In getting ready to write my 2021 Year in Review, I realized that I never posted a 2020 Year in Review.
Maybe that’s because 2020 felt like a gap year for everybody – and many things just didn’t happen.
Well, that gives me a better chance to take a look at both years and compare how they’ve shaken out for family board game playing time.
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If you’re looking for some great game ideas for friends and family, you’ve come to the right place!
This marks our 11th annual Board Game Gift Guide and we love sharing great gift ideas!
And this year we’re sharing another 40 game ideas!
Since there’s a wide range of people (ages & interests) you may be considering, we break down this game guide into various categories and share a handful of game ideas in each category.
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Why do our children think they can just grow up and become independent?
I mean, just because we teach them skills to be able leave the nest and fly, does that mean they really have to?
Well, that’s the situation we (mom & dad) are finding ourselves in right now.
Our youngest child just moved off to college!
While it’s a very exciting time for both him and us, it’s also a time of sadness.
We’re sad to close this chapter of our lives — the chapter filled with little tikes running around, young kids adventures, youth sports, late at night homework, late nights with friends, and many fun games.
But we’re also happy in looking forward to Caleb’s adventures ahead!
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“Back in the Game”
That was the bold statement on the winning t-shirt design for SaltCon End of Summer 2021. And it couldn’t have been more appropriate!
It was awesome to be back at SaltCon this past weekend playing game after game for a couple of days straight.
SaltCon is the big board game convention in Utah, USA and it’s packed with gaming goodness. The event is typically held for 4 days in March each year, so I was sad when it was announced last Fall that the March event would be canceled. But, the news a few months ago that they’d hold an “End of Summer” SaltCon for 3 days at the end of July got me excited again.
Let’s dive in!
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The best board games, card games, dice games, family games, and party games of 2020 have been awarded!
The Dice Tower recently announced the winners of The Dice Tower Awards — the annual crowing of the best board games published last year.
With thousands of new games published every year, there’s never a shortage of great new board games to play.
Top board game reviewers, podcasters, and industry contributors from around the world participated in the nomination and voting process.
Now, let’s see The Dice Tower Award Winners for 2020:
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Cosplay has exploded over the past two decades and the resources available to fans to make or buy costumes and accessories of all sorts has kept pace.
One such resource is Medieval Collectibles — a one-stop-shop for collectors of medieval weapons, renaissance clothing, and many other such items.
To get a first hand look at the high quality and range of their items, they sent us a Black Hilt Rapier and a Norman Crusader Guarding Door Bookend.
To cut to the chase, we’re extremely impressed with both items.
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When we first started reviewing family board games almost 12 years ago, there was a local board game store that had a rental service. They would rent board games for 10 days 10% of the cost of the game. It was a unique service that we enjoyed using for trying new games.
It gave us a way to experience something fresh on a regular basis.
Well, since then we’ve seen a number of different board game services offered by companies to tap into the joy people find with discovering new and fun games to play.
Recently we heard about a board game subscription service called UnboxBoardom.
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Before the global pandemic hit in 2020, I would have confidently told you our family was great at time management. We were never late, we finished our homework on time, and we had plenty of time to get everything done.
Jump to spring 2020, and you’d find us in total disarray. Homeschooling is done ad hoc, homework is checked when me or my husband can find 15 spare minutes away from our individual screens, and the TV has taken over all that lovely playtime we used to have.
Having realized how easy it is to slip into the habit of chaos, I’d like to share some of our tips on how to teach kids to better manage their time.
(Guest contributor article)
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Board games bring hours of fun and excitement, except when it comes to trying to find that missing piece. Efficiently storing your board games will keep your home tidy, as well as ensuring those little parts of the puzzle stay together.
Here, we share our top board game storage tips so you can effortlessly organize your collection.
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How did your teenagers spend last summer when the world was shut down because of COVID-19?
Did they spend more time in front of a screen or did they find something more constructive to do with their time like Harrison Brooks?
Who is Harrison Brooks?
Well, he’s a 17-year old that designed and published a new card game called ElevatorUp and started selling it on Amazon.com last summer.
How’s that for making the most of summer vacation?
So we asked Harrison a few questions about the game, what prompted him to create it, and what the process was like. Here’s some of his story:
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