Since we don’t live anywhere near a volcano, we don’t usually worry about lava destroying our home and neighborhood. And if we were to think about it, I’m sure it would be a horrendous thought.
But even if the thought of a real volcano erupting in our town would be awful, the prospect of playing a game about it is just fun. After all, a lot of game themes may not be so fun to encounter in real life, but there’s a lot of fun in playing a board game about them.
In Eruption, you’re saving your village from the lava from a nearby erupting volcano while at the same time diverting the lava toward the villages of your opponents.
Watch Brooke’s video review to see what she thinks of Eruption.
Dexterity games are defined as the class of games that includes any game in which the skill element involved relates to manual dexterity or hand-eye coordination (but excludes the class of video games).
Chances are good that your kids enjoy dexterity games because they enjoy challenging their own skills. There’s immediate feedback in what they do. And it’s pretty rewarding when they accomplish something that requires manual dexterity. We all love that feeling.
And when they can beat mom, dad, or older siblings they feel pretty pumped. Maybe that’s why Jaden loves Fastrack so much. Check out his short video review and see him whoop dad at Fastrack.
We love Christmas and the feelings of kindness that come with it. It’s a time when we seem to think more of others.
We think about giving gifts to family members and friends. We think about what we can do for our neighbors. We may participate in secretly giving 12 Days of Christmas gifts to others. We think of those less fortunate and contribute to charitable organizations. And when we do, we feel more joy.
We’ve also known for a long time the affect that music can have on our moods. When we want a lot of energy, we’ll listen to music that really pumps us up. When we want to reflect, we listen to more calming music. And when we want a boost to get us in the Christmas and giving spirit, we listen to Christmas music.
So today we thought we’d share what’s playing in our CD players and MP3 players this Christmas.
Our now 16 year son, Trevor, loves to edit our video reviews. But he doesn’t like to get in front of the camera to review the games very often. So when he’s excited to do a review, we know it’s a game that he loves. And he was very excited to talk about Smallworld.
In fact, Trevor’s highest board game rating has landed on Smallworld – 5 out of 5!
Why?
Well, we highly recommend you watch his video review to see. Trevor’s review of Smallworld may be our longest video review yet, but there’s just a lot that Trevor wants to show you about the game and why he loves it.
Can the whole family enjoy Smallworld? Read more »
You may have seen our recent review about collecting animals on an African safari. Well, we’ve got another one for you – DiceAFARI.
DiceAFARI is a new game coming out by Stratus Games. We say “coming out” because it’s not on store shelves yet. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get a copy. DiceAFARI is currently available as a Print-and-Play version through the Stratus Games Kickstarter campaign. (If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, see below.)
The great thing about what Stratus Games has done with the DiceAFARI Kickstarter campaign is that they’ve posted the whole game online so anyone can play it. Rather than just post information about the game, they’ve posted the entire game prototype. You can read all the rules and print your own prototype cards.
(We hadn’t replaced the color toner in our printer, so our tiles are black/grey and white. But that was fine because the terrain tiles in the game also have symbols on them to help identify them.)
Have you been on an African safari before?
We never have – but think it would be awesome!
I’ve always loved animals and have had an African safari on my wish list since I was young. And maybe that’s where Brooke gets her love of animals too.
Well, with Botswana, Brooke and I can play out our dream of going on an African safari. And she’s happy to show you all about it in her short video review of this fun family game.
For some reason, they tend to have the inclination to always “one-up” someone else. (Of course, we’ve met people that never seem to outgrow that tendency – but that’s another story).
Anyway, earlier this year Gamewright took this natural tendency and created a party game – Who Would Win.
How to play Who Would Win
Who Would Win is a party game that rewards those that can make great arguments. In each round 2 players square off in a debate while the others judge who does the best job. Of course, the debates center on who will win in particular contests. And the contests won’t be as simple as who can beat up who or who is faster than who.
So many characters to battle.
There are two decks of cards in the game – Character cards and Event cards. In each round the 2 people squaring off will each take a Character card that will tell them who they’re arguing for. Then an Event card gets flipped over that will dictate what contest they’ll be facing off in. And the combinations are hilarious.
Wouldn’t you love to argue a few of these?
Darth Vader vs. Barbie in a Banjo Duel
Harrison Ford vs. The Wicked Witch of the West in Musical Chairs
Spongebob Squarepants vs. Christopher Columbus in One-on-One Basketball
King Arthur vs. Count Dracula in Babysitting
MacGyver vs. Julia Child in Fundraising
Lord Voldemort vs. Bill Gates in an Egg Toss
The hilarious match-up events go on and on.
Can the whole family enjoy Who Would Win? Read more »
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Our kids love taking the time to review games, but it's a lot of work too. We appreciate your support and help in keeping the reviews coming.
