Ready to build your civilization?

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like building the amazing wonders of the world? What if you lived in those ancient civilizations? Do you imagine slaving away at their construction or commanding those that did?

What if you could play a game that took you back in time, put you in that setting, and let you build those wonders and civilizations in less than 45 minutes?

7 Wonders set out to do just that.

But does it deliver?

Check out this video review by Caleb (9 yrs old) to see. And because 7 Wonders looks intimidating at first glance, this review goes a little deeper. Rather than just scratching the surface, Caleb goes over more than what our reviews typically cover. He covers How to Play, the Cards, and the Scoring with enough info to get you started.

What’s so great about 7 Wonders?
There was a lot of buzz when 7 Wonders was released near the end of 2010. The hype machine seemed to be in overdrive. And many people were wondering if the game could really be as good as the hype indicated. And I was one of those skeptics.

Can definitely fill a table.

I’d see pictures of the game and think it looked complicated – cards with all sorts of different symbols stacked and laid out in many different piles covering the table. You can see what I mean from this picture here – which is only a 3 player game. Pictures of a finished 7 player game seemed overwhelming.

So I thought I’d wait this card game out. I’d wait until the hype had died down and see if people were still talking about it a year later with the same excitement and enjoyment. As such, it was a year later when I finally sat down to try a game myself. And sure enough, that first play took a little time to get rolling. But once we’d played through and were familiar with the cards and symbols we were anxious to play again. And before you know it, 7 Wonders was on my Christmas wish list.

And I’m glad it made it under the Christmas tree!

Here’s 4 reasons why we think 7 Wonders is a great card game:

1. Simultaneous Play
What we like most about 7 Wonder is the simultaneous decision making and play. In most games, when it’s a player’s turn, the rest of the players sit and wait for them to make a decision. But in 7 Wonders, everyone is making decisions at the same time. You’re all deciding which card to select from your hand and play at the same time. Then the hand of remaining cards passes to your neighbor and you make another decision. So there isn’t any down time during the game. You’re spending the whole game playing rather than waiting. Awesome!

2. Play Time
And because of the simultaneous play, the game goes by rather quickly. In 30-45 minutes you’ve built up your civilization and you’re ready to compare it to your opponents. But because you’re actively making decisions the whole time, the game doesn’t seem to last long at all. In other 30 minute board games or card games you may spend half the time sitting and waiting. Not with 7 Wonders. It’s full play time.

3. Number of Players
The first two reasons actually pave the way for this 3rd reason. Since everyone is deciding and playing at the same time, you can add more players and it won’t add more time to the game. And when you need to buy resources from others or compare military strength, you only need to look at the players to your immediate right and left (your neighboring civilizations). So a game with 7 players doesn’t extend the game. And with a family of 6, this also means that everyone can play together!

4. Theme
While I never really get the sense of living in and building up ancient civilizations and slaving away at the wonders, the theme is a fun one to center this type of game around. The theme gives reason for getting your resources in place, interacting with your neighbors, and the different paths to victory. Sometimes hearing “civilization building game” can sound boring. But the pace of the game play in 7 Wonders isn’t boring at all. It makes it fun to build a civilization.

Can the whole family enjoy 7 Wonders?

The winning civilization!

Almost. On the game box, the recommended age for 7 Wonders is 13+. But many sites online (including BoardGameGeek) indicate 10+. We think 10+ is pretty accurate. Because of all that’s going on in the game, youngsters will have a hard time with it. However, based on the experience of the kids in your family, you may try including those a little younger than 10.

As you can see in Caleb’s video review, because of his experience playing games with many things going on to keep track of, he doesn’t feel overwhelmed with the game at all. And in the game we played while doing the review, he pulled out the victory.

So if you’re trying to decide if your little tikes can handle it, watch the video review to get a more detailed view then play it once yourself. You’ll be the best judge for your crew.

What about mom?
If you’ve watched or read many of our reviews, you’ll know that mom likes games that have more luck involved. She favors games where the playing field is leveled by elements of luck. She’s not as interested in a number of strategic board games or card games that others in our family really enjoy like Small World, Thunderstone, Lord of the Rings the Confrontation, or Hive (which she actually just doesn’t like the “creepy spider”).

