228 – Anitra’s Favorite Games – The Family Gamers Podcast
It’s almost Anitra’s birthday! That means it’s time to talk about a few of her favorite games.
Fact: we learn a little about the February 28 incident (February 28 massacre) in Taiwan in 1947.
Sponsor: If you want help planning for your kid’s college education you can go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers. There’s a link there to set up a 15-minute call to see if First Move can help you.
Backtalk! – Show listener Jen told us that her kids can’t get enough of Catacombs of Karak. Kids & adults love it, and one son is using the tiles to create his own game, too!
What We’ve Been Playing
Kingswood (25th Century Games – our review)
Dungeon Drop (Gamewright – our review). We wish it had a little more depth, but it’s a really neat game.
Unmatched: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Restoration Games). Buffy is overpowered compared with the other characters in this set. All the match-ups are still nicely thematic though.
Unmatched: Legends Volume 1 (Restoration Games). Anitra’s favorite is Alice & the Jabberwock, but Medusa is also really cool. Haven’t figured out the right strategy for King Arthur & Merlin.
Animix (Blue Orange Games). A very clever but light game. There’s some kind of mismatch here between the theme, the puzzle, and the game play. The adults in our family like it but the kids don’t.
Seikatsu (IDW – our review). A wonderfully relaxing game (at least for Anitra). Played both solo and 2 players this week.
Century: Golem – Eastern Mountains (Plan B Games). Less engine-builder, more worker-placement/movement. A lot more setup than Century: Golem Edition, but not significantly more complex. (If you have Century: Spice Road, the equivalent game is Century: Eastern Wonders.)
Giveaway winner
Congratulations to Doug “@zamoose”! You’ve won a copy of Kingswood, generously donated by 25th Century Games.
SNAP Review – Dungeon Drop
Drop cubes, choose a room, and loot the dungeon! Asher and Anitra tell about this abstract dungeon crawl with an innovative way to randomize the setup.
Visit the SNAP review page for images and a full transcript.
Anitra’s Favorite Games
We follow the pattern we set with episode 214 for Andrew’s birthday, talking about Anitra’s favorite game in 3 (or 4) categories.
Favorite for Game Night
Imhotep (KOSMOS) is Anitra’s top choice. gives you some control over where your cubes (workers) go, but also some control over where your opponents’ cubes end up. Imhotep: The Duel is nice for 2 players, but she’d prefer the tactile nature of the blocks that need to be stacked.
Runners up: Shobu (although it’s only 2 players) and Ancestree (up to 6 players!)
Favorite to Play with Kids
Drop It (also from KOSMOS) – universally great, not just kids. Great table presence, no reading, and it plays equally well at 2, 3, or 4 players. A little bit of dexterity, a little bit of strategy, and a lot of luck.
Runner up: Cinco Linko – it’s hard to pin down exactly why Anitra loves this, but the game is so easy to explain, incredibly durable, and nicely tactile.
If it’s specifically the Smith family, then we need something that accommodates 5 players. Then the choice is Century: Golem Edition. The gems are great, and as an engine builder it’s fun even if you’re losing. “You get the little dopamine hit when some part of your plan works out right.”
Favorite Solo Game
Anitra really loves playing Sprawlopolis (Button Shy). While it can be played cooperatively, it’s best played solo.
“All my favorite games have two very important things in common: little or no reading, and they are very tactile experiences.”
This probably has a lot to do with life situation. As a stay at home mom who has trouble staying organized, days are mentally exhausting, and so Anitra favors games that allow a break from that!
Runner up: Filler – because the solo mode feels just like playing against a real person, while still being a very compact card game.
Favorite Two Player Game
Shobu is the top choice, followed by Voltage (Mattel).
News
The Family Gamers has a new logo – we highly recommend Jon Mietling who designed it for us.
And now that we have a new logo, we also have merchandise, with three different designs (logo, falling meeple, and scattered game pieces with our tagline – Play Games With Your Kids!)
Go to thefamilygamers.com/merch and take a look!
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Or, for the most direct method, email us! andrew@thefamilygamers.com and anitra@thefamilygamers.com.
Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.
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