Anitra Smith is the managing editor of The Family Gamers, and co-host of The Family Gamers Podcast.
Explore the reviews and podcasts she has contributed to.
CABO, a partial information memory game, is fast, easy to teach, and very portable. We love the art and the simplicity of play.
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This week, our special guest is our oldest child, Claire! We’re going to talk about a theme that is near and dear to her heart: DRAGONS! We recommend dragon games for all ages and abilities. First, Claire tells us about some of her favorite dragon books, especially the Wings of Fire series. If you want to talk dragons, you can
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We have been playing Gamewright games for years, but they’re on our mind because we just participated in a Game Night fundraiser (listen to episode 88 if you’re curious how the fundraisers work). What We’ve Been Playing Brainwaves: The Brilliant Boar – examine a card, then add it to your hand, facing away from you. Play cards from your hand
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Five temples hide powerful arcane runes, protected by ancient curses. Collect crystals and fuse them into patterns to break the curses. Can you uncover the runes that hold the Mystery of the Temples?
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Dragon’s Breath from HABA is fun, easy to learn, and beautiful. You and your fellow players are little dragons, hoarding sparkling stones. But the stones are all stuck in a column of ice! Dragon Dad can melt the ice with his fiery breath, but who can grab the most stones as they fall?
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We’ve done Halloween games before, concentrating on non-spooky family options. Good news! There continue to be more family-friendly options for Halloween themed gaming.
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In Strawberry Studio’s game Mount Rushmore, you are trying to be the first player to choose which of the 16 monument cards matches the card flipped from the Search Deck.
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Are EXIT: The House of Riddles and EXIT: The Haunted Rollercoaster good for families? We tried them both with our kids (ages 8 & 11). The following review will have pictures of some of the interior content, but should not spoil any of the puzzles.
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The ice caps are melting. It’s up to you to find enough data to understand and halt the warming, while saving stranded polar bears from drowning as the ice melts underneath them. Are you up to the challenge: Rescue Polar Bears?
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We are celebrating all things KOSMOS with Tom Wetzel. Tom is the Marketing Coordinator for Games at Thames & Kosmos.
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Do you like karaoke? Want to embarrass yourself and your friends? Then you should try the Carpool Karaoke Game.
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If you’re new to the podcast, you might not know that we release a holiday gift guide every year in November. But maybe you like to get your holiday shopping started earlier, or maybe you’ve got other occasions to buy for.
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In Spy Club, take on the role of kid detectives, solving crimes by collecting clue cards. A mosaic campaign adds tons of replayability, changing up the way each case resolves.
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Our guest this week is the incomparable Stephen Buonocore: president of Stronghold Games, co-host of the Board Game Insider podcast, sworn enemy of Tom Vasel, and the mild-mannered alter ego of Elton Johnocore.
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Oh no! The volcano is about to explode! Don’t panic: get all 16 islanders (cave dwellers, dodo birds, eggs) off the island in time! Panic Island! is a speed memory game from Blue Orange Games. We’ll tell you our thoughts on it in just 5 minutes.
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Apparently, there are 162 games in a season of Major League Baseball. So, we’ve reached that milestone now – yay? We’re going to talk about collecting (kids are natural collectors – or maybe hoarders) and “improving” your collection in various ways. What We’ve Been Playing Brainwaves: The Astute Goose – a memory game that actually improves your memory! Spy Club
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We’re here with interviews from this year’s Boston FIG Fest! We’ll tell you about a few of our favorites, have a SNAP review, then get right into the interviews. What surprised us about Boston FIG this year? How much less crowded it felt at the new location. Harvard Athletic Center had a lot more room than MIT. Andrew was surprised
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Big toy companies have the right idea when they promote Family Game Night. Playing games together with our kids provides myriad benefits. Why Have a Game Night? We all know that games can help your kids learn and practice skills in a fun, low-pressure environment. Math, reading, writing, even history and science can all get a boost from playing tabletop
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Can you become the Most Wanted outlaw in the wild west? Try your luck to rob the stagecoach and duel your fellow outlaws in this fast-playing game. We’ll tell you about it in 7 minutes.
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We’re here to talk about games and conflict this week. What can conflict in games teach us? Do your kids handle it well?
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