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.
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“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?
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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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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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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.
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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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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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Did you know that ghosts can scare each other? Neither did I until I played BOO, a compact game for two players from Perplext. Did this ghostly game grip us, or were we perplexed by this petite phantasmal puzzler?
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Didn’t you play Daytona 500 when you were a kid? Downforce is just like that, but with superpowers and betting. Sold, amiright?
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In Dairyman, you are a dairy farmer, competing with your fellow farmers to see who can produce the most milk. Make cheese and ice cream along the way, and don’t let it spoil! Do we think Dairyman is a gouda game, or is it all jacked up? Read on to see if it hits a rocky road, or if it is the cream of the crop!
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Masters of the approachable family game, Gamewright delivers another multi-age filler game in Qwingo, a roll & write game designed by Heinz Meister. Read on to find out if we think Qwingo ranks highly, or if it makes us roll our eyes!
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Work together to deduce which gang is helping Furriarty before he can escape in this cooperative game perfect for families.
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Whizz! Clack! At first glance, Potion Explosion looks like just a gimmick – a board game adaptation of digital match-3 games like Bejeweled. Pull out marbles, make matches. But there is so much more to this delightful game!
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You are a king (or queen), looking to expand your kingdom. As you explore the terrain, you must decide which territories will be the best and most productive. But watch out! Other monarchs are scouting the territory, too, and may steal your most-coveted lands!
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A baobab tree has a thick trunk and flat, spreading branches. Why? Because the players have to build it that way! Can you build a spectacular canopy, or will your tree tumble?
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Scuttle! by Jellybean Games is a card game full of pirate adventure, attacks, conquest, and fun, for 1-5 players. Manage the shifting seas of cards like an old salt, be the first to collect enough treasure, and you’ll win the title of master pirate captain.
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The beauty of Tournament is in its difficulty. The pieces were intentionally designed to be difficult to use for building boring towers. Once I realized that, I embraced the difficulty; rather than trying to build the tallest tower, I began trying to build the most interesting tower instead.
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