength, i.e., a T-Rex (6) is stronger than a Brontosaurus (5), which is stronger than a Stegosaurus (4). The Pterodactyl, at #1, is the weakest dinosaur, however, as it is the only dinosaur that can fly, it defeats the T-Rex.

The other special dinosaurs are the Triceratops. While they are not the strongest dinosaurs, they have strong horns and can therefore remove the rocks. If any other dinosaur attacks a rock, it will lose and is removed from the game—you’ll want to be strategic with where you place your rocks, as they can’t be moved.

To begin the game, move any one of your dinosaurs to an open spot. You can move forwards, backwards, and side-to-side, but not diagonally. Moving to an open spot is always an option on your turn, but the other option is to attack an opposing dinosaur:

• If your dinosaur has a higher strength number than the one you attacked is removed from the game and your dinosaur takes its spot.
• If the opposing dinosaur has a higher strength number, your dinosaur is removed from the game, and the opposing dinosaur stays in its spot.
• If the dinosaurs have the same strength number, both dinosaurs are removed from the game.

Once you reach the back row of your opponent’s side, on your next turn, you can try your luck at one of the three eggs:

• If you pick the stolen egg, you win!
• If you pick the empty nest, you can remove it from the board, and during your next turn, you can try again for the stolen egg.
• If you pick the meteor, it is removed from the board and so is your dinosaur. You can try and reach the stolen egg with a different dinosaur, but it must get to the back row first.

History

Stratego Junior is a variation for kids based off of the classic game. Stratego is actually a slightly modified version of an early 20^th century French game called L’Attaque. People have been playing it in Europe since World War II, but it only arrived in the United States in 1961. Jacques Johan Mogendorff has the trademark in the United States, though it was first registered in 1942 in the Netherlands. There it was owned by Hausemann and Hotte, and over the years it has been licensed to Milton Bradley, Hasbro, Barnes & Noble, and Target, though it is now owned by Jumbo Games.

Variations

Stratego Junior itself is a variation of the classic version of Stratego. For more variations, check out my Stratego Classic review here.

Reception & Awards

Stratego Junior is brand new this month! Without a doubt, it will become a staple game for dino-loving and board game-loving kids everywhere. 

You can purchase Stratego Junior on Amazon.