 Evaluation Summary - Category Ratings
Category ratings based on scale from 1 to 5 [3] = Meets Passing Criteria [4] = Excellent [5] = Outstanding / Best
( Only scores of 3 or higher are published. )
Product and service final rating is averaged from the sum of all evaluation category scores.
( With a total of 323 evaluation categories, only 6 of the applicable evaluation categories are featured for public view. )
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Critical Skills Development |
Educational Value |
FunFactor™ |
Innovation Level |
Marketability |
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CE Marked | UL Approved | JPMA Certified |  | (Not Applicable) | (Not Applicable) | | | ASTM Compliant | eco-Friendly | eco-Conscious |  | | |
| BPASafe™ (Complies with CPSI EN71) | Soluble Heavy Metals
(Complies with ASTM F963/CPSIA 106) | Mechanical/Physical (Complies with ASTM F963/CPSIA 106) | | | (Not Applicable) | | | Flammability - Solids/Textiles (Complies with 16 CFR 1500.44/CFR 1610) | Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials (Complies with ASTM-4236/16 CFR 1500.14(b)(8) ) | iWatchDog™ Approved (Complies with ICCS™ Certification Standards) | | | |
| UPC | Manufacturer SKU | Age Grading | | | | |
| Manufactured In | Safety Hazard/Warnings | | U.S.A. | Choking Hazzard - Contains smalls pieces |
About The Spoils of Civilization
In my process of building the product evaluation summary for this product, I chose to take a different approach in this first section. The company who submitted the game provided such an outstanding summary of what the the game is all about, I have chosen to use their own words verbatim. I couldn't have possibly shared so well as they have done as you will soon see.
The Spoils of Civilization is a motivational tool used to increase the interest in school work. The game uses a storyline of characters called MERBS which is an acronym for Mathematically Educated Randomized Buyers. You see, Merbs are interested in building a thriving civilization.
The game is played by having students earn money for tasks (homework, classwork, test, quizzes) and then investing that money in a stock market that is used to build an economy in the game. Students must decide which territories to invest in and what is considered a fair market price for the purchase. Throughout the game there are periods of recession and inflation that must be prepared for and anticipated.
The game was designed to be played over the course of an entire year or semester. By playing the game students understand the law of supply and demand, financial investing, how a recession occurs, how inflation occurs, peer-to-peer interaction, mental math, stock trading, settlement trends, and pattern prediction. Also included are instructions for parents who want to play the game as a traditional board game at home. In addition, The game is supplemented with the activity books "Meet the Merbs" and "Merbs Algebra."
More Than Just Another Educational Game
The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization is more than just another educational game which is are often seen in schools today. This is a game which caters to the needs of a classroom curriculum for its students by fulfilling the need for fun and so much more in their education. Children in the age range for which this game is designed, are stimulated to take interest in the game and maintain a fixed interest in it throughout an entire school year.
Now it is important to understand that with The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization, we did not have a full school year in which to evaluate and study the response levels with the children. We were instead forced to take that one year period and crunch it down to a period of four months with the students in three separate classrooms, all within the same school. Having three separate classes of children, we were able to videotape the responses and progression of the classes with the game and make a comparative study of them in our product evaluation.
At the end of the 4 month cycle with the classes using The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization within the school curriculum for "extra study", we had nothing but praise from the teachers and many of the students. One of the teachers expressed in her notes to us, "I had concern that my students would see this game as more for the intellectual student and develop a limited interest, never grasping what they were losing out on. To my surprise, my students promptly allayed my fears and were taken up in the moment of the learning process of this game with strong anticipation and interest each day."
As has happened so often in the past, things proved to be far more than what they seemed. The game box for The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization is of no fanciful design, simple, and rather plain in some aspects, yet to the students, they were seeing things through a different color of lenses than we did at first. The students identified how this game contributed to not just an improvement in their intellectual thinking and reasoning processes but also helped in their building a greater level of self-esteem simultaneously.
