Andrew Smith is the executive editor of The Family Gamers, and co-host of The Family Gamers Podcast.
Explore the reviews and podcasts he has contributed to.
Our guest this week is the incomparable Stephen Buonocore: president of Stronghold Games, co-host of the Board Game Insider podcast, sworn enemy of Tom Vasel, and the mild-mannered alter ego of Elton Johnocore.
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Apparently, there are 162 games in a season of Major League Baseball. So, we’ve reached that milestone now – yay? We’re going to talk about collecting (kids are natural collectors – or maybe hoarders) and “improving” your collection in various ways. What We’ve Been Playing Brainwaves: The Astute Goose – a memory game that actually improves your memory! Spy Club
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We’re here with interviews from this year’s Boston FIG Fest! We’ll tell you about a few of our favorites, have a SNAP review, then get right into the interviews. What surprised us about Boston FIG this year? How much less crowded it felt at the new location. Harvard Athletic Center had a lot more room than MIT. Andrew was surprised
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Can you become the Most Wanted outlaw in the wild west? Try your luck to rob the stagecoach and duel your fellow outlaws in this fast-playing game. We’ll tell you about it in 7 minutes.
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We’re here to talk about games and conflict this week. What can conflict in games teach us? Do your kids handle it well?
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We have a great time this week, talking to Brandt from The Portal Gaming Podcast… and our old friend from college. Math, games, and friends. What could be better?
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We visited TWO awesome game stores in Rochester NY, and we’re thinking about games that our kids could bring to school to play with their friends.
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Did you know that cuckoos don’t build their own nests? Kiki Cuckoo never learned to build one, and now she needs your help! Elliot helps Andrew and Anitra explain this cute all-ages dexterity game from HABA.
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More GenCon! Nick interviews Mattel, Good Games, IELLO, Green Couch Games, Grail Games, North Star Games, Grand Gamers Guild, and Kids Table Board Gaming.
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Guide magical creatures to their homes in the sky, and use magic to push away the oncoming storm. Roll the dice and move any character in Sky Magic, a simple cooperative game with lots of imagination.
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Hex Roller stands out from a lot of other roll-and-write games because it dispenses with theme, to focus on making this puzzle the best it can be.
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Build your own Jurassic Park and fill it with the best dinosaurs in this short game for 2-5 players.
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We love Slide Quest, a cooperative dexterity puzzle game. Work together to slide the rolling knight through 5 levels, knocking enemies over on the way.
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Dice Throne is an easy game to pick up and learn. The core of the game is manipulating your dice to get the best result, leading some people to call it “battle Yahtzee”. However, the wide variety present in the cards and characters keeps games feeling fresh and allows for many different overall strategies.
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Our special guest for this episode is Ann Losito. She runs the TWIST Gaming channel with her c0-hosts Matt and Josh. TWIST was the first ever Twitch partnered channel that is focused on board games. Andrew met Ann at last year’s PAX Unplugged. They played Deep Sea Adventure together, with Claire, and had a great time. TWIST is best known
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We are finally back into the normal routine (more or less) after a month of con-related craziness. We’ll talk about highlights from Anitra’s trip to Origins and Andrew’s trip to Dice Tower Con.
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Constellations is a tile-laying, pattern matching game for 2-4 players, lasting from 30-60 minutes. The game was designed by Ian Zang and Dante Lauretta and beautifully illustrated by Ashley Kenawell. Lay hexagons to grow the night sky and score points as you match patterns on your tiles!
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In Gunkimono, you are a daimyo warlord, building armies and gaining honor to establish your strongholds. Gunkimono is an area control, tile drafting and placement game for 2-5 players and takes about an hour to play. Is Gunkimono a Feudal Masterpiece, or a Futile Mess?
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Have you always wanted to be an architect? Try your hand at creating towers to fit in tight spaces in Tokyo Jutaku, a speed building game from Jordan Draper Games.
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We have a great conversation with Ellen and Randy Kirby, of We Game Together, about all things gaming and kids… and what we’re looking forward to at Origins this year.
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