Game Reviews Archives - The Board Game Family

Do You Even Know Me? party game review

Who hasn’t played a “get-to-know-you” game before?

They’re all over the place.

Whenever you find a newly formed group of people, you’ll find a “get to know each other” activity. We encounter them at school, at work, and at family reunions. Many such activities are merely spoken and don’t include any typical game-type components. There are also a slew of published party games that seek to achieve similar results.

So why are we reviewing Do You Even Know Me? – a similar game that’s new on the scene?

Because we appreciate the work of the person who created it!

(And we enjoy the game.)

April 5, 2025 Trent 0 Comments 10-player, 11-player, 12-player, 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, 7-player, 8-player, 9-player, group, party, social

Card Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games

Trio card game review

When you play a new game, and immediately everyone asks to play it again, you think you might have discovered something good.

When everyone wants to play it repeatedly again and again, you know you’ve got a family card-game hit!

That’s the way we discovered Trio from Happy Camper.

Likewise, that’s how a game shoots right to the top of our “to review” pile – bumping ahead of many other fun games in the queue.

So let’s talk about Trio!

March 20, 2025March 20, 2025 Trent 0 Comments 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, card, Happy Camper, memory

Articles Board Games Card Games Cooperative Games Dice Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games Party Games Top 10 Lists

17 Games Mini Reviews – Played at SaltCon Spring 2025

I had a great time last weekend playing a bunch of new games with friends at SaltCon Spring 2025.

This year I was able to get in a few games after work Thursday night, a bunch of games for a full Friday, followed by a handful of games for half a day on Saturday.

Most of the games I played were new to me. Some game were hits that I’d love to play again. While other games fell flat and I was happy to move on.

If you’d like to know more about the SaltCon event itself, check out my post from last month covering the many things that happen at SaltCon. This post will focus on mini-reviews of the 17 games I played – in the order in which I played them.

March 11, 2025March 11, 2025 Trent 0 Comments board game, card game, cooperative game, dice game, drafting, luck, SaltCon, strategy, tile-laying

Family Games Game Reviews Party Games

That’s Not a Hat party & memory game review

How good is your short-term memory?

I used to think my memory was superb…until I played That’s Not A Hat by Ravensburger.

It’s a simple party game to play but it can also pack a deceptive punch.

That is, a punch right to your pride in front of your friends and family when you can’t remember what’s on the card just passed to you (or that you just passed to someone).

I first heard about the game last summer and it sounded like a fun group game. So I bought a copy and have had fun playing it with family, friends, and co-workers on lunch breaks.

Will you be able to remember if you were just passed a hat?

February 14, 2025 Trent 0 Comments 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, 7-player, 8-player, memory, party, Ravensburger

Articles Board Games Card Games Cooperative Games Dice Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games Party Games

SaltCon Spring 2025 one month away

It’s odd to think of Spring being in the air when we just rolled into February.

But I can’t help look forward to Spring when I think about the SaltCon Spring event coming up in one month!

Regular followers of our family board game reviews will be familiar with us sharing about the SaltCon game convention each year.

With the popularity of board games skyrocketing over the past decade, board game conventions have likewise grown in popularity. Chances are you can find one near you with a quick online search.

And SaltCon Spring is the board game convention I attend every year in Layton, UT. It’s local and it’s a lot of fun.

February 2, 2025 Trent 1 Comment SaltCon

Dice Games Family Games Game Reviews

Splitter dice game review

Sometimes you just want a quick and light dice-rolling game for a bit of fun.

No heavy strategy.

No belabored turns.

Just some quick choices as you roll away.

In Splitter, by Pandasaurus Games you really don’t have to wait for typical turns anyway because everyone is active with every roll of the dice.

We included Splitter in our 2024 Board Game Gift Guide in the dice game category because it’s such a simple game that anyone can join in the fun.

January 28, 2025 Trent 0 Comments 10-player, 2 players, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, 7-player, 8-player, 9-player, luck, Pandasaurus Games, solo

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Stack City board game preview

A friend of ours has designed a new family board game and we’re excited to tell you about it.

Stack City, by Quinn Biesinger, is a competitive city-planning game in which players construct a 3D city full of business, community, entertainment, and service buildings. It has what we look for in good family board games—a good balance of strategy and luck.

And regardless of the outcome, because of how you’ve stacked the city, it’s always fun to sit back after the game and admire how the city turned out.

He’s been working on it for years, and we were able to participate in some of the original play testing for the game last year. After many revisions, his prototype is ready to share with the world in anticipation of his upcoming crowdfunding campaign early 2025.

January 14, 2025January 14, 2025 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 3D, 4-player, city building, family, Kickstarter, luck, strategy

Articles Board Games Card Games Cooperative Games Dice Games Family Games Game Reviews Party Games

Games we played over the holidays

Happy New Year!!

We hope you all had a fantastic year-end with many holidays to celebrate with family and friends.

In our family, we celebrate Christmas. And we had a wonderful couple of weeks with plenty of gatherings where we could all be together. We visited a lot, had plenty of laughs, and watched a couple of fun movies. We also enjoyed time with extended family eating lots of food and catching up on all the goings-on.

And among the celebrations, we were able to play a handful of games.

January 7, 2025 Trent 2 Comments board, card, dice, family board games, holiday

Trekking the World 2nd Edition family board game

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Trekking the World 2nd Edition game review and comparison

Four years ago, just as people were starting to travel again after being cooped up for months for COVID, we reviewed a fun family board game by Underdog Games called Trekking the World.

So when we heard Underdog Games was publishing a new version of the game, we were more than eager to try it out. And now that it’s hitting store shelves, we’re happy to share the details with you.

While the premise remains the same as the original, Trekking the World 2nd Edition is much more streamlined and simplified to play. Not that the 1st edition is complicated. But this new version is even better for general family play.

We really like the changes made to the game.

We’ll give a quick overview of how to play Trekking the World 2nd Edition, then go into details on the many elements that have changed to make this fun family board game even better.