283 – Matt Riddle – The Family Gamers Podcast

Matt Riddle (along with his co-designer Ben Pinchback) is one of our favorite game designers. He has co-designed over 20 “notable” games
» Read moreMatt Riddle (along with his co-designer Ben Pinchback) is one of our favorite game designers. He has co-designed over 20 “notable” games
» Read moreMost fantasy themed games put you in the role of the adventurer. Who doesn’t want to traipse around in dungeons or caves defeating nefarious villains? After your adventures, you return to town to barter your goods and perhaps buy new weapons from the local shop. But how do those shops get their supplies? How do merchants learn how to craft
» Read moreOver the past year, I think many families have been reminded how great it is to sit down and play board games together. If you’d like to add a few games to your holiday shopping list, we have suggestions for all ages and situations.
» Read moreWe pick roll and write games that avoid arithmetic and sequencing, in four levels of difficulty. Which roll and writes give players room to grow?
» Read moreNick reviews the first edition of Boomerang, a phenomenal small box game. Draft cards to collect photos and souvenirs all around Australia, but be careful that your “throw” card is less than the final card you “catch”!
» Read moreColor It! is a very simple roll-and-color game. Use it to practice taking turns, or to begin to teach strategy. We also like it as a way to wind down before bedtime.
» Read more5er Finden is an unusual roll-and-write search game designed by Jürgen Grunau. Up to four players can play, including a solo mode. Published by HABA, the recommended age range is 7-99 and it plays in about 20 minutes. Search for shapes on your personal board that contain all five colored shapes rolled on the five dice. Flip the timer if
» Read moreIn Clip Cut Parks, you’ll design parks by cutting and combining pieces to get exactly what you need. In our SNAP review, you’ll hear Andrew rap about it.
» Read moreFlip cards and write Xs into your transit stops to fill your train lines and get passengers all the way to the end. Colorful and bright, Metro X always leaves us saying “let’s play again!”
» Read moreIn Encore, players roll dice, pick a number and color, then fill in those spaces on their sheet. Everyone races to complete columns to score bigger points.
» Read moreRather than a top 5, we talk about our favorite roll & write games for specific situations. And don’t miss the giveaway!
» Read moreUse Kingdomino scoring as you draft dice and draw “dominoes” into your kingdom. Use the same dice to unlock special powers in the spellbook!
» Read moreIn Criss Cross, you’ll roll two dice and write the pair of symbols anywhere on your player sheet. Make groups of matching symbols in rows and columns to get the best score.
» Read moreDungeon Academy is a real-time path-finding game for 1-6 players. It’s a blast for ages 10+, and playable by younger kids as well.
» Read moreDizzle can be played over and over again without feeling the same, due to the randomness of die rolls and the various layouts of the score sheets. Each level has a different layout that plays to the special fields included.
» Read moreWe would recommend Welcome To… if you regularly find yourself wanting a game that can play six or more players simultaneously without a lot of time pressure or player interaction. For smaller groups, there are so many more games available, that we wouldn’t reach for this one.
» Read moreAndrew found Chris Handy from Perplext at PAX Unplugged, showing off their newest game, Roland Wright, as well as their Pack-O-Games.
» Read moreLanterns Dice is a forgiving roll-and-write that is a spiritual sequel to the laid-back tile-laying game Lanterns: The Harvest Festival. Does it inspire fireworks?
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