Gaming Articles

These two recent articles caught my eye.  First, the best Thanksgiving games.  We actually played Scrabble and dice, but these are also good suggestions!  We played Pandemic Legacy on Black Friday.  Oh my goodness....SO GOOD!!!!  And I can't talk about it.....

Anyway, we played Scrabble on my father's old board - so awesome!

 



Starting a gaming collection - this is a great starting list! The game I haven't played is the Resistance, but Ray has.  A game like that is important though.  We own Spyfall.

Camping Game: Over Under

We went to our cabin with the family over the Fourth of July.   No electricity and all that.  We took a few games: Batman Love Letter, Over Under and Pie Factory.  Over Under turned out be great as we could play it at the campfire just passing around a handful of cards.  It was easy and fun and you could play it until you felt like quitting and then count up to see who "won." (Honestly, who cares was our opinion.)  Plus since you are estimating, this didn't have the "trivia" aspect, yet was fun to try to figure out.  Most questions are history or sciences, which for us is great, but be warned if you absolutely hate both of those. 

Batman Love Letter is our favorite Love Letter and this was a great game for us after the kids and grandparents went to bed.  Doesn't take that long or that much room. 

The nice thing about all three games is they are very portable and were easy to toss into to take with us as well as didn't take much room to play.

Pie Factory actually takes the most room and got played the least.  We played Over Under each night at the campfire with even the grandparents playing along. 

Gaming on the Go

We recently took a train trip to Seward (which was really fun, but that post is on my regular blog).  Knowing we'd be on the train for quite awhile each way, we took some small games.  The games were took were Pie Factory, Microcosm (Eminent Domain), Brave Rats and Romans Go Home.  All did really well for the small spaces and times.  We also brought out the App version of Ticket to Ride, which was great. 

Pie Factory on the train

Ticket to Ride - this was nice as we could do pass and play in our seats

Microcosm at Subway when we stopped for a snack bread after walking the town - there was no one in there as it was the middle of the afternoon and they didn't seem to care we hung out for awhile playing while we ate our cookies!

Wharfside

 

We backed this on Kickstarter and it arrived about a week ago.  We LOVE Fleet,  but honestly, even with the robots (which work really well for robots), it isn't a great two player game.  You can (and we do) play it two player, but it is better with more. This is a GREAT two player game. I love how the markets change automatically.  This is a simple game, but there is plenty of strategy here. It also isn't that long, which makes it great to pull out for a quick game. 

 

I do wish the captains added more variety in that it really changed your overall strategy, but that's my only "complaint."  We played two games of this, both were close (we each won one).  The rules are easy to pick up, even for someone new to gaming (I would say this is easier to learn than Fleet).  Plus just like Fleet the cards are GORGEOUS!!

Viticulture

 

I have been super excited to try Viticulture and we recently purchased it and just got it to the table about a week ago. It was SO great.  I was so excited that this lived up to the hype in my mind.  We will definitely be purchasing the expansion!  First, I like that this is a "different" theme - the wine making theme comes through really well.  Second, it plays well at two player, but I think it will also do well in a larger setting.  Last, the components are gorgeous and the mechanisms all work really well.  This is not a beginner game, but it is also not super hard to learn to teach.  Definitely worth the purchase price!

Game Night

We are trying to get a monthly game night going...we are slowly building a core which is very exciting.  I'd like a few more people so that we have the option of one larger game or two smaller - right now we are stuck with having to do 6 player games as splitting up is hard.  So one or two more people would be nice, but I am really excited so far as our members are fabulous!

Game of States

 

I found this for $10 at the swap meet - The Game of States. It is actually 2005, but seems much older. It really isn't that bad of game - it is actually a pick up and deliver game (very basic...it is a kid game) and actually not bad to play (pretty quick).  For a "regular" board game, this was rather cute and I could see how you could work this into geography homework.  I got all my capitals right for the bonus...Ray only got one!  He needs to work on it! 

 

This is a "gamer" game, but still a fun little find.  I am not sure we'll keep it that long, but I think the kids might like it. 

Our "recycling" plan

 

So we "recycle" - we sell games to buy new ones!!  The Anchorage game store (Bosco's) stated having "swap" meets where you can rent a spot and sell your old stuff.  We took in some games we weren't enamored of and got enough to buy this pile!! Yah!!

