We talk about player interaction this week. What games will encourage your family to really connect or collaborate? Andrew (and Anitra) also try Mexican hawthorne pulp, “for science!”
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We love Slide Quest, a cooperative dexterity puzzle game. Work together to slide the rolling knight through 5 levels, knocking enemies over on the way.
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Dice Throne is an easy game to pick up and learn. The core of the game is manipulating your dice to get the best result, leading some people to call it “battle Yahtzee”. However, the wide variety present in the cards and characters keeps games feeling fresh and allows for many different overall strategies.
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I love eating baked goods, but my daughter loves making them. In Filler, 1-6 players are pastry chefs, reporting to work at the bakery. Use your supplies to fill recipes; may the best baker win!
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On a recent rainy day, we received a mystery box from Clever Kids Mysteries – the Mystery at the Lux Museum. Opening the box, the kids were immediately interested in what this mystery might be, and how they could solve it!
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Have you always wanted to be an architect? Try your hand at creating towers to fit in tight spaces in Tokyo Jutaku, a speed building game from Jordan Draper Games.
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Kings of Israel is a cooperative game for 2-4 players. You and your fellow prophets band together to preach to the nation, destroy idols, gather resources, and build altars to the Most High God. Along the way you will courageously hold back the tide of sin as you race to build enough altars to save the people and avoid ultimate destruction.
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Who doesn’t like shooting stars – and laid-back puzzley gameplay? That’s the premise behind The Stars Align from Breaking Games.
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We have loved Tiny Towns since the moment we laid eyes on it. The simple mechanics of the game left us to wonder how it was possible a game like this hadn’t already existed. Place wooden cubes in configurations to collapse into a building – so simple, our 4-year-old can play, but a surprising amount of depth and strategy as well.
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It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… a skyscraper! Build the tallest and best buildings in Supertall, a micro game designed by Nat Levan and published by Button Shy Games.
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In ShutterBug from Mike Elliott and Calliope Games, play the role of a freelance photographer, traveling the country to find mythical creatures and snap pictures of them. Pursue tips and hope you can get high quality pictures – complete your assignment and some side jobs and become a world-renowned photographer!
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In Professor Treasure’s Secret Sky Castle, players compete over three rounds to earn the most points by collecting stolen treasures from the Professor’s Castle. It’s a puzzle-y game where you’ll need to outwit your opponent by sending adventures out with unique abilities to collect these priceless treasures. Be wary as the other team will seek to thwart you every step of way.
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Duel to the death with a cast of unlikely-looking ninjas in Tiny Ninjas, a portable game of cards and dice by Ryan Leininger.
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Playing Castle Panic (a fantastic game) with my 4-year-old felt more like giving instructions to an unwilling robot. He wasn’t enjoying himself, and I wasn’t enjoying him not enjoying himself. Would My First Castle Panic be different?
My First Castle Panic is a cooperative tower (castle) defense game for 1-4 players ages 4+ that plays in just 20 minutes. Team up and protect the castle from monsters coming to knock it down! Throw the monsters in jail and save the castle!
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Fluff, from Bananagrams, is actually the two-hundred-year-old game Liar’s Dice, with adorable but shady looking critters and clever dice cups. Claire tells you why we like it.
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Hanamikoji is a beautiful compact game for two players from Deep Water Games. Win the favor of geisha by playing their favored items, but choose carefully! You’ll also have to give cards away to your opponent.
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Palm Island is a 17-card game designed and illustrated by Jon Mietling, published by Portal Dragon Games. It needs no flat surface at all; the entire game is played in one hand.
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The constant push and pull to acquire the right resources and rooms to ratchet up your victory point and gold total is a fascinating puzzle for me. If you enjoy the careful balance of tight resource management games you will enjoy Cave vs Cave.
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