Have you ever dreamed of traveling through space?

Was it just a nice relaxing flight or were you battling aliens, navigating asteroid fields, and farming resources from colonies on distant planets?

If it’s the latter, then it’s time you play a game of Terra Prime.

See what the board game is all about in Jaden’s video review.

Can the whole family enjoy Terra Prime?
We don’t think the whole family will enjoy Terra Prime. First of all, this isn’t a good game for youngsters for a couple reasons. As you can see in the video review, there are a ton of items to keep track of and most of them are small – begging to be fiddled with, eaten, or just lost. But more important than that is the fact that it’s a game that takes a lot of thinking and planning.

Older children, on the other hand, may really like it. You can see that Jaden gave Terra Prime very high marks in his video review. He’s the kind of boy that loves collecting and storing all sorts of items, so I’m not surprised that he’s not intimidated by all the components that make up Terra Prime. Instead, he loves all the different things you need to keep track of, think about, and plan for in the game. So this board game is right up his alley.

And let’s not forget the game’s space theme. Thinking about colonizing distant planets and upgrading your ship to haul more cargo or fend off aliens is a pretty cool theme for many youngsters. So if that’s of any interest to your kids, then you may want to give Terra Prime a try.

How many people can play Terra Prime?
There are enough spaceships in the game for 5 people to play. But it can also be played with as few as 2 people. However, with only 2 people things are spread out more on the board and there is less player interaction. So we prefer 3 or 4 players. That way you get a good balance of working on your strategy while still getting good player interaction (the chance to mess others up in their plans). We haven’t played with 5 yet, but we feel that the games would seem too long with that many players.

How does Terra Prime score on the “Let’s Play Again” meter?
Terra Prime doesn’t score high on our “Let’s Play Again” meter but that doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable. While Caleb, of course, wants to immediately play again, others are ready for a break when one game ends. So we don’t hear “let’s play again” right away. And I think they’re ready for a mental break afterward anyway. But Terra Prime is a board game that they enjoy pulling out when their space exploration mood hits.

Thanks Tasty Minstrel Games for a good space game that keeps our kids on their toes. 

The Board Game Family Game Ratings
	Caleb
Has not played	Brooke
	Jaden
	Trevor
Has not played	Mom
	Dad
	Average

Pick up a copy!

Buy from Funagain Games

Buy from Amazon

Summertime is the perfect time for family vacations. School has ended and the kids are ready for some fun getaways. So pack up the car and head out.

As a parent, it’s easy to recall those care-free summer family vacations. Everything was just footloose, fancy-free fun. There really wasn’t anything to worry about – after all, it was summer vacation!

But now we’re grown and realize that getting away for a family vacation doesn’t mean “care-free” any more. In fact, it can be quite the opposite. We have to “care” about a lot of things and that in turn can just add to our stress. All the planning, the packing, and the rush to finish things up at work can create more stress than we bargain for. And then once the vacation does begin we get the stress of playing referee when the screams start emanating from the backseat, “he’s touching me,” or “she won’t stop singing.”

So do you really want to take a family vacation this year?

Actually, even with all that, we sure hope you do. Sure it may not be as care-free as when you were younger, but it’s still refreshing and rejuvenating to get out into the world and see some new places. Or to introduce your kids to familiar places that you loved as a child.

Family vacations are fantastic times to really connect as a family and enjoy one another’s company. But that doesn’t mean you have to be busy the whole time – running from place to place to see and do as much as you can. Sure you want to take advantage of what’s around the area, but don’t lose focus on what matters most – your family. The worst thing to have happen is to let things and activities get in the way of people.

We’ve found that one of the best ways to do that on vacation is to schedule down time each day. Most of the time, that means kicking back in the evening. But depending on the age of the kids, it may also mean calm time mid-afternoon and in the evening.

And one of the things that helps us settle down and enjoy focused time with each other is to remove other distractions and play some light family games. This is one of those perfect times to play light games because we find ourselves in the mood to let our brains take it easy. Light card games are also great for family vacations because they don’t take up much space and are easy to pack.

