Don your deerstalker hat and grab your magnifying glass! This week IDW Games brings us Purrrlock Holmes: Furriarty’s Trail, an adorable take on deduction and cooperative gameplay that puts you in the role of a new inspector at Scotland Pound. Is the stalking of our felonious feline worth the trouble? Should you take the time to track these criminal critters? Let’s take a look!
We went camping this past weekend, and what better way to celebrate camping than to play camping themed board games? This week we take a look at CAMP: The Game that Grows With You, the Dr. Toy award winning game from Education Outdoors. CAMP has a lot of features that are really appealing, but do they come together to make a compelling experience, or does the mix of mechanics create a natural disaster? Let’s take a look and find out.
This week, we take a look at a pair of short, simple games from Strawberry Studio, What’s Up and Strawberry Ninja. Strawberry Studio’s mission is to “enrich the world of gaming with a line of smart, fun and easy to play microgames for families and friends”. Do they succeed with these two titles? Let’s dive in and find out.
“Ask yourself a question!”
“When you recall the past, can you always distinguish which memories were real events and which were dreams or fantasies?”
The clue-scouring gumshoe has always been a role masked in mystery and intrigue. Hardly a role for kids usually, mysterious detective tales filled with riddles and enigmas are designed to confound even the brightest observer. Enter Outfoxed, a lighthearted cooperative whodunit game from GameWright aimed squarely at a younger generation. Somebody stole Mrs Plumpert’s pot pie and it’s up to the team of young detectives to find out who it was before they get away! Is Outfoxed outstanding, or is it insipid? Let’s find out.
Crashing lightning, booming thunder, and thousands upon thousands of gallons of water pour from the sky. The drumming of torrential downpour on the roof of the Ark is calming in its regularity, as the unending rows of matched pair animals bray and paw nervously. There is a loud creaking as the rising water level begins to lift the massive boat off its perch, a dry dock in the middle of the desert. You’re in Noah’s Ark. But how did you get here? Are you Shem, Ham, Japheth, or are you the patriarchal head, Noah himself?
What could be more classic than a naval battle between two warring pirate ships? With straightforward mechanics and great art by accomplished artist Kevin Rechin, The Haywire Group brings us Pirate Ships, a simple game of naval destruction! Do we think Pirate Ships is seaworthy? Or is it cannon fodder?
Unbelievable tales of legend filled with debauchery, treachery, and heroism make the stories of the Greek gods fascinating to anyone who enjoys a good adventure. From the snakes of Medusa to the rippling muscles of Hercules, to the near invincibility of Achilles, every hero and villain captures our imagination with their epic tales of adventure, victory, and heartbreak.
With virtually countless characters to draw from, it’s a small wonder we don’t see more games in this setting. Fight for Olympus, released last year by MayFair Games and Lookout Games, puts the Greek roster to good use. One of the gods has died and you are fighting to ascend Mount Olympus and assume their recently vacated post. But will Fight for Olympus yield a mountaintop experience?
In 1982, a few newspaper editors came together to eventually create a game that became a household phenomenon. Using a non-linear board that facilitated stumping friends with trivia questions across various disciplines, Trivial Pursuit became firmly entrenched in the cultural zeitgeist of the United States. But for Gen-Xers and Millennials, it existed as a game with impossibly difficult questions and nebulous goals. What was the point of the game? Although the game mechanics were approachable and understandable for all ages, the needed knowledge made Trivial Pursuit difficult to play for all but the most knowledgeable adults.
Griddly Games seized on this mechanic with the release of their family trivia game, Wise Alec. With a similarly styled board and a wealth of trivia questions to bear, does Wise Alec capture the charm that created a household name? Let’s look and see. » Read more
We met up with Adric Polkinghorne of Jammed Up Studios who was showing off their soon-to-be-released game Think of the Children! – a cooperative parenting simulator. Think of the Children is a hilarious, and perhaps a little too-close-to-home look at the zany life of parenting multiple children. Check it out!
We finally get the chance to meet up with Andrew Innes to talk about one of our favorite games, Anomia! Listen as he talks about his Duple re-release and the two new Anomia branded games coming this year!
We caught up with Nora Meiners of Gamewright Games at PAX East 2017 and talked about some of their big games at the show.
Sushi Go Party
Dragonwood (Check out our review too!)
Imagine
Forbidden Island
Forbidden Desert
Bring Your Own Book
Check it out!
Andrew will be representing us at PAX East, mostly in the board game area. (He may or may not be cos-playing as a dinosaur…) If you are there, say hi!
* Family Gamers dinosaur not available in all areas of the convention. *
This month we’re going to look at a fun family game that is beautiful and scales well to children of different ages. At The Family Gamers, we think silliness is a great way to relate to your children, and with the game BattleGoats from CardLords, there is ample opportunity for less-than-serious play. » Read more
Dragonwood is a dice and card based game designed by Darren Kisgen and published by GameWright Games. A “game of dice and daring” with a medieval fantasy theme, it is designed for two to four players age 8+, but any child who can read can play. With some minor rule shifting, Dragonwood was playable by our four-year-old. » Read more
This week we’re going to take a look at Gimme 5, a new game on Kickstarter by Pieter Neethling. How will we feel when we’re done playing? Read below to find out. Will you gimme a high 5, or a low 5?
In case you missed it from the podcast, The Family Gamers is now published!
If you are in central Massachusetts, you can now find our column in the monthly community paper The Yankee Xpress.
4 year-old Asher helps Andrew check out a Koala Crate. Lots of cool art stuff making cityscapes! Use promo codes SUB50 and SHOP 50 to save at Kiwi Crate!