 Independent Evaluator Reports
Obtaining An Independent Perspective...
In this section we will cover "The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization " from the perspectives of qualified individuals in the specific field associated with the product being evaluated. To accomplish that task we have called upon the assistance of two top level industry professionals who know their stuff and have the credentials to prove it.
Our professional and independent evaluators have formed their own opinions from extensive analysis and produced detailed, in-depth reports connected with their study and evaluation of "The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization ". The information to follow is comprised of excerpts from those same reports which have been paraphrased so that the information being conveyed by these professionals is more easily read. This approach provides a completely independent perspective in the evaluation of the "The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization ".
PLEASE NOTE: The names of our independent evaluators are not disclosed to protect the privacy of these individuals upon their request. Their labors are provided at no charge to assist us in providing a well-balanced and qualified product evaluation summary. Their title is provided to clarify for our readers the specific type of specialist from which the information provided has been included in each product evaluation summary.
Curriculum Content Developer
Product Submitted: The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization
Classification: Educational Curriculum - Class 1
The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization proved to be a game which is quite divergent from what I would classify as 'educational games' designed for adaptation in public school curriculum. I would venture to say that on the average, most games which are adopted for use in public schools are but a mere recreational activity with a minimal measure of educational benefit retained with the students. This is often due to many teachers / curriculum developers falling short in their vision of the application of a game within their school curriculum.
The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization provides a logical, methodical, and systematic approach to learning which entices a student to not just play the game but learn while doing so. I guess you could say that the dominant factor which gives this game the greatest value is how it fits in as a daily part of the actual classroom curriculum. This enables provision for a the game to become a normal part of a student's life which is embedded into their educational and psychological development.
To add to the already well established value of the game, you have additional add-on games which expand into other realms of learning, including Algebra as well. These add-on games can easily merged into the overall curriculum inclusion of The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization. The volume of the content from this game covers a vast variety of critical thinking tasks and provides an outstanding tool to motivate students to learn like no other i have seen to date.
Although The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization can be used in a semester format, it is my opinion it will serve best in use as part of the active curriculum for the entire school year. By doing so, the game will can be instrumental in all students in the classroom to develop greater skill levels in all aspects of their learning, including personal self-esteem. Best of all, The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization is structured so that it can even be carried over into the home environment.
Behavioral Analyst | Clinical Psychologist, PhD
The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization is the kind of game which I can appreciate far more than many others which I evaluate on a regular basis. With this game I was able to create a study environment which was not rushed to meet a short deadline to create an in-depth report. Over the 4 month period of students interacting with The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization, I was able to monitor the progressive growth of the students on multiple levels both in learning and psychological development.
In working with my associate in our monitoring of the students progression during the study of The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilizacion, we gained an immense wealth of study data which will keep us busy for months after the completion of the study, developing new profiles and information which we can put to use in future educational studies and actual application in the classroom curriculum development.
The evaluation of this game was performed at a public school with participation by the teachers and students in three separate classrooms. Each class incorporated The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization as part of the general curriculum of the classroom study.
According to all three teachers, they found the transition of incorporating the game into the daily studies of the students was quite simple and flawless with no interruption in the regular flow of the students learning process. They did express some concern as to the learning curve with The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilizacion, but after the first few days of the implementation of the game in the course studies, all fears were laid to rest.
What is especially useful with this game is how the structure of the game allows the teachers to transition lessons in and out of other studies with no impedance on a student's performance or response level. The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilizacion creates an atmosphere of fun which encourages the students to anticipate the opportunity to learn from the game play. With several all of the students, their performance levels and attention span increased dramatically not just in the game play, but in other subjects as well."
 Consumer Hands-On Evaluation
Nothing is more powerful than hands-on experience by a consumer with a product when it is being evaluated. Based upon that fact we put every single product we evaluate at the mercy of consumers in a hands-on evaluation where anything goes. Shall we see how The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization was seen with consumers?
Due to the fact that The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization is designed more for the educational curriculum, this posed an interesting challenge for us to see how it would be seen in a public hands-on evaluation which is only a one to two day event on the average.
For The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization we performed consumer hands-on evaluation in a busy public mall in the Las Vegas area, along with 16 other products. Having several products available for consumer evaluation all at once provides a more well balanced and unbiased evaluation of the products. Many of them had two or three copies available to provide a larger base of opportunity for consumer evaluation. I am sure you are eager to see the results from the consumers feedback of The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization.
The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization was not one of the first and most popular products which consumers went to on the tables once we pulled the ropes to the evaluation tables area, but we have to remember, this was just the beginning of the event.
The first challenge for The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization was if the game would draw enough people to sit down and take the time to play the game. It seems that the majority of the consumers who participated in our evaluation were fresh from the intense level of heat outside of the mall. When people saw our area with all of the products on display, it was just too tempting to not visit our area, if for anything else, have an opportunity to sit down, cool off, and relax.
Little did we know that a large number of the women who chose to participate in our hands-on evaluation were teachers from the Clark County school system or other school systems elsewhere in the United States. This proved to be quite advantageous for us. While most of these teachers were busy in our area looking at the various products, a generous number of them caught a glimpse of The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization and chose to sit down with the persons they were with and play the game.
In reviewing the feedback forms which the participants filled out, we found a very interesting statement by one of the teachers who gave very strong details of her impression of the game. "Despite the game being designed more for the 12-14 year age range, both myself and my associates found the game quite interesting saw it as a pleasurable experience to play." That statement validated our own opinions our in-house staff had formed about the game.
Altogether, the results from our feedback forms spoke volumes of praise and proved that the level of FunFactor™ in playing the game was still quite high. The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization proved itself worthy of approval in this segment of our evaluation without any issues or concerns. What this all boils down to is that The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization pulled through this segment of the evaluation with the highest of respect. This is a game which make a difference in those who take the challenge to play it.
 A Sampling Of Category Ratings
A small sampling of the individual category titles & rating
scores from the complete product review itself for
this product are featured here. The categories which have been selected to be
featured in this product evaluation summary for public view, specify some of
the primary points of how and why that specific rating score was reached.
- If a product is inducted, a product evaluation summary of the
complete review is published for public view.
- When a score has been assigned to a category rating, it has been through
a thorough validation process to ensure accuracy and no inflection of bias.
- If a product scores an overall category evaluation
rating average of [2] Two Stars or lower from the complete review results,
it fails the evaluation and is not inducted.
- Information for products which do not pass our evaluation is confidential
and is shared only with the company submitting the product.
The Featured Category Ratings for this Product Evaluation
Summary are listed below.
CRITICAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT: Rating Level - [5] 
When it comes to critical skills development, The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization rose to the top in this category just as it did in so many others. The game provides an unquestionable stimulation for critical skills development and overall thinking processes. The flow of logic and structure which a student can develop from playing this game is quite impressive.
Creative thought is yet another feature which plays into critical skill development and improvement. Creative thinking is a very strong component of this game. When you consider the strategic thinking and forecasting which play a vital role in the playing of the game. The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization contributes substantially in helping players develop and improve analytical processes, stimulating motor & cognitive skills, and improving overall thought processes.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE: Rating Level - [5]
The educational value for Smash or Trash was an average score of "5" in this category. The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization is quite effective in development and improvement for a number of important developmental skills. In the educational value category, the scoring was the very best. The scoring for the educational value was reached primarily from the contribution to creative skill development and thought processes. A very good introduction to business logic and structure is brought forth in the play of this game. Most important of all is the fact of how this game is a perfect fit for adaptation in a school curriculum for a semester of full school year. The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization pulls a perfect score in this category.
