The Family Gamers - Reviews

Fairy Tile: Build The Kingdom

8/10

April 16, 2018 Updated: August 16th, 2018 Andrew Smith Reviews

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” – William Shakespeare In Fairy Tile, you create the map of the kingdom and move the fairy tale characters through their story. Use the Pages in your Book to recount the adventure of the princess, the knight, and the dragon.

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Anitra, dragons, exploration, fairy tale, Storytelling, Tabletop, Tabletop Games, tile laying

Zooscape: Gotta Catch ‘Em All

8/10

April 9, 2018 Updated: March 3rd, 2021 Corey Lagunowich Reviews

The ugly duckling emerging into a beautiful swan. Zooscape, a Tasty Minstrel Games remixing of OKAZU Brand’s Curio Collectors, is exhibit A of the mantra: “Don’t judge a game by its first playthrough.”

2 Button Shy Games: Cow, Tiger, Santa Claus & In Vino Morte

6.5/10

April 2, 2018 Updated: July 11th, 2021 Anitra Smith Reviews

Button Shy is a micro-publisher dealing exclusively in micro-games. All of their games are small enough to fit in a wallet. Although some of these games are quite involved despite the small number of cards, we’ll be looking at two of their lightest games: a travel game and a fast deduction party game. Cow, Tiger, Santa Claus As a child,

Classic Reviews – Dixit: What Art They Thinking?

9/10

March 26, 2018 Updated: February 2nd, 2021 Dave Smith Reviews

Some games, in my opinion, fall into the category of “must have” in your collection. There are some games which I seem to never get tired of playing. Some games that are good “gateway” games; games that are great for helping introduce inexperienced players to more complex games. Dixit is an incredible game that fulfills all these categories.

Top Trumps: War Without Politics

6.5/10

March 19, 2018 Updated: August 20th, 2018 Anitra Smith Reviews

Sometimes, you just want a simple game to pass the time. It’s even better if you can learn a little bit while you’re playing. For decades, Top Trumps has been doing its part to fill this need in the UK, but after being acquired by Winning Moves, they are now available in the US. With hundreds of different decks, did

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Anitra, battle, Card Game, card games, educational games, War, Winning Moves

Rage of the Trolls: A Gruff Look at More Fearsome Fiends

7/10

March 12, 2018 Updated: May 28th, 2018 Andrew Smith Reviews

In our last review we looked at the game Gruff from Studio Woe. This week we’ll look at the recently published second expansion, Rage of the Trolls. Unlike their first expansion, Clash of the Battle Goats, (released in 2016) Rage of the Trolls includes a brand new play mode completely unlike anything before it.

Gruff: Gobbling Up some Weird Mechanics

6.5/10

February 26, 2018 Updated: April 27th, 2021 Andrew Smith Reviews

Gruff is a two-player tactical battle game. You play as a Shepherd, shepherding a flock of mutated monster goats called Gruffs. Your goal is to kill all of your opponent’s Gruffs OR to kill your opponent’s Shepherd.

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2 players, Andrew, battle, Card Game, card games, Gruff, living card game, monster, Studio Woe

Sticky Chameleons: More Sticky or More Karma?

7/10

February 19, 2018 Updated: January 2nd, 2023 Andrew Smith Reviews

In episode 80, The Family Gamers explored games that are pure fun. Not necessarily the “best” or “most mechanically sound” game, but games that are just plain fun to play. This week we have a game that absolutely fits that mold. We will look at a new game designed by Théo Riviére and published by Iello, Sticky Chameleons.

Ancestree: Fiddling with Families for Family Fun

8.5/10

February 12, 2018 Updated: August 7th, 2023 Anitra Smith Reviews

“My family is better than yours!” That’s the premise behind Ancestree, created by Eric Lang and published by Calliope Games. Draft tiles and build a dynasty worth commemorating! Or will your lineage be merely mediocre?

Match Madness: Parallel Puzzling for All Ages

7.5/10

February 5, 2018 Updated: August 7th, 2023 Anitra Smith Reviews

Playing puzzle games with children can be frustrating. If it’s mildly challenging for me, it may be impossible for my 7-year-old; but if it’s the right level for him, it’s far too easy for me. I don’t want to hold back: I want to beat my children fair and square. What to do? Match Madness gives us a possible solution.

