Polarity is a combination of a strategy game and a dexterity game. Not only do you need to pick a good spot to put your pieces down, but you need to put them there carefully to avoid problems.

Components
The game comes with instructions, 52 disks with one black and one white side, a red disc, and a cloth playing mat.

Gameplay
The basic idea of the game is to put your magnets into play without creating faults. With a little practice, a keen eye, and a steady hand, you can use your pieces to make that much more difficult for your opponent.
The game starts by placing the red disk in the center, then players take turns placing 5 more disks on the board. After this turns alternate. Players put new pieces on the board showing their color up. The trick is that the pieces are magnets and you have to lean your piece against the field of an existing piece without actually touching it. When putting pieces into play there are a few things you can do that create a ‘fault”. If you cause two pieces to touch anywhere on the board, that’s a fault. If you knock a piece that was previously leaning down that’s a fault. If you cause pieces on the board to stick to the one you’re playing, that’s fault.
Any fault ends your turn. If you’ve knocked a piece over, then play continues. If you’ve gotten one stuck to the one you were playing, you keep them. If you have cause two or more on the board to touch, you’ve created a tower. Your opponent then picks up the tower and puts it down anywhere on the board.
The game ends when the red disk moves off the center or gets touched by another disk. The player who caused that to happen loses. The other game ending condition is for a player to run out of pieces. If the game ends that way, scoring is done by counting the number of pieces in towers you have on the board and subtracting whatever pieces you have in hand. Highest total wins.

Intelligences
This review is part of a series of reviews I’m doing as I evaluate games my wife may use in her classroom or that I’m using with my Boy Scouts. Apart from the normal review, I try to identify the kinds of intelligence that the game will use. For an explanation of multiple intelligences, see: my blog post at: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/786097

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
Placing pieces to allow yourself to place more while attempting to block your opponent calls for careful planning.

Spatial Intelligence
Being able to accurately judge distance and visualize board conditions is a critical skill in this game. Those with high spatial intelligence have an advantage.

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
Although strategy is important, the ability to carefully position your piece and then lean it so it rests on the magnetic field is key. Having a high degree of manual dexterity and a good sense for feeling when the piece is resting on the field is critical.

Age Appropriateness
Polarity is a great game, but it does require some fine motor skills to really enjoy it. Younger children will likely be very frustrated if they can’t place a leaner. This game is probably best played by those ages 8 and up. Another approach that has worked for us is teams with one player choosing where to put a piece and the other playing it.

Recommendation
Polarity is a lot of fun and combines two very different skills – strategic thinking and physical manipulation. I really enjoy it and I’ve enjoyed it with kids as young as 8 frequently. Younger kids like it too, although with them it’s often best to just carefully supervise them as they play with the magnets.