Many points from the sciences.

So having her give 7 Wonders a try was a gamble. But telling her that I thought she’d actually like this card game and catching her in a weak moment, she agreed to give it a try. As I explained the different types of cards and symbols to her, her eyes started glazing over. And as she stared at her first hand of cards, the look of confusion was very apparent. But since I was familiar with that feeling (typical of the first play), I knew to just forge ahead.

Sure enough, after getting a few cards out in play, the confusion started to dissipate. And by the end of the 2nd Age, she was really into the game and enjoying it. A big thumbs up!

There are elements of luck in the game because you’re dealing with cards. But it’s that variability of what cards will come your way that keeps the game interesting throughout and changes every time you play. Combine that with the constant decisions to make and you’ve got a great game even for mom.

Great for game groups too

A well fought civilization.

7 Wonders has been a hit with my game group as well. We have a group of guys that get together one night a month to play games and since getting 7 Wonders to the table, it’s been played every time.

Again, it’s great because it works as well with 3 players as it does with 7. And the more familiar everyone becomes with the game, the smoother it flows. Add to that the competitive nature you get with a group of guys and you’ve got a fun game experience.

How does 7 Wonders score on the “Let’s Play Again” game meter?
7 Wonders scores very high on our “Let’s Play Again” game meter. Even with all the cards, it doesn’t take long to set up. And once you’re familiar with the types of cards and the symbols, playing a game goes by quickly as well. We’ve placed 7 Wonders in an easy to reach location on our game shelves because it’s getting a lot of repeated play. It’s a safe bet that 7 Wonders will be in our top 5 of games played most this year.

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

This post is from The Board Game Family. 7 Wonders = Wonderful The Board Game Family - Families that play together stay together

Could this be the winner?

It’s that time of year again – time for the annual Dice Tower Awards!
Well, actually it’s time for the game nominations to be announced.

This week, The Dice Tower Network announced the nominations for the Dice Tower Gaming Awards for 2011. A committee made up of over 40 prominent board game podcasters and bloggers has come up with the lists of the best games released in the year 2011.

This year, it was decided to increase the nomination slate for Game of the Year to 10 games rather than five. They’ve also added two new categories: Best Digital Board Games – for board games translated to iOS devices or computers, and a Best Game Theme category – in which games are recognized for having unique, refreshing themes or portraying their theme well.

The winners will be announced the first week of July – after more game playing and comparisons can be made from repeated plays to judge which are really the Best of the Best.

Here’s this year’s list of nominations in the 13 categories, along with designer and English publisher.

We’ve found it interesting how these nominees compare to the Best Board Game and Best Card Game of 2011 list that we posted about just after 2011 came to a close. That preliminary list included 27 games. What’s interesting is that only 13 of those became nominees in The Dice Tower Awards 2011.

Now I better get back to playing some games – so I can be better prepared to worthily contribute along with the others around the world judging this year’s nominees and ultimate winners!

If you’re interested in seeing The Dice Tower Awards lists from years past, head to the Dice Tower website.
2010 – Best Game of the Year Winner: 7 Wonders
2009 – Best Game of the Year Winner: Smallworld
2008 – Best Game of the Year Winner: Dominion
2007 – Best Game of the Year Winner: Race for the Galaxy

This post is from The Board Game Family. Best Board Games of 2011 – Nominees announced! The Board Game Family - Families that play together stay together

The rides are now open!

I love amusement parks and carnivals!

I love the feeling of zooming all over on roller coasters and other contraptions. I also have many fond memories of lazy summer days with my cousins at state fairs with cool rides.

And on those fun summer days I’d imagine what it would be like to work at an amusement park. I’d dream of how cool it would be around all those rides every day and ride as much as I wanted to.

Of course, that’s a young kid’s dream. Reality sets in as you age and you realize that working at an amusement park or carnival is a lot different than riding the rides.

So is Carnival – a card game about building carnival rides – more like the thrill of riding the rides or the drudgery of operating them while you watch others have fun?