* Please note that our educational value guidelines are established from careful evaluation of multiple State and County standards required to be met for passing in a public school facility.
FUNFACTOR™: Rating Level - [4] 
FunFactor™ proved to be a a simple task to establish with The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization. Although The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization is a game which is designed to be "fun" it is primarily designed for learning with a serious splash of FunFactor™ to draw the initial interest of the students and maintain it throughout the school year from repetitive play.
The level of excitement which eventually migrates from player to player proves the FunFactor™ is prevalent and there is plenty of it. Every participant who filled out our product evaluation forms was quite clear that the game was fun but their focus was more on the sense of a competitive edge they felt they gained from playing the game.
The level of FunFactor™ has been judged to meet the proper levels required for an above average score. Combining the facts of every single participant demonstrating a very strong response level in the playing of the game, our videotape evaluation, and the feedback in our product evaluation feedback forms, it was determined that The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization pulls an excellent score but fell short of a perfect score by a single digit in this category.
INNOVATION: Rating Level - [5]
Determining the level of innovation in the design of The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization was quite simple. The concept of combining math, a fluid lesson of business forecasting and such yet still maintaining a high level of FunFactor™ put The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization over the top in its scoring in this category.
The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization is quite exciting, fun and so much more. The Spoils of Civilization is a motivational tool used to increase the interest in school work which is quite a feat to accomplish yet it met the challenge without question. The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization pulls a score of "5" in this category, a perfect score in its level of innovative design.
MARKETING VALUE: Rating Level - [5/3] /
The marketing value of The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization was another tough one to determine. It is well designed and has an excellent price point. The FunFactor™ of the game was over the top. In almost every evaluation category, The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization pulls a perfect score. The level of popularity was all too apparent from our video tapes, feedback forms, and our own visual impression.
The challenge for us comes from the fact that The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization is designed primarily for the educational segment of business, not the general retail. The game has a perfect fit for adoption into the standard curriculum of any public school on the average. The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization holds a very high potential in sales for the educational industry but not as strong for the general retail.
When you combine all of the scores from all of the categories we use to determine the final averaged scoring, The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization has a much higher probability of sales in the educational segment than many other games. What you have here is a game which is most unique and innovative, and pulling a perfect score in the educational industry and a "3" in the general retail in this category.
VISUAL APPEAL: Rating Level - [4]
When it comes to visual appeal, The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization pulls a score well above average in this category. The game box design is rather...different. It draws your attention without a doubt yet just not enough for everyone to grasp the full value of what the game is all about.
The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization game pieces are easy to work with, identify, with the game board itself easy to read, bright and crisp in color. The instructions alone are a small bit lacking in visual appeal yet once again are easy to read. The game is still an outstanding game overall, yet The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization pulls a score one digit short of perfect in this category.
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| Seal of Approval:
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| eco-Recognition™
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| Award of Excellence:
Approved
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THE TOY MAN® PRODUCT GUIDE AWARDS
"The globally recognized awards that are received by a limited few...
and give a product the well earned recognition it deserves!" |
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The
products and online services which become recipients of "The Toy Man® Award of Excellence" acheived an evaluation category rating average of [5] Stars, the highest level of rating available on a 1-5 scale evaluation model. The average is based upon the overall average from all applicable evaluation categories, not just the 6 evaluation categories featured in this summary. |
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"The
Toy Man®  Award serves as an emblem of recognition for products & online services that contribute substantially to positive skill growth and/or productivity. |
| ( This includes books, CD's, DVD's, consumer electronics & accessories, recreational games and equipment, home furnishings, juvenile, software, toys and specialty. ) |
This distinguished award is exclusive as well as unique, with the editor's signature which represents a product being selected as an  . |
PLEASE NOTE: The eChoice™ Award images which were used from 1971-1984, 1984-2007, 2007-April 2010 have been retired. Although the former versions of the eChoice™ Award have been retired, they still remain valid. |
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