Andrew Smith is the executive editor of The Family Gamers, and co-host of The Family Gamers Podcast.
Explore the reviews and podcasts he has contributed to.
We’ve been reviewing board games for almost ten years. And sometimes, we run across ones that REALLY surprise us. Let’s talk about a few this week.
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Looney Labs did some fun and clever things with how they want you to put your words together for success in this game.
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Do you know what a “eurogame” is? Could you explain it to someone who hasn’t played a lot of boardgames? What are some other jargon terms we use that are unfriendly to new players?
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“The dual nature of the cards forced me to keep swapping back and forth and think of both aspects of every card – how it could be used for its scoring condition, and how it could contribute to the goals I’d already set out.”
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Little Alchemists is a “room to grow” game all by itself, starting at a very low level and slowly adding more complexity. You can stop at any time on a level you feel comfortable with and just play that for a while, or even move back a level if you or your kids aren’t ready to move up.
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I had picked up this game because I heard great things about it – and the new version fixes some small issues with the first edition. Is it worth it?
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I’d recommend Mezen to two distinct audiences: Families who want a jumping off point to study more about folk art, especially in Russia or Scandanavia – and gamers who want a puzzley game with no player interference and challenges that never feel punitive.
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It’s been a long time since we defined some board game terms. Let’s do a deep dive into asymmetric games and auction games.
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Who knew the floral market was so competitive? Floristry is quick and cozy for two players.
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After a cold dreary winter, we are ready for green, growing things. Let’s talk about games with flowers and plants that make us think spring.
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Runemasters is a tower defense game where every character’s abilities will add to the success (or failure) of the group.
There’s a lot of randomness in the setup and the gameplay, so it can be surprisingly hard.
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Cooperative games encourage players to work together. Here are three to bring your family from beginner to advanced.
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It took a game or two to get our heads around all of the different mechanics and scoring strategies in Flower Fields but once we did it tasted sweeter than honey. Don’t let these little issues affect your run through the wildflowers though, because Flower Fields comes up smelling like roses.
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“For me this game varied wildly from very easy to very hard depending on the map tile that we happened to use.”
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This was a really hard puzzle – and that’s not a bad thing! Just allow plenty of time to work on it.
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This week, we’re talking about cooperative games – what they are, what makes them a good fit for families, and we explore the breadth of games that can be considered “cooperative”.
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Combo is a great unique game for the family! It’s kind of cooperative, in the sense that you can’t create a full combo on your own. You have to work with people at least a little bit if you’re going to score any points. But it’s not REALLY cooperative, because you still want to get the most points, and win.
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Shift obelisk dice around the circle, banishing opponent’s dice and re-forming your own. Can you attain supremacy by blocking out your opponent entirely?
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