Set collecting for fun rides.

What is the card game Carnival about?
In the game Carnival, you take on the role of a carnival operator. Your job is to build 4 carnival attractions before the competing carnival operators build theirs. To build an attraction you’ll need to collect the 4 components that makeup the attraction: Light, Seats, Banners, and Maintenance.

So in essence, Carnival is simply a set collection card game. However, there are some cool elements that add a twist to simply drawing and playing cards.

How do you play Carnival?

Fabulous art style!

On your turn you’ll get a chance to work with your hand of cards and then play your choice of cards to your midway. So the basics play of Carnival is pretty much like other set collection – collect cards and form sets of 4.

But Carnival is different than the rest. The game adds in new twists that will keep you thinking and adjusting throughout the game.

The biggest element is the use of dice to determine what you get to do on your turn to manage your cards. Rather than just draw a card from the deck, you roll 3 dice. Then you’ll select 2 of those dice to determine what actions you can take.

Roll 3 dice for the 2 actions you can take on your turn.

And that’s where your best laid plans can hit the tank. You may have great plans for what you want to do next, but if the dice come out different, you may not get to do the actions you were hoping for. While it may mess up your plans, that single element adds a very cool factor to the game that keeps it interesting.

If you roll:

1. Draw a card from the deck
2. Draw a card from the discard pile
3. Steal a card from an opponent’s hand
4. Swap a card from your hand with one from an opponent’s hand
5. Swap a card from your midway with a card from an opponent’s midway
6. Steal a card from an opponent’s midway and discard a card from your hand

The other very cool element that makes Carnival unique is that you can also adjust the dice or block an opponent. Every player gets 3 Tickets to start the game and you can discard a Ticket to Roll Again, Add or Subtract 1 pip from 1 die, or Block an opponent’s action. But you’ll need to choose wisely because those Tickets are limited.

And the Carnival artwork rocks! We love the style of the art on the Carnival cards and think it really brings the theme to life.

So is Carnival fun for families?
With a name as evocative as ‘Carnival’ we anticipated a lot of fun from the game. However, it turned out to get mixed reactions. And perhaps a lot of that was simply based on what each of us expected the game would be.

For those expecting Carnival to be just a nice, light, happy-go-lucky card game, they were disappointed. Carnival isn’t that. Instead building your Carnival is full of dirty handed deeds like stealing cards from your opponents – and not only blind draws from your opponent’s hands, but right from their partially built rides.

And that didn’t fly well with our daughter at all.

Of course, the recommended age for the game is 13+. So that should tell you right up front that it’s not just a light, fluffy game. Instead it takes some planning, stealing, and lucky dice rolls to get your Carnival built first. So we’re not surprised that our teenage boys rate Carnival higher than our younger two.

They found the game very interesting and don’t mind being attacked because they’ll come right back at you without worry.

So from a parent’s perspective we’d suggest you follow the recommended guidelines and not bring it to the table with the youngsters (unless you want hurt feelings in your home). Take them out for cotton candy instead – they’ll enjoy it a lot more.

Thanks to Dice Hate Me Games and Game Salute for providing a copy of Carnival for our review!

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

This post is from The Board Game Family. Step Right Up to the Carnival The Board Game Family - Families that play together stay together

Quick slapping fun!

There are a lot of party games that have a moderator asking questions or making statements. Chances are you’ve played a number of them.

But have you ever played any that have people slapping the table for the answer?

In Trigger, players get that chance.

See what Brooke thinks of Trigger in her short video review.

Can the whole family enjoy Trigger?

So many cards and questions.

Trigger is a game that’s very simple to play and will appeal to a lot of people looking for a quick, light game to play with a group. However, you’ll notice that the lowest rating in our family was given by Caleb. Since it’s a game of speed, quick thinking, and slapping, the younger kids are at a disadvantage.

And it’s hard to get your competitive teenagers to take it easy on the younger among you. In a game like Trigger, cheetah reflexes pay off.

However, if your family consists of just young children, then a game of Trigger would be more balanced and they could all enjoy it together (since mom and dad should be able to hold back a bit). And once they grow into competitive teenagers, they love to go at each other.

Will you break a finger playing Trigger?
You just might.

Actually, in our games of Trigger it hasn’t gotten that bad. Yes, we’ve had the occasional fingernail jabs that leave marks, but no blood and no broken bones…yet.

A wide variety of questions/statements make it fun
Trigger is full of fun questions to keep you on your toes. And a great thing about this family game is that the answers may be different for each player. Sure there are some questions that are always True or False. But a lot of the questions require each player to assess the answer from their perspective.

Bring it to your next party!

Just take a look at some sample questions/statements:

• I have called you on the phone before
• You have to work tomorrow
• There are fewer than two houseplants in this room
• There are 6 Olympic rings
• My last name starts with a vowel
• You have blue eyes
• You can touch your nose with your tongue
• You are the shortest person at the table
• In 7 hours it will be tomorrow
• Your hair touches your shoulders

Since the answers are all a 50/50 chance, we’ve also seen the strategy of just slapping a hand before the question is completely read so you get on the trigger first – then just hope that the answer was correct. But that strategy doesn’t last too long before players are giving it some thought before slapping.

How does Trigger score on the “Let’s Play Again” game meter?
Even with Caleb’s low rating, Trigger scores high on our “Let’s Play Again” game meter. It’s a quick game that’s easy to pull out practically anywhere. And it keeps everyone laughing and talking so it’s also great to take along to a party or to a family gathering. And since you hardly get through much of the card deck in one game (and there are many questions per card), it’s easy to play again back-to-back.

Thanks Blue Orange Games for a great family party game!

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

This post is from The Board Game Family. Quick thinking, quick slapping Trigger The Board Game Family - Families that play together stay together

Carcassonne tops the list.

That’s hard for us to believe because we know our extended family isn’t that big.

All we can say is THANK YOU for participating with us in the fun endeavor of family game time.

Those numbers indicate that on average each video has been viewed more than 3,000 times. However, we know that’s definitely not the case. Some board game reviews clearly stand out as the most popular.

So what are our most viewed board game and card game video reviews?

Our most viewed Family Board Game and Card Game Video Reviews are:
(at the time of this posting – 2/29/12)

Carcassonne
Carcassonne is one of the games that launched our family into the fun world of family board games. It’s on our Top 10 Must Have Family Board Games list for a reason. And it’s closing in on 50,000 views!

Dominion
Dominion is truly an card game like no other. It’s the most addictive card game we have and continually tops our list of most played card game. It may take you a play or too to get a feel for it, but once you do, it’s hard not to be hooked.

Risk: Star Wars the Clone Wars
This was the first board game that we filmed a review for so the video has its issues. But it’s still a great game. Of course we love the Star Wars theme and that it’s a game of Risk that builds up good to and end-game condition rather than going on forever.

Qwirkle
Qwirkle won the Spiel des Jahres award for best board game last year for a reason – it’s a great family board game. With luck of the tile draw and strategic tile placement it’s got a great balance for family fun.

Sequence
Sequence is a staple in our game closet. It’s a simple game that works well on so many levels. And whenever we get together with extended family for a weekend, it’s on the table.

Ticket to Ride: Europe
The Ticket to Ride series is simply a great group of family board games. If you haven’t tried it yet, don’t wait any longer. And for what it’s worth, we like the Europe version best.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Cheese Touch
We think it’s pretty funny that this game is in the Top 10 of video reviews viewed – with almost 10,000 (as of this writing). Our guess is that there’s a ton of kids that love the books and have watched the movies. So of course they want to check out what the game’s like.

Blokus
Blokus is another abstract board game that’s fantastic for families. There have been a number of derivative board games created from the success of Blokus. But it’s hard to beat the original.

Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot
Killer Bunnies is full of wackiness. Don’t know what wackiness is? Then pick up a copy of Killer Bunnies. The fun must be found in the playing of the game because the winning condition at the end is completely random. So enjoy the journey, not the destination.

Bang!
Bang! is actually THE game that put us on this path of reviewing family board games. It was Caleb at age 6 being placed in the role of Sheriff and coming out with guns blazing where we knew we had something on our hands and just had to share it with others. And since then we’ve added the Dodge City expansion that adds even more fun to the game.

So that’s our Top 10 The Board Game Family Video Reviews list based on the time of this writing. There are a bunch of great family board games that haven’t quite cracked this list yet and you can see which those are by visiting our YouTube channel.

If you want to see where these games rank our our favorite games, check out our Board Game Reviews page and click on the column headings to sort it as you see fit.

This post is from The Board Game Family. Top 10 Most Viewed Board Game Video Reviews The Board Game Family - Families that play together stay together

Do all of your board games get jumbled together too?

When we saw this Baby Blues comic in yesterday’s newspaper, we just had to share it. Our day doesn’t seem quite complete if we don’t read Baby Blues. Even the kids love the funny family comic. So when it mentioned board games, we especially got a kick out of it.

It also reminded us of a number of comments we received from friends after they saw us on TV on Studio 5 and noticed the shot of our game closet. They mentioned how organized our game closet looked with games stacked nicely on the shelves. By comparison, while they only have a handful of board games, they’re laying disorganized on a closet shelf with all the pieces scattered amongst them.

They have to go somewhere.

Organized by Default
Of course, we can’t claim that our game closet has always been organized either. In fact, we didn’t start out with a board game closet even on the list. Our current board game closet was actually built to be a storage closet. And we planned for a cabinet in the family room where we’d place our games so we could easily pull them out to play. But then the family board game bug struck and before you know it, we got carried away.

With a current board game, card game, and party game count coming in over 250 we need to be organized. It’s that simple.

Thus our storage closet became our walk-in game closet. And when we’re looking for a game, we simply head to that section. Kind of like a library. We’ve put all the party games in one area and card games in another. The large box games are stacked near the back and the kid games are on the lower shelves. And so it goes.

Stormtroopers on the beach in '44.

If we didn’t organize it some way, we’d be overwhelmed.

Creative Kids
But the thing that I love about the Baby Blues comic is how the kids make creative use of the games. Who says you have to be limited by the rules of a game? And in a like manner, who says you have to keep the games separate at all?

Why not just have fun with your games in any way you choose?

We know there's treasure here.

In fact, that’s probably just how some board games get designed. The designers take parts of games they enjoy and then find creative ways to combine them with a new theme.

And if your game pieces do get mixed around, that might bring fresh life to some of your family board games. Why not have Star Wars characters storm the beaches in Memoir ’44 or Gold Miners look for treasure on Forbidden Islands?

So this week we challenge you to add some creativity to your family board game time. Mix it up a little and see what your family can come up with during your game time.

This post is from The Board Game Family. How organized are your board games? The Board Game Family - Families that play together stay together

We’re often asked what our favorite new board games and card games are. And when the year rolls around to a new year, the question gets asked more frequently. Many people are anxious to hear what the best board games of the past year were.

While we’d love to give the definitive list of best board games to the world, it brings up a few issues.

1. With about 1,000 new board games releasing every year, there’s no way for one person to judge them all. How can one person or one family get through all those games to compare them?
2. With so many different types of games, how should we compare one against another (party game vs. a deeply themed strategy game) ?
3. When’s the best time to judge the games? Can we judge it like a movie with a singular experience or should it first stand the test of time?

So with those issues in mind, we’re happy to point you in a solid direction.

This month The Dice Tower podcast released 2 episodes focused on the Best Board Games of 2011. The great thing about this source for a “best of” listing is that contributors from around the world weigh in on what they believe the best games of 2011 were. They also break them down into various categories so it’s easier to compare one against another.

In regards to how soon a game can be declared “the best”, the final Dice Tower list will come out in the summer of 2012 – after many plays and rounds of nominations and voting from game reviewers across the globe. That’s when we’ll have a better feel for how the test of time will treat these new games.

With that in mind, here are the games that made The Dice Tower preliminary list of Best Board Games of 2011. (Of course, at the end we’ll also tell you which board games our family liked best from 2011.)

