Anitra Smith is the managing editor of The Family Gamers, and co-host of The Family Gamers Podcast.
Explore the reviews and podcasts she has contributed to.
Two games in 5 minutes! Jinxx and Hijinks are Looney Pyramid games that feel like a classic 3-in-a-row with a few twists.
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We waited an extra week for this podcast so we could bring you all the GenCon goodies with Nick.
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Unmatched has been drawing from unusual characters since its early days. But no combination is so unexpected as what we find in Slings & Arrows: four fighter sets based on the works of William Shakespeare.
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Unboxed is a set of puzzles based on deciphering the rules to games. Each puzzle should take about 30 minutes to solve, for up to 4 players.
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Paper App Dungeon doesn’t look like any other dungeon crawl game. It’s this small notebook. Each page is a new floor of the dungeon, divided up into little squares with symbols representing enemies, treasure, traps, and more.
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Does your kid’s school have a board game club? How could you help support it as a parent?
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Randomly draw crew tiles from the bag, then decide to keep them or flip them. Craft the best crew organization to earn the most treasure and prove yourself the best captain!
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Welcome Stephanie Nye this week, to talk about the games we’ve been playing lately and the Origins Game Fair.
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I really enjoyed the tight, back-and-forth nature of this duel. Even with so few cards in your hand, you’ll have to work hard to predict what your opponent will do, and try to counter it, or try to surprise them.
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All paintings start as color and line. Color Field lets us play with matching up colors in an artistic framework.
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One of the calmest games I’ve ever played is A Gentle Rain, which I discovered in 2022, and is now back in print with a new publisher.
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If you have kids in school, you’ve probably heard of the “summer slide” or summer learning loss. The best way to keep your kids from losing math and reading skills is to use them! So let’s talk about five games that will give some practice.
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I’ve never thought a mushroom was *cute*. Then I played Mycelia.
It’s a lovely game with sentient mushroom “heroes”, who will help you remove the dewdrops from your forest.
We recommend Mind Up! for families; but not for kids under 8. You’ll bid cards from your hand to acquire cards on the table… but the cards you bid become the cards you might get next turn!
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It’s June, kicking off “convention season” for a lot of people. So, we’re sharing our best tips for navigating conventions with kids.
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Compile is a two-player card dueling game with just 18 cards on each side, but a huge variety of possibilities! Why do Andrew and Anitra enjoy it so much?
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Place your marker on a graph to get other players to guess which word is yours! Mind Map is a party clueing and guessing game that’s best for nerdy families and small friend groups.
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We chose five games from 2023 (and the first half of 2024) that come in small boxes but pack a big punch!
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We’ve played this game before, and others like it. But we’d never tried something quite like this with our kids.
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