 

With such a large collection, we constantly have to be going through and we are hoping they will keep up these swap meets and we can do this at least once a year as it really hard to try to sell games online due to shipping (and the Alaska thing).  We've done some online trading with our gaming networks, but even that has been quite a headache (setting up meetings, etc....they feel rather clandestine as well!).

Ticket to Ride Switzerland

We bought this recently, based on the fact that Tom at the Dice Tower said it was great for two player.  It really was a fun little version.  The fact that there are more "open" destinations that you can go many ways on was very interesting!  And the board is definitely tight at two, we both had to go around a couple of times! This is a great find, easy to play, as all the Ticket to Ride games are, and great for that two to three player group, which we do a lot of.

Therapy the Game

So my sister in law found this at a thrift store and being that's she's a psychologist, she had to have it. This is an 80s game and therefore has many of those pitfalls (roll and move, needing to be on certain spaces, etc.), but yet if you take this with a grain of salt and play for fun (meaning don't get all serious about the answers to the personal questions) and augment a few rules, it really is a bunch of fun.  So this has a trivial pursuit like mechanic in that you are moving around a board, collecting patients, which you get by successful "therapy."  Therapy is when you ask a question to someone and they write down their answer (so like how would you rate your self-esteem from 1 to 10) and you also write it down. If you are get it right, they are "cured."  (you get a 1 point leeway on each side for the numerical ones, so like if their answer as 8, you could put 7, 8 or 9).  You also do group therapy where they write it down and then the rest of you come up with an answer.  The one caveat here is you do need to know each other!  We had a bit of an issue with that with one person only knowing one other, so that was a bit hard at times.  We did change the rule where we never took away pegs (to shorten the game).   

Parfum

This is a great game and I love the theme - perfume making!  I feel my husband got a bit shafted this year...he was running around Origins, buying "girl" themed games - I wanted both this and Rococo! 

 

This is a nice worker management game, not too heavy, but not super light either.  You bid on turn order and, based on how early you go, you get less actions.  So the later you go, the more actions you get....but then you might not get the good customers or the good perfume options.  If you are in the lead, it doesn't matter...you pick last and get's what left.  You actually roll dice to see if your perfumes take and you actually get nothing.  I really enjoy that this is a fun, different theme that really appeals more to the female audience.  While Ray and I have played this, I have also been playing with my sister-in-law and mother (as you can see here).  Lots of fun!

 

This does work pretty well at two player, but having now played it three player, it is better with a larger group. Much more competitive!

Kingsburg

Yes, that's really Kingsburg under the cat!  She was playing I guess!  We removed her to finish the game.  She was not amused.

 

If you haven't already played it, Kingsburg is a great dice management game. What is cool is that you role and then use the dice totals to "influence" various advisors to get your resources.  You can always build one building, but you have to get the resources first, which can be quite tricky. You also have to worry about the end battle of each round, meaning you also need to think about military strength.  This is a great little game, quick and easy to play two player. 

 

I'd avoid the cat in the game though.

100 different games!!

We've played 100 different games this year thus far!!! Yah!!

Rococo

 

I was super exited to play this game and it didn't disappoint.  It worked really well two player and I think would scale up rather well. I loved all the options there were the game, there was always a bunch of choices and so you never felt you were "stuck" with anything.  There is a lot of depth in this game,  yet it isn't hard to learn.  I also really enjoy different themes and so really got into the whole dressmaking thing.  It doesn't hurt that this is more of a "girl" theme, but even Ray really enjoyed the game. 

 

There are a lot of pieces, but the components are decent quality and the rules aren't bad to work through either.  Definitely a game I am looking forward to playing more of. 

Enemies of Gaming...

So we watched this Dice Town Top 10 on the "Top 10 Enemies of Gaming," and a lot are typical things (like we have jobs....), but one was little animals...like this one!  She likes to get in the middle of our games....

Suburbia and Suburbia, Inc.

We have both Suburbia and its first expansion, Suburbia, Inc.  We love this game and think it plays really well two player.  I just love the feel of building my own little city.  I used to love Sim City, but my issue was I wanted to build for a few hours...and be done. Be complete. And that wasn't the point...you had to keep growing, doing, etc.  I found that annoying.  This is like the best of that...I get to make my perfect little work...then I'm done!