Best Board Games and Card Games of 2011 – The Dice Tower

• Super Dungeon Explore
• Star Trek Fleet Captains
• Discworld: Ankh-Morpork
• Mage Knight Board Game
• Eminent Domain
• Yomi
• Kingdom Builder
• BattleCON: War of Indines
• Quarriors
• King of Tokyo
• Castles of Burgundy
• Eclipse
• Paperclip Railways
• Risk Legacy
• Battleship Galaxies
• Core Worlds
• Node
• Sentinels of the Multiverse
• Airlines Europe

And their Runners Up are:

• Letters from Whitechapel
• Dungeon Run
• Fealty
• Dungeons & Dragons: Conquest of Nerath Board Game
• The Ares Project
• Conquest of Planet Earth
• Few Acres of Snow
• Panic Station

Best Board Games and Card Games of 2011 – The Board Game Family
Here are the 2011 games that our family liked the most:

• Knock Your Blocks Off
• City Square Off
• Say Anything Family Edition
• Dixit Odyssey
• Reverse Charades Junior Edition
• Martian Dice
• Dominion: Cornucopia
• Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan
• Castle Panic: The Wizard’s Tower

(As you can tell, we’ve got a few of these game reviews still coming.)

It’s an understatement to say that there’s a ton of 2011 board games that we haven’t had a chance to play yet. Here are the 2011 board and card games that we’re most anxious to try:

• Kingdom Builder
• King of Tokyo
• Dominion: Hinterlands
• 7 Wonders Leaders
• Power Grid: The Robots
• Ticket to Ride: Alvin and Dexter
• Small World: Underground
• A Fistful of Penguins
• Secret of Monte Cristo
• Lost Temple
• Pastiche
• Rumble in the House
• The Road to Canterbury
• Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of Ashardalon
• Dungeons & Dragons: Conquest of Nerath Board Game

It’s a long list and who knows if we’ll have a chance to try these board games or not, but it should be fun trying. After all, we’re thinking there may be another cool game or two come out in 2012 that we’ll want to play along the way.

Have a great 2012 with your family!

Do you have a Best Board Games of 2011? Tell us about it in the comments below.

This post is from The Board Game Family. Best Board Games and Card Games of 2011 The Board Game Family - Families that play together stay together

What defines a board game or card game?

In our view, the whole definition of a board game or card game revolves around it being something physical that you can touch, feel, and move around. Playing board games is all about the social interaction of sitting around, face-to-face and moving stuff around on the table or from hand to hand.

So what’s the deal with board games going digital? And do they still qualify as “board” games, “card” games, or “dice” games if they don’t have physical boards, cards, or dice?

So many board games have gone digital

Take your games with you.

With the rise of the iPod, iPad, iPhone, Android, and other mobile devices, digital gaming has gotten another big boost. It’s amazing what they can cram into mobile devices. And one of the most popular uses of these “phones” is actually games. It seems everywhere we turn, we’ll see people playing games on their devices.

Board games have also shot up in popularity over the last decade as more and more great board games and card games are developed and sold. So it’s really no surprise that the two forces should meet. And over the last year, we’ve seen a huge rise in the number of board games and card games that are being ported over to a digital medium.

Digital games have also gone physical

Bring on the birds!

As we’ve watched the rise of these fun board games being given their digital incarnation, we’ve seen the blurring definition of “board game”. Is it dependent on what medium a game starts out with? If it first comes to life as a physical board game and then goes digital, is it still considered a board game. But if it first comes on the scene as a video game and then goes physical, is it still a video game?

Because that has happened too. Angry Birds is an amazing example of that. Angry Birds may be the most popular game on digital devices. But did you also know, that not too long ago it came to life as a physical game where you build structures, place pigs, then fling birds to knock them down? So what is Angry Birds – a video game or a board game? Or can it be both?

Great Board Games gone digital

Great digital cooperative games.

Whatever we call them, one thing is for certain – great games will find a way to live. And in today’s world, that means they’ll go for whatever medium will support them and will gain a huge following. (And makes financial sense for the designers, developers, and publishers.)

