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.
Who doesn’t like food? There are tons of great food games, and we can’t play them all. We rank our top 5, from preschooler-friendly to adults-only.
Play along as we try a food-themed round of Order of Invention. You’ll be surprised which food innovation came first!
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We’ve got a top 10 today – yes, actually 10! Inspired by some filler games we recently received in the mail, and looking forward to hanging out with One Board Family (because we talked filler games when we had them on the podcast), we decided we’d talk about our favorite filler games today. First we thank Breaking Games, whose game
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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 our friend Joe from ArtOfBoardGaming.com! How does he keep up with boardgames now that he’s on the road? Can we recommend a dice-heavy game that he’ll actually enjoy?
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Abstract strategy (or abstract puzzle) games are Anitra’s favorite! Let’s talk about what makes these games great for family game night.
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Let’s talk to Joe Hopkins, the designer of Endangered. Endangered is on Kickstarter right now. Published by Grand Gamers Guild, with art by Beth Sobel and Ben Flores, we think it looks great!
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Building games! We’re taking a lot of liberty with this idea, but centering around creating a “structure” you can see throughout the game. What’s your favorite?
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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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We talk about the use of time in boardgames. Time and time travel can make for an interesting theme, and some games use interesting time mechanics to add tension to the gameplay.
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In Shikoku, you learn that coming in first isn’t always the best. We try to tackle this game with rules that are easy to learn, but hard to explain, in about 8 minutes of audio.
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This episode is special! It’s our combined show with Flip Florey at Granite Game Summit, with special guests Gil Hova, Jason Lees, and “Your Moderator” Chris Michaud. We’re calling it the Super Saturday Family Gamers Super Showdown.
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You’re the most capable heroes in the land. Squash terrifying creatures, disintegrate their wills, and splinter their ranks. But how do you do it? With words, of course. Words like Bravery! Like Righteous! Like… Hamster? Spell Smashers, from Renegade Game Studios, supports 1-5 players, ages 12+, for 60 minutes of word-building (and world-building) fun.
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If your shelves are overflowing, it’s time to take a hard look at what you’ve got. How can you decide to get rid of boardgames? We share listener feedback and how we’re making these hard decisions.
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Get the MacGuffin from Looney Labs is a fast-playing game of player elimination. It’s silly and incredibly quick, even at the maximum of 11 players. Can we find the MacGuffin or were we disappointed?
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On this week’s episode, we are joined by Jon Mietling of Portal Dragon Games, to talk about the Kickstarter for his game Planetoid, his other games, and how games have helped him connect with his foster kids.
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Mostly a catching-up show this week, plus ten minutes talking about different approaches to gaming conventions. It should surprise no one that Andrew and Anitra get very different things out of the conventions we attend.
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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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Deblockle is a beautiful and elegant game of abstract strategy that’s durable enough to keep on your coffee table – even with kids!
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We talk to Trevor Muller-Hegel about Split Perspective Studios. He’s creating variations of classic games (like chess and checkers), with new game designs coming out every month.
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