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.
Simon’s Cat Card Game is a simple shedding game with a minor twist. The suits aren’t evenly distributed, and you take a “mess” if you can’t play a card on your turn.
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Friends ask me on a regular basis about good games for very young children or children who have learning impairments. How can you have a game that’s fun without counting or even color matching?
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We just returned from this year’s PAX Unplugged. We’re exhausted, but ready to share with you our favorite moments and interviews from the show!
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We really enjoyed Dragons & Chickens, even though most of us aren’t huge fans of speed games. It makes a great filler game for a group of 3-5 players.
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Untold is an episodic cooperative storytelling game. The premise is that you and up to three fellow players are characters in a TV show. Using a framework of “scenes” and Rory’s Story Cubes, you’ll work out a role-playing story together.
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In Catch! from Peaceable Kingdom, players work together to move 4 cats to surround a mouse and keep it from escaping the yard.
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Did you know the average family has 1.8 kids? What do you do with the extra .8? Thanksgiving and the winter holidays are upon us. Even if you normally play with 2 or 3 players, you’ll probably want to accommodate more family in your games!
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You want to be a master painter? In Pigment, from Copper Frog Games, you can be. Send your apprentices out to collect or trade “pigment” cubes (red, yellow, blue). Then spend them in the right combination to paint Renaissance masterpieces.
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In Chupacabra: Survive the Night, you use your chupacabra dice to steal other players’ animals.
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Ever thought about the viruses and bacteria that get you sick? They’re fighting back against your body’s immune system to grow and reproduce.
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A simple take-that game, 10 Essentials aims to to introduce kids to the standard “ten essential items” for backcountry hiking. Remedy dangers like dehydration or snow while playing similar dangers on the other players! What did Asher and Anitra think of this game? Listen to their review in 6 minutes, or read on below. 10 Essentials was designed by John
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I love science fiction and I love games; but I hate waiting around. Unfortunately, whether it’s a music class, sports practice, or just school pickup, I do a lot of waiting. Why not play a game? Twin Stars is a solo wallet-sized game from Button Shy, played with only 3 cards at a time.
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Mmm! is a favorite game to play with children. Reiner Knizia has created a puzzle that is neither too easy for adults nor too hard for preschoolers.
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Do you enjoy speed games like SlapJack, Spit, or Slamwich? Then you should listen to our review of Super Kitty Bug Slap, from Steve Jackson Games.
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Sumer is a unique game. Neither fully a video game nor fully a board game, it meshes the best aspects of both for an engaging experience.
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A unique dexterity game from Blue Orange Games. We’ll tell you about both modes of play for this speedy puzzle game
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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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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.
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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
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