So maybe instead we should be surprised if fantastic board games and card games don’t go digital.

Just to give you a glimpse, here are great board games that are now available for playing on mobile devices:

• Smallworld
• Forbidden Island
• Ticket to Ride
• Carcassonne
• Hey That’s My Fish
• Roll Through the Ages
• Zooloretto
• Tikal

That’s just a sample – there are a ton more available. Just check the iTunes store for board games and you’ll find plenty. And if you look beyond mobile gaming, you’ll see even more available as online computer games.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em

So what’s a board game lover to do?

Games are played very quickly.

Leaning towards the purist side of the equation, we held off for a long time on playing digital incarnations of these fun board games. However, with kids interested in games, “life will find a way” (to quote Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park). And sure enough, before you know it, we’re playing digital versions of our loved games.

Our best example is the recently released version of Ticket to Ride on the iOS. Since we love Ticket to Ride, we had to take the plunge on this one. So last month we loaded the Ticket to Ride app on our iPods and iPhone to check it out. And it was a hit. It takes all the fun of the board game and boils it down into a fantastic mobile game loaded with goals and achievements to get you hooked into playing over and over.

And what did the kids think of it?

Nice Christmas present, eh?

Just take a look at the “present” Caleb, our 8 yr old, gave us for Christmas. It’s a card he made in his class at school and it’s simply a thank you card – thanking us for putting Ticket to Ride on our iPhone and iPod. What a simple thing to put a smile on our faces.

But don’t think that’s the only version of the game he’ll play now. Just the other day when I came home from work, I found Caleb playing and teaching the Ticket to Ride board game to one of his friends. And it didn’t stop with one play. His buddy wanted to play again and again.

Maybe, just maybe, that’s what the publishers are after – reach a huge, modern audience with digital versions and then hope for an upsell to the physical board games. After all, we don’t doubt that digital games are currently hitting a broader base than physical board games. So if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Now we can’t wait for some digital board games

With the fun we’ve had with Ticket to Ride, we actually find ourselves hoping to see certain games come out for mobile devices. And at the top of our wish list are Dominion and Thunderstone. We’ve seen announcements that Thunderstone is being developed, but we haven’t heard about Dominion yet.

Playing Dominion with friends when we can’t get together to play for one reason or another would be awesome!

Why would these make great digital card games?

Tile laying without the tiles.

First, because they’re addicting. With the random selection of different decks to play with every time, the game changes every time you play. But the other reason they’d made for great digital versions is because there’s a ton of shuffling. The deck building games are full of shuffling your deck over and over as you play. With a digital version, you don’t have to take time shuffling. You’ll just see your cards and play them.

So taking out the shuffling is a great benefit of digital gaming. You also don’t have to worry about the set up time of the game. Setting out all the decks of cards and putting them all away at the end does take time.

The same is true for a lot of board games. Setting up before play and cleaning up after play take up time. And digital gaming can save time on both of those fronts. So playing digital games will go much faster. Which also means that you’ll be able to play a lot more games in the same amount of time. Which is pretty cool.

But on the flip side, the setting up and cleaning up is also a great part of the physical board game play. Taking time to set up a game provides a great opportunity to talk with your fellow players and engage in the socialization that makes board game playing so fun. It’s not all about the game, but rather about the people you’re playing with.

Will digital games kill their board game version?

NO!

Moving bits is where it's at!

We don’t think that digital incarnations of great board games will kill the physical board game version at all.

Like we just mentioned, the big draw for physical board games and card games is the socialization. Getting together with friends and family is what it’s about.

Now, if you want to enjoy the game by yourself when you’re not with friends, then a mobile version is awesome. Or if your friends or family live far away, staying in touch by playing a digital game at a distance can be great fun as well.

But if you want a reason to get together and enjoy face-to-face time, then grab the game off the shelf and sit down at the table and have a great time together pushing bits, shuffling cards, and rolling dice.

What do you think about board games going digital?
We’d love to hear.

This post is from The Board Game Family. Digital Board Games – an Oxymoron? The Board Game Family - Families that play together stay together