Dress up is a simple card game designed for 5-year-old girls. The game comes with two different ways to play the game, either by matching similar outfits or by scoring the most points, four game layouts, and 43 cards, all in a PDF format for $5.

When looking at a game for 5-year-olds, it is important to understand what they like rather than what a jaded gamer does. The nice thing about Dress Up is that there are some strategic decisions to be made, setbacks to overcome, and goals to pursue without overwhelming the child. Add in different ways to play and there is quite a bit of replayability in the game.

Each article of clothing contains from 1 to 4 symbols on it. If playing the matching rules, the winner is the first person to get a complete ensemble with the same symbol on it. If playing the scoring rules, the winner is the person with the highest number of symbols when the game ends. Each way to play has its own strategy but are similar enough to not cause any difficulty in learning. The game itself does not last very long, anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes depending on which rules are used.

There are also a handful of cards with different actions; such as lose a turn, draw two cards, etc. These action cards come up at random times and must be played when drawn, so there is no strategy with them but they do add some unpredictability to the game.

The art on the cards is adequate. You get a picture of the clothing article, where it fits on the game layout, and the symbols. While the graphics are not very awe inspiring, they do convey what they need to and it is doubtful that the players will mind. The art on the game layouts is much better and more stylistically consistent than that on the cards.

There are a lot of nice features to a game like Dress Up, but one of the best is that since it is in PDF format, you can replace any damaged pieces quickly and easily. It would not take long for a five year old to spill something on a card, tear it, have a younger brother or sister color it, etc. A quick trip to the computer and a replacement set is made. The game is also scalable to younger audiences by leaving out the written cards or changing the rules to simplify them. Finally there is the great parent/child interaction. More than likely, the child has watched Mommy and Daddy playing one of their grown-up games that they could not play. Now they game just like and with Mommy and Daddy. Dress Up is a fun little game that is easily worth its nominal price.