After a full Day 1 at SaltCon 2016 into the wee hours, I headed to my hotel room for a few hours of sleep before diving back into many more tabletop games on Day 2.

Of course, in addition to playing games, I took more time on Friday to visit with the exhibitors in the game hall and talk to publishers and game designers. I also perused the Game Swap area every now and then for a hidden game gem.

After the main game hall opened that morning, I once again found a couple friends and we headed for the Hot Games area.

Now on to mini game reviews of the 11 games I played on Day 2!

This past weekend I joined in with 1,124 others to play a ton of board games at SaltCon 2016.

The board game convention, SaltCon was held this past Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and I was happy I could attend all 3 days this year. I made sure to get the time off work as well as the time away from home. That way I could completely immerse myself in the fun and play as late as I wanted every night.

Now that I’ve rested up a bit, it’s time to look back on all the fun.

With the kids out of school for two weeks and myself having time off from work during the holidays, it’s a fantastic time for playing board games!

To add to the holiday fun, we’ve had a very white Christmas. Aside from shoveling the driveway and walks many times over the last week, we love having thick blankets of snow everywhere.

The deep snow also makes for a great time to cozy up inside near the fireplace and watch movies and play games. We’ve had our Star Wars run (watching episodes 1-6 over the last month in prep for The Force Awakens last week), as well as a handful of Harry Potter movies. And we’ve had some great laughs playing Just Dance, Mario Party 9, and Rayman Raving Rabbids.

We also took advantage of the fresh snow on some good sledding hills nearby. And of course, we’ve played a bunch of board games.

If your family finds new board games under your Christmas tree this week, you’re in for a treat.

You’re also in for some learning time. Because in order to know how to play those shiny new games, you’ll first have to learn how to play them.

Your kids won’t want to wait while you to read all the rules. They’ll just want to play.

You’re in luck because we’ve got some tips for you.