Here are some of the card games that we like to throw in when we hit the road for a family vacation.

• BANG! (plays just fine without the player sheets and bullets)
• SkipBo (simple game play leaves a lot of conversation time)
• Mamma Mia! (it seems we always order pizza at least once while on vacation)
• Straw (so quick to play that we can stop whenever we want)
• UNO (the old stand-by that’s still fun)
• and let’s not forget just a standard deck of cards – we can always play WAR.

We’d love to hear what games your family enjoys playing while on vacation.

Leave a comment »

The monstrous ship is sinking and all you want to do is save the rats?

Yep.

What a great, funny premise for a board game. But the premise in Abandon Ship is only one of the reasons why it’s a great family board game.

See the other reasons why Brooke rates Abandon Ship so highly in her latest video review.

Can the whole family enjoy Abandon Ship?
Whether young or old, everyone in the family can enjoy this board game. It has simple play mechanics of rolling and moving, but there’s still strategy involved in which rats you choose to move. So it’s a good balance that keeps the game interesting.

One of the elements that makes it such a great family board game is that you aren’t limited to being one particular rat. When we first opened the game we got the normal calling out of, “I want red”, “I want blue” and such. However, that’s not how the board game is played. Rather than being one color and trying to get that rat to safety, everyone gets 3 rats to cheer for. And no one knows which rats the others are cheering for.

This is fantastic for a few reasons. First it gives everyone a chance to get in on the scoring action at the end. Second, it helps some of your rats move ahead even when it isn’t your turn because others might be cheering for one of the same rats and advance it. Third, and what I like the best, is that rats can sink without putting any player out of the game. So even if one of your rats drowns as the ship sinks, you still have a couple rats to cheer for. So none of the kids go away pouting because their rat is out.

What size table do you need?
As you can see in the video, the board in Abandon Ship is very long. It may not be when you first set it up, but it’s a two piece board and as you sink the ship during the game it will get longer and longer. The ocean board is 33 inches long and the sinking ship board just adds to the length as the game goes.

The board and the components are all very well made too. The rats are nice wooden characters and the tokens are thick and will stand up to much repeated play by kids young and old for years to come.

How does Abandon Ship score on the “Let’s Play Again” meter?
You may get tired of reading this every time, but Abandon Ship also scores high on our “Let’s Play Again” meter. It’s a cleverly themed game and doesn’t take long to play. So it’s easy to simply start over and play again. But just because a game plays relatively quickly doesn’t mean that everyone wants to play again. However, with Abandon Ship typically everyone will gladly play again.

Thanks Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) for the best rat racing game on the seven seas!

The Board Game Family Game Ratings
	Caleb
	Brooke
	Jaden
	Trevor
	Mom
	Dad
	Average

Pick up a copy!

Buy from Funagain Games

Buy from Amazon

Have you ever wondered how you’d do in a lumberjack, log rolling competition? Ok, so maybe everyone doesn’t think of such things. But don’t worry, there isn’t any log rolling in Fast Flowing Forest Fellers anyway. But this fun family board game does make you wonder what a lumberjack really does all day.

Well, whatever life as a real lumberjack would bring, we’re sure it isn’t full of just racing down the river. And that’s too bad. Because racing your lumberjacks down the rivers in Fast Flowing Forest Fellers is great family fun.

We know there are a number of racing themed board games, but let’s just say lumberjack racing rocks.

And our resident expert lumberjack racer, Jaden, is here to tell you all about why he loves Fast Flowing Forest Fellers in his board game video review.

Can the whole family enjoy Fast Flowing Forest Fellers?

Absolutely. Our whole family enjoys playing Fast Flowing Forest Fellers (and not just because the name of the game is fun to say over and over). Like many other racing board games, it’s a very simple game concept that kids of any age can grasp: Get your pieces to the other side of the board first. But Fast Flowing Forest Fellers is not so simple that the older kids and adults won’t have any fun.

Fast Flowing Forest Fellers strikes a great balance between strategy and luck which makes for a great family board game. The luck comes into play when you’re drawing random cards to play from. The strategy comes into play as you choose which card you’re going to play and how you’ll use the layout of the rivers to your advantage.

How much player interaction is there?
With a number of lumberjacks making their way down the river of logs and currents, there is plenty of interplay between the players. We always have a lot of bumping of lumberjacks into currents to send them floating backward which creates some fun challenges. And dad always has to watch out because there must not be anything more fun in the world than sending your dad backward in a race.

Let’s hear it for the game components too

Flowing Forest Fellers has great game components. A family board game based on lumberjack racing has to have great game components to really make it work. And Rio Grande Games delivers. The lumberjack pieces, the logs, the river boards, and the cards are all great. We get a kick out of the artwork on each card. The #5 card is our favorite and not just because you can travel so far down river with it. The picture of the lumberjack holding on for dear life tells you a lot about the fun involved in the game.

How does Fast Flowing Forest Fellers score on the “Let’s Play Again” meter?
Fast Flowing Forest Fellers scores very high on our “Let’s Play Again” meter. With the variable river boards, there’s always some way to mix up the fun. So the kids always want to play “just one more time” with another river configuration. And their confidence is always high that for sure they’ll win the game this time.

Thanks Rio Grande Games for lumberjack racing at its finest!

The Board Game Family Game Ratings
	Caleb
	Brooke
	Jaden
	Trevor
	Mom
	Dad
	Average

Pick up a copy!

Buy from Funagain Games

Buy from Amazon

Our kids love the Walter Wick “I Spy” and “Can You See What I See?” books. Our family has quite a few and they’re full of such interesting photos and image finding puzzles that they always capture our attention. We also had the chance last summer to see a Walter Wick exhibit at a local museum and it was fantastic.

So when Gamewright came out with Can You See What I See? Bingo Link this year we were anxious to give it a try.

Here’s Brooke to tell you what she thinks of Bingo Link in her board game video review.

Can the whole family enjoy Bingo Link?
The simple answer is “yes”. Can You See What I See? Bingo Link is a simple game that’s easy to play for all ages. But that doesn’t mean that your teenagers are going to grab it off the shelf every day to play. While they may not put up a fuss playing with the family, Bingo Link is a board game better suited for the younger kids in the family.  And in that regard, it’s very enjoyable.

Setting up the game is very easy since you just need to choose your board and you’re off and running. So it’s easy for kids to pick up and play on their own.

How does Bingo Link compare to the other Walter Wick range products?
Like we mentioned earlier, we have quite a few Walter Wick “I Spy” and “Can You See What I See?” books. We also have a couple “I Spy” computer games. As you can see in the video and images, all of the objects on the Bingo Link boards are very easy to spot. They’re all on a white background and just placed in different locations on each playing board. While this makes the game play simple, it doesn’t deliver the same type of fun that kids get in searching for hidden objects on very detailed and interesting backgrounds.

So if you’re looking for an exact replica of the hidden objects photos found in the Walter Wick books, you won’t find it in Bingo Link. But kids will have fun trying to find each item called out on their card. And as kids see they’re getting closer to completing a line to the other side of the board, they’ll get pretty excited. So while it’s not the same type of challenge as the books, it’s still fun for kids.

How does Bingo Link score on the “Let’s Play Again” meter?
With the younger kids, Bingo Link scores high on the “Let’s Play Again” meter. It’s another board game that’s hard to stop with just one play. While there isn’t a lot of variety in the game play, those who don’t win are always just one or two spots away from winning, so they always call out a challenge to play again.

Thanks Gamewright for another easy to play family board game!

The Board Game Family Game Ratings
	Caleb
	Brooke
	Jaden
	Trevor
	Mom
	Dad
	Average

Pick up a copy!

Buy from Funagain Games

Buy from Amazon