The Family Gamers - Reviews

Crosstalk: Signal to Noise Ratio

7/10

September 3, 2018 Andrew Smith Reviews

I was sitting at my desk a few weeks after a work trip when my instant messenger dinged me. It was my colleague Steve. I thought of the perfect hint for that game! “That game” was CrossTalk, a party game I had brought on the trip. It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened to someone I played

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Andrew, CrossTalk, Nauvoo, party game, word games

SNAP Review – Monster Crunch! – Sweet and Delicious

August 31, 2018 Updated: August 20th, 2019 Nick Martinelli SNAP Reviews

Monster Crunch! is a ladder-climbing, trick taking game for 2-5 players, ages 9 and up. Monster Crunch! is published by Big G Creative.

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5 players, Big G Creative, Card Game, card games, food, ghost, Izzy, monster, Nick

The Game of 49: Three in a Row, Go for One More

4/10

August 27, 2018 Updated: April 24th, 2021 Corey Lagunowich Reviews

The Game of 49 can be described very simply as Connect Four, but with bidding.

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2 players, 3 players, 4 players, 5 players, abstract, auction, bidding, Breaking Games, Corey, math, probability

SNAP Review – Card Caddy and Accessories

August 24, 2018 Updated: August 20th, 2019 Anitra Smith SNAP Reviews

At its core, the Card Caddy is a hard-sided box to hold a deck of cards. Once open, you can re-attach the two sides to create a draw/discard tray. Useful and extremely durable. (You could probably run it over with a truck. We talked to Chris Nichols, the designer of the Card Caddy, on episode 55 of the podcast –

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accessory, Andrew, Anitra, Card Caddy, Card Game, card games

MegaLand: Video Game Theme in Board Game Land

7.5/10

August 20, 2018 Updated: August 18th, 2022 Anitra Smith Reviews

A band of hearty explorers sets off on an adventure. Will they return victorious, with treasure to spend, or will they crawl back in defeat? Sounds like a video game RPG, but this is the concept behind MegaLand by Ryan and Malorie Laukat, the forces behind Red Raven Games.

SNAP Review – POW!: Comic Equality

August 17, 2018 Updated: July 19th, 2024 Anitra Smith SNAP Reviews

POW! is a press-your luck game of comic book character drafting, from Reiner Knizia and Gigamic. Your goal: build a cast of characters for your comic book. Collect both superheroes and supervillians, to create a balanced comic. Listen to our SNAP review of POW! in 5 minutes, or read on below. Gameplay Setup by randomizing the superheroes (blue/teal) and supervillians

Let Them Eat Shrimp!

7.5/10

August 14, 2018 Updated: August 20th, 2019 Nick Martinelli Reviews

Let Them Eat Shrimp is a game for two to five fish. Players will swim, spawn and eat shrimp while trying to avoid sharks on the way to a sea worthy victory. During the game players will place fish tiles to collect sets of different types of fish to score points at the end of the game. The game is

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5 players, Dr. Finn's Games, fishing, Nick, set collection, tile laying

SNAP Review – Think ‘N Sync

August 13, 2018 Updated: April 24th, 2021 Anitra Smith SNAP Reviews

Think ‘N Sync, a party game from Gamewright, is a icebreaker type game for a group. Can you and your teammate think in sync?

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3 players, 4 players, 5 players, 6 players, 7 players, 8 players, Andrew, Anitra, audio, Gamewright, party game, trivia

SNAP Review – Who Did It?

August 8, 2018 Updated: August 20th, 2019 Anitra Smith SNAP Reviews

Who Did It? is a game of memory, deduction, and rapid discarding from Blue Orange. Prove that your pet didn’t do the poo!

Sundae Split: The Game of Delicious Choices

6.5/10

August 6, 2018 Updated: July 21st, 2020 Anitra Smith Reviews

Who doesn’t love ice cream? If I was serving up sundaes for the family, I would try to hold back some favorites for myself. But what if everyone else gets to choose their sundae first? How do I keep the family away from “my” favorites? That’s the concept behind Sundae Split.

Slide Blast: A Splashing Good Time!

8/10

July 30, 2018 Updated: November 24th, 2020 Nick Martinelli Reviews

Have fond memories of making the trip to the water park on a hot summer day? Nothing was more fun than the thrill of tearing down the slides at breakneck speed, anticipating the splashdown at the end of the tunnel. You might ride the same slide over and over until it was time to go home. But how can you

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5 players, 6 players, FoxMind, Nick, outdoor games, summer, tile laying, water

SNAP Review – Jetpack Joyride

July 24, 2018 Updated: October 6th, 2019 Anitra Smith SNAP Reviews

Reviews – in a snap! Our inaugural SNAP review is Jetpack Joyride, from Halfbrick Studios and Lucky Duck Games. Jetpack Joyride, the board game, translates the frantic feel of the endless runner into a tile-laying puzzle. Speed puzzle: lay polyominoes (5-unit pieces) onto individual boards to build a path and be the first to “escape the lab”. Cover coins

Trash Pandas: Hot Garbage or Good Garbage?

7.5/10

July 23, 2018 Updated: September 20th, 2021 Dave Smith Reviews

Trash Pandas is a press-your-luck, dice-rolling game designed by Michael Esuke of Red Rook Games. Players become raccoons digging through trash.

The Tea Dragon Society Card Game: Adorable Deck Building

8/10

July 16, 2018 Updated: March 7th, 2023 Anitra Smith Reviews

The Tea Dragon Society now has meetings in board game land! Does the game hold up to the tone and message of the comic? Is it still fun to play if you’ve never read the comic? Yes to both!

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Anitra, books, card games, comic, deck building, dragons, flowers, nature, plants, Renegade

Super Mario Level Up!: Climb All of the Levels!

6/10

July 9, 2018 Updated: October 29th, 2018 Andrew Smith Reviews

There is not a more recognizable image of video games in America than the Mario Brothers. Today we’ll take a look at a licensed board game featuring this iconic duo: Super Mario Level Up!, a 2017 game from USAopoly.

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5 players, 6 players, Andrew, deduction, Nintendo, Super Mario, The OP, vote

Funky Chicken: Dance Like No One is Watching

6/10

July 2, 2018 Updated: February 13th, 2023 Andrew Smith Reviews

How do you write about a game that is all about the experience of playing? Funky Chicken isn’t much to look at, but it is amazingly silly fun. Can you make a fool of yourself to get rid of your cards first, or will you be too chicken?

Skyward: Cloud City Contributors

4.5/10

June 25, 2018 Dave Smith Reviews

Everyone pitch in to raise and equip the first city in the sky! But who will the city be named for? Who will be the star of the show, the Lando Calrissian, of this inaugural city in the clouds? I was excited to try this one as I’ve enjoyed a few older games (San Marco, Canal Grande) which have a

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card games, city building, Dave, split and choose

Anomia Kids: Sounds Like Fun!

9/10

June 18, 2018 Updated: August 7th, 2023 Anitra Smith Reviews

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”.