OK Play (Cinco Linko): Play Anywhere with Anyone

7.25/10

January 29, 2018 Updated: February 2nd, 2021 Anitra Smith Reviews

The rules are so simple and intuitive, even a toddler can understand them. In fact, since the game is easy enough for toddlers to understand, this makes it a great game to play with them. You can slowly introduce them to strategy, and the materials are resilient enough to handle whatever it is that makes their hands sticky all the time.

Robots Love Ice Cream: The Card Game – Lactose Intolerant

4/10

January 22, 2018 Updated: January 6th, 2023 Corey Lagunowich Reviews

What comes to mind when you read the phrase “video game adaptation”? Jean Claude Van Damme as Belgian Guile? XCOM: The Board Game: The Companion App? Endless Resident Evil sequels? An absolutely epic pile of cardboard tokens for Civilization? Turning a video game into a movie or a tabletop game is a difficult challenge. Robots Love Ice Cream: The Card Game,

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25th Century Games, card games, Corey, food, ice cream, robot, set collection

Flip City: Urban Planning Upside Down

6/10

January 15, 2018 Updated: April 19th, 2021 Anitra Smith Reviews

As a city planner, you naturally want to make the most beautiful and crowd-pleasing city. But watch out! Other players may offload their problems to your beautiful city, even as you upgrade your buildings to become more useful. Will you flip for Flip City, or is it more of a flop?

Loot: Piratical Plundering Cards

7/10

January 8, 2018 Updated: January 6th, 2023 Ray Kelley Reviews

Arr, mateys! We be pirates, sailing the high seas in search of Loot. We play cards to capture or defend merchant ships. Loot is one of the earliest games from designer Reiner Knizia. It’s been available in the United States since 2005 from publisher GameWright, but the newest version has updated artwork and comes in a metal tin.

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2 players, 3 players, 4 players, 5 players, Anitra, card games, Gamewright, pirates, Ray, Reiner Knizia

Super Beat Sports: We’ve Got the Beat

6.5/10

January 2, 2018 Updated: February 24th, 2021 Anitra Smith Reviews

A rare video-game review! Harmonix is known for rhythm-and-music video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. We love every game they have made (we regularly rave about Amplitude), so when they announced their new game for Switch, Super Beat Sports, we were intrigued. Sports in a music game? How could that work?

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Anitra, Harmonix, music, Nintendo, rhythm, sports, Video Games

Onitama: An Elegant Exploration of Strategy

8/10

December 19, 2017 Updated: April 24th, 2021 Andrew Smith Reviews

Onitama replaces complexity with elegance and layers with simplicity. With a ruleset that could literally fit on an index card, Onitama delivers a quick, compact strategy game experience that allows its players plenty of room to breathe and ruminate on their next moves.

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2 players, abstract, Andrew, Arcane Wonders, Board Games, strategy

BLANK: A Game That Teaches Game Design

7.5/10

December 12, 2017 Updated: February 19th, 2021 Anitra Smith Reviews

BLANK is basically a starter pack for the interested designer; it provides a template to create rules and effects to make the game your own.

Seikatsu: Beautiful from any Perspective

8.5/10

November 27, 2017 Updated: March 7th, 2023 Anitra Smith Reviews

Birds and flowers and fish, oh my! This beautiful abstract game has players work together to make a beautiful garden. But will the garden be most pleasing from your perspective, or will your opponents have a better view?

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2 players, 3 players, abstract, animals, Anitra, birds, flowers, IDW, isaac shalev, Tabletop Games, tile laying

Macroscope: Hidden Picture Prediction

5/10

November 6, 2017 Updated: April 6th, 2021 Anitra Smith Reviews

Remove windows from the Macroscope and be the first to guess the picture correctly. Did Macroscope reveal hidden depths, or was it out of focus?

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2 players, 3 players, 4 players, 5 players, 6 players, Anitra, guessing, Mayday Games, Tabletop

Voodoo: Should You Do the Voodoo Too?

6/10

October 30, 2017 Updated: April 6th, 2021 Andrew Smith Reviews

What does the word “Voodoo” make you think about? Is it a doll with pins? Is it an African religion? Most likely, you don’t think about the game Voodoo, a crazy magic game from Mayday Games. This week we take a stab at this game to find out if it casts a spell on us.

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3 players, 4 players, 5 players, 6 players, Andrew, Dice Rolling, Mayday Games, Tabletop

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