 

The expansion for this is a no-brainer...just more tiles which is always useful.  They just released a new one, called 5 star, but after watching this review, I am not convinced we'll buy.  I want new tiles....but we will never do five player and the whole star thing just seems like a ton of work. 

New Games

Ray took a trip to visit his family in Michigan recently and was able to go to Origins in Columbus for the afternoon. This is what he brought me back.  He loves Origins (his second time there) and it is supposedly very family friendly so we are hoping to take the whole family in an upcoming year. 

Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride is a great "starter" game if you are trying to bring new gamers into the fold.  It is easy to learn and for those without any prior gaming experience, not as overwhelming. A great place to start them off!

King of New York and King of Tokyo

We love both of these games and as you can see, our kids play them.  King of Tokyo is very easy and both of kids (5 and 7) play it easily.  I wasn't sure on King of New York, which is much better as an adult, but our 7 year old took right to it.  He loved the new monsters and new map.  It is definitely a "better" game, but both are loads of fun and very easy to teach and learn. 

Gaming Goals

So rather than traditional New Year's Goals, we set gaming goals.  We are trying to get through our gaming collection and making sure we can play all our games and getting rid of those we don't want.  So we set the goal of playing 200 games total and 100 DIFFERENT games over this year.  So it is April and so far we've played 60 different games, 92 total games.  Pretty happy with that!

Gaming Night Food

I am always looking for good game night food ideas.  I think things that are appealing to many people, easy to eat while playing  and hold up well to sitting around.  Obviously anything you can put in a crockpot and leave works well.   I often do meatballs.  I usually pre-make them (with moose meat...this is Alaska!), freeze them and then just plop them, still frozen, in the crock pot, with a jar of spaghetti sauce (I also toss in some Italian seasoning and sugar), for about 3-4 hours on high and I am good to go. I usually serve with mini buns. 

One of my most requested foods are my pizza puffs.  I love that I can put anything in them and I usually do a vegetarian version for my non-meat friends.  These also taste great at room temperature!

One of my new favorite are pepperoni 'n' cheese crescents.  These are also very versatile!

I also loves these chicken wontons, just they are little more futzy.  These bacon-cheddar pinwheels are much the same. 

I have more options, but these are what I can consider my "best hits," both with taste and ease of making.

Kid Gaming

We encourage our kids to play and we don't just make them play "good" games, but we play all kinds!  My oldest loves King of Tokyo, but we also play things like Go Fish with our youngest. 

King of Tokyo

Go Fish

Operation - so by the way...this games seems MUCH easier than it was when I was a kid. I expected my kids to do a lot of "buzzing," They didn't. They are just either just better than I was (totally could be true) or the game has been made easier.....(also totally could be true)...anyone know?

Operation...oh at a museum Outside I saw a full size table version of this - pretty cool!

Twilight Struggle

We've had Twilight Struggle for a while, but finally got it to the table.  This is a great two player, very indepth, great historical aspect.  It is a longer game, but well worth the time!  We actually blew up the world so neither of us won.  Yep, we nuked the world...go us.....definitely a learning curve here and I think both of us needed to learn how it worked as much as play through it.  Hopefully next time we can avoid that!

Run, Fight, Die

So I think this is the only zombie game we own. We don't like zombie games. But this is just FUN.  Seriously, it is cool.  The dice aspect is great and Ray really enjoys it plus the different characters are really into their stereotypes and add a lot.   We did a kickstarter expansion that will get us more characters, so excited about that! If you don't like zombie games, this is the zombie game for you.  It is just a cool push your luck game where you get to shoot at zombies as they keep attacking you!

Dice Masters

 

Ray is really into Dice Masters and he was teaching Adam to play it.  We are hoping it will help with his reading as he has to read each card.  Ray loves anything dice related!

 

My biggest problem is that it is "collectible," and so getting the dice you want is a problem.  We ended up buying about $20 in boosters then using Cool Stuff to buy what we wanted. 

1812

This is 1812 out of Academy Games (in the same series as 1775). This works does 5 players.  This is different enough from 1775 to let you want to own both.  Another great historical option!! 

1775

I love the historical games out of Academy Games.  The "Birth of America" series we pretty much own all of! We've recently played several games of 1775, which plays really well 2 player as well as 4 player.  I am committed to making the British win!  Last game, we tied and France got it all! :)  [I have an entire rant on the American Revolution if anyone is interested...]  This is a great war game that isn't too "war gamish," and the historical content is EXELLENT.  Definitely worth the time!

The Stannards vs the non-Stannards (my brother and I against our spouses)

France took it all....

We realized after about two games that we were missing some cards out of the British deck!!  Anyway, they were great about getting them right to us. Hopefully will increase my winning chances....

Board Games Make you Smarter?

This is a neat article about how board games make you smarter! I certainly think this is true of our kids!

Castles of Mad King Ludwig

So I was SUPER excited about this game - Castles of Mad King Ludwig.  It is made by the same people who did Suburbia, which I love.  As in ADORE.  So I really wanted this, which was similar but you are building a castle.  And it was COOL! And look...our "finished" castles!  I did want it to go a little longer....so I could build a larger castle! 

 

We played this two player, which was okay, but it would be better with more since you take turns as a "master builder," and setting the prices.  Suburbia is a great two player game, but this really isn't. IT was fun and I think it will even better with 3 or 4 so the master builder function works better. 

 

Fresco

 

This is a really cool worker placement game where you are painting a large fresco.  It is pretty simple, but has a nice depth to it.  Mixing the colors is quite fun!  We actually got this really cheap at Barnes and Noble, but I just love anything with a different theme.  The theme here is great and a lot of fun.  We've played this two player quite a few times, but I think it will be better with more because then there is more competition for the various resources and placement. 

Munchkin....

So we own a lot of Munchkin versions...we have played a lot of versions.  There are some great ones out there and this is just a fun game as the cards are plain silly.  For us, one main issue is that this does NOT play well at two player.  So we don't play it a lot on our own because, well, why...there are so many games that DO play well at 2 and this isn't one of them.  What this is is a great game for a group. We've just recently played this is twice with 6 players and once at 4.  This reminded me of why I enjoy the game. That it is very fun in a large group where you can take turns helping/hurting each other's character. You also see a lot of cards, which is nice, as they are half the fun.  We played Cthulhu, Star and Christmas. 

What I was reminded of tonight (Star Munchkin in case you were wondering) is one thing I don't like about the game, at any level.  That eventually you are all at about 8 and 9...and someone will win...and it is just a waiting game on who it is because you are waiting for someone to get a low enough monster that no one can stop them...and the game often goes on a round or two more than it "needs" to while you wait for this to happen.  And most of the table is just wanting SOMEONE to win, they don't care who anymore....and that isn't fun. So for me, the first 90% is super fun...and the last bit is just kind of like "get it over with." I wish there was a way to get rid of that last little bit. 

Kid Games

We are already working on getting our kids into gaming.  Adam (our 6 year old) got My First Carcassonne for Christmas.  This is a simplified version of the big name Carcassonne. My son got it quickly and seemed to really enjoy it.  He also got Robot Turtles for Christmas.  He loved this as well.  Both are also decent enough that Ray and I don't mind playing them. 

Catan and Catan Histories

We recently played Catan, the Ancient Egypt edition.  Now I like Catan...Ray doesn't. It isn't that he hates it, just that he feels it is too long for what it is (for instance with 4 players, Egypt took us 3 hours).    I like base Catan and I enjoy the various expansions (I think the seafarers one is pretty cool), but I really enjoy the historicals.  So I wanted to tell you about the ones I like/don't like of those. 

Now Trials to Rails (the American one)...I want to like this one. Seriously, I did.  But I don't. It is long and repetitive and the mechanics just weren't well thought out/executed.  There are some cool features, but it just isn't that good.  We ended up selling this one.  From what I've seen/heard, the European one (Merchant of Europe) seems to be very similar, so I haven't even tried it.

We do have Struggle for Rome, which I really like. I like that there are two stages of the game...you are wandering, then settle down. I think this really helps and makes this a cool, and unique, version.  I think this is worth picking up and trying.

I also think the new Ancient Egypt one is as well.  Now this comes with the base game in essence, but I have no idea why you'd want to play it. We did the Great Pyramid one and that was fun. I like the addition of the Nile, the God cards, the Great Pyramid.  My biggest "beef" with the game is that the components just aren't up to snuff...and given the price point, they should be.  So that was a major disappointment...the Great Pyramid was well....pathetic. 

My husband's (who doesn't like Catan much as mentioned) favorite is Catan Germany, which was one of the Geographies.  I think the rest ended up just being maps. The production value here is EXCELLENT and the game is fun, the landmarks are just cool and the map is very true to Germany. 

We also have a few random maps, which are just fun to have around. 

We also have played Star Trek Catan and have the extra maps, really this is just a re-theming, no new additions. 

There are two card games: Rivals and Struggle. Rivals is just two player and has a TON of expansions. My biggest beef is that this pretty long and takes a TON of room to play. I like it, but I wish it wasn't so cumbersome to set up/play.  Struggle plays 2-4 and is much more compact....this is the one we still own (we gave the other to my brother). It is fast version of Catan and relatively simple to set up/play. 

Our Airplane Game: Brave Rats

A couple of months ago I challenged Ray to find me a game we could play on the airplane (or in another small space).  The idea was this would have be very compact, very portable and fairly easy to play.  We found BraveRats.  This is quick and easy and only 16 cards.  That's it.  It is pretty much War with special powers.  You play cards simultaneously, out of a deck of 0 to 7, where each has a "special" power.  It takes no room to carry, no room to play and doesn't take a lot of brain power to play. Each game only takes 5 minutes.  Perfect carry-on material!

Underrated Dice Bulding Game: Airships

 

Airships is a game that Ray and I just love, but it seems to have flown under the radar and very few people know it.  You can't find good review of it and there are online video reviews (at least in English, I did see one in Spanish).  And I will be the first to admit the rulebook sucks.  There are like 6 copies of it, in 6 languages...I am assuming the original is probably the best, but the English isn't so great.  In addition, even with a better translation, it still is really hard to wade through.  Ray and I probably played it about 4 times before we figured out all the rules and we just learned a new (kind of major one!) tonight! 

 

This is a dice building game and with the craze for dice building games (Quarriors and Marvel Dice Masters), a game like this should appeal to all those dice crazy people.  So I'd really like to see all those dice people give this a try.  It is a solid dice game, with a nice combination of luck and skill.

 

The idea is that your country is building airships and you are picking up different cards, by rolling dice, that give you  better dice and better aids in rolling those dice, that allow you to build the various airship and then the Hindenburg. When you have with built most of the airships of the entire Hindenburg, the game is over and you count VPs.  The mechanics, once you figure them out, are relatively simple and the components are decent quality.  This is a game we have gotten a lot of play out and plan to continue to play into the future. It has been playing very well for us at 2 players, we have not yet played it with any larger group.  

Top 10 for Beginning Gamers

Ray and I also worked together on a list of games for "newbie" gamers - these are games we enjoy and think are great to introduce people to because they are easy to teach and quick to learn.  These aren't in any specific order. 

Mystery at the Abbey
This is grown up Clue, so this is a great introductory game because it is very simliar to a game most of us played as a kid.

King of Toyko

This is really just Yahtzee, only you get up to beat up monsters. We play it with our six year old.

Lords of Waterdeep

This is an excellent starter worker placement game. While the theme might seem heavy, it really isn't. It is light and fun and a good way to learn worker placement.

Star Realms

This is a easy, quick, small, deck builder. There are tons of deck builder games (Dominion of any of the Cyptopzoic deck builders (Lord of the Rings, DC)), but this is a light, quick two player one.

Forbidden Island

This is an excellent starter coop game.  It is fun and easy to plan and works great in groups and can easily be taught to kids.

Ticket to Ride

This is a very easy set collection game and it includes fun little trains.   It is easy to teach to anyone.  There are tons of maps out there for this, so once you learn the base game, you have tons of options.

Rise of Augustus

This gamer bingo. It shouldn't be fun, but it really is.  It is light and quick.

Smallworld

This is an area control game and while it might seem like it would be vicious, it really is fun and tight.  Your races "rise" and "fall" quickly, so it doesn't feel like you are losing people all the time. 

Survive

This is a fun little family game that can get quite tense as you try to get your figures onto the land!

Catan
This is a standard bearer - there are tons of versions of this and everyone plays it, so it is a good place to start. 

Ray's Top 10

This is Ray's current Top 10...as I said, we had to stop somewhere!

Suburbia
Suburbia is a great game where you are create a simulated city.  You create your city and try to do better than your opponents. I love this game, it works great for all the player levels and with the expansion this takes my top spot.

Carson City

Carson City is a worker place/role selection game that allows you to create the city of Carson City. You get different buildings and other ways to get money and resources. This is hard to find, but it also is a worker placement. You can kick someone off the spot you wanted through a shoot out!!! Great game.

King of Tokyo

Okay, this is the odd ball choice. It is Yahtzee only you are using the dice to gain points, heal or beat on the other players. My son Adam can play, but I have had so much fun with adults that I think this is a great game and I would throw down whenever this is brought out. I have not played King of New York so this one might get replaced down the road.

Pandemic

The solid co-op that most people will jump at. This game is all about people working together to beat the diseases. This can be intense especially when you amp up the difficulty by adding epidemic. I love introducing people to advanced board gaming!

Lords of Waterdeep

The second worker placement game on the list. This game is a simple worker placement, but has enough twists to keep it interesting. It made it into the top 10 because of the expansion. This actually added enough to make it a great game.

Aton

A two player game that my wife hates.:)  It is truly abstract, but with a great many ways to win yet you need to counter your opponent as well as move forward with your strategy. It is only 10-15 minutes, but has a lot of depth.

Magic: The Gathering

Yea, Yea I know a CCG, but it is a great game.  If you just build decks for fun and not tournament play and try and make them better with what you have it is great. It is fun and fast and you can spend time thinking and working on decks and have fun with that as well. So PPPPPP to all you!:)

War of the Ring (second edition)

This is a great war game, with asymmetrical player goals and strengths. This game is fun,  but makes you think. This is an afternoon game, not something that can be played quickly. Get the ring bearer to the mountain or run over the Free People. This may change based when I play Battle for Five Armies.

Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game

This is a fun tactical miniature game where you try to out think your opponent based on movement selection and some dice rolling. I like it a lot and come on, dogfighting!

Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game

I actually like deckbuilding games a lot, but this one is just fun. I actually get the flavor of super hero fights in a great format. You can play it completely co-op or semi co-op. It is fun and works great two player.

Jennie's Top 10

This is my current top 10...had to start somewhere! This is a CONSTANTLY changing list!

Freedom
This is a great historical coop game. It is rather long, but I just adore it!

LOR Deck Building

I love deck building games, but this is a very easy and quick one. I love that it sets up really quick and is easy to teach and play.

Suburbia

This is a city building game - it takes what I liked about Sim City and removes everything I didn't like in that computer game!  It is timed, which keeps it from getting too long.

Fleet

This is a great bidding game.  I love the theme and artwork as well as the way you building up your licenses and fish. 

Pandemic: the Cure

This is a great dice version of the traditional coop game. I like this one because it sets up so much faster than the original. 

Forbidden Desert

This is a great intro coop game.  It is fun and enjoyable for all.

Agricola: All Creatures

This is a shortened, two player, version of Agricola. I love that it is much faster (and 2 player) than the original.

Dominion (Alchemy)
This was my first deck builder and I still really enjoy it. Alchemy is my favorite set. 

Kingsburg

This is a great dice game.  It is fun and quick to set up.

Catan (Rome)

I love Catan, but it does require 3, which is an issue for us.  I really like the "theme" ones and this is my current favorite. 

Welcome to Our Gaming World!

So we are total gamers now...Jennie has been drug into it! We wanted a place to share our views and favorites with our friends.  Hopefully, this will help!

Our gaming collection (and we are slowly rating all our games) can be found here.

A little about us.  We are married (12 years at this point), have two little kids (4 and 6) and live in Alaska.  We are both professors.  We like all games to be playable at 2 players because we play mostly with each other. We also are always looking out for games we can share with our kids, who we are already introducing to gaming.  We also like games we can share with our friends and family, so a lot of games that appeal to a wide audience.  Ray likes the medium to heavier games and Jennie tends to go for medium to light.  She's really into DBGs.  Ray likes miniature war gaming, like Warhammer 40K, as well, plus Magic.  Jennie really isn't into either of those.