Anomia is a word from a Latin root and means “without name”. It’s the term for being unable to come up with the name of an object. Anomia is also a game (from Anomia Press), in which players race to come up with a word that fits a certain category, ranging from “color” to “rock opera” to “shampoo brand”.
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“How to Draw” books and videos are everywhere. But most people don’t bother with these and instead fall back on “I’m no good at drawing” or “I’m not an artist.” But have you noticed that simply holding a pencil encourages nearly everyone to doodle? Why not make it a game? Skribble Dash is a modern entry to the “competitive drawing”
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What’s a word that starts with A and contains a P and then an L? Maybe you thought “apple”, but how about “application” or “anthropology”? If you’re looking for a new kind of word puzzle, you should check out PDQ: The Pretty Darn Quick Word Game, by Jay Thompson. GameWright publishes this creative wordsmithing game.
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The bakers in Sprinkleton have a big problem – monsters keep stealing all their donuts! Can you pick out the suspects and help the bakers recover their donuts?
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Recently my Nonnie (Italian for Grandmother) suffered from a broken shoulder after a fall just before her 89th birthday. She was hospitalized and then spent a few weeks in rehab. After she began recovering at home, my mom scheduled a surprise party for her and invited family and friends. After dinner, I asked Nonnie if she was up for a
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Welcome to the Robo Diner! I am your waiter, Sparky. Please place your order and I will be happy to bring it to *bzzt* just as soon as I retrieve your food off this *bzzt* conveyor belt. Oh *bzt*! What’s that dead fish doing there? *bzzzzzt*
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Transport yourself to centuries past to a time when the trading along the spice roads led to great wealth and power. As a spice merchant you’ll lead your caravan to exotic markets to sell your valuable spices. Do you have what it takes to play your cards shrewdly, time your trades just right to acquire five point cards first and
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“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” – William Shakespeare In Fairy Tile, you create the map of the kingdom and move the fairy tale characters through their story. Use the Pages in your Book to recount the adventure of the princess, the knight, and the dragon.
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I’m going to do my best to explain Hisashi Hayashi’s Zooscape, but I’m going to fail. And the first time you play, I predict you’re not going to get it, either. But play it a second time. Then maybe a third. Somewhere in there, the elegance of the game design is going to reveal itself to you. The ugly duckling
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Button Shy is a micro-publisher dealing exclusively in micro-games. All of their games are small enough to fit in a wallet. Although some of these games are quite involved despite the small number of cards, we’ll be looking at two of their lightest games: a travel game and a fast deduction party game.
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Some games, in my opinion, fall into the category of “must have” in your collection. There are some games which I seem to never get tired of playing. Some games that are good “gateway” games; games that are great for helping introduce inexperienced gamers to (post-Catan) games & gaming. Dixit is an incredible game that fulfills all these categories.
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Sometimes, you just want a simple game to pass the time. It’s even better if you can learn a little bit while you’re playing. For decades, Top Trumps has been doing its part to fill this need in the UK, but after being acquired by Winning Moves, they are now available in the US. With hundreds of different decks, did
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In our last review we looked at the game Gruff from Studio Woe. This week we’ll look at the recently published second expansion, Rage of the Trolls. Unlike their first expansion, Clash of the Battle Goats, (released in 2016) Rage of the Trolls includes a brand new play mode completely unlike anything before it.
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In the Norwegian fairy tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, the three goat brothers are trying to cross a bridge to graze peacefully in the fields beyond. They’re stopped by a troll until the oldest, biggest goat knocks the troll into the stream below (spoiler alert). On February 15, Studio Woe released the latest expansion to the Gruff universe,
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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. Can you 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 word “OK” is almost universally understood, regardless of age or language. So Big Potato Games used “OK” in the name of their simplest game to highlight its universal accessibility.
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What comes to mind when you read the phrase “video game adaptation”? Jean Claude Van Damme as Belgian Guile? XCOM: The Board Game: The Companion App? Endless Resident Evil sequels? An absolutely epic pile of cardboard tokens for Civilization? Turning a video game into a movie or a tabletop game is a difficult challenge. Robots Love Ice Cream: The Card Game,
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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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