Countdown to SaltCon 2020!

February just rolled around and it’s time to get excited!

Of course, there was a lot of excitement around the Super Bowl last weekend when the Chiefs triumphed over the 49er’s.

And Valentine’s Day is next week — which can be something to get excited about.

Then there’s also President’s Day right after — which brings a day off of work in the U.S. for many companies. So we can see people getting excited for that.

But what I really get excited about when February hits is that SaltCon is only a month away!

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2019 – Year in Review

2019 marked a huge milestone for The Board Game Family. We celebrated 10 years of doing family board game reviews!

With our video reviews hitting 2 million views and our written reviews and articles being read by millions more, it’s been an amazing 10 years.

But today’s not about looking back on all 10 years (we’ve already done that). Instead, we’re just looking back at 2019.

As I’ve done at the start of each year, let’s take a quick look back at the games we’ve enjoyed the most from 2019.

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Favorite Games of the Decade!

Wow – what a fantastic decade in board gaming!

Now that we’ve rolled into 2020, we want to pay homage to the stellar board games published over the past decade. It just so happens that we’ve also been reviewing family board games, card games, party games and more for just over 10 years!

In October 2019, we celebrated the 10 year mark for The Board Game Family!

Which means we’ve been front and center with the amazing new games that have hit family tables across the world this past decade.

So, here’s our list of great family games from 2010-2019.

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What kind of Planet will you create?

You’ve got the whole world in your hands. So, what are you going to do with it?

It’s time to find out in Planet!

Planet, by Blue Orange Games, has players crafting their own 3D planet to attract a variety of animals to them. It’s a unique tile-laying game where the tiles are magnetic continents consisting of various habitats.

Different animals are attracted to different types of habitats so players have to choose wisely in which animals they want to inhabit their planets.

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Harry Potter maze-shifting fun

For many years we’ve heard of a great introductory family board game called, Labyrinth — first published in 1986. So when I had the chance to get a copy in a trade at SaltCon this year, I was happy to end up with a copy of the game for our family.

But then an even better deal came along.

Ravensburger sent us a copy of the new iteration of the game — Harry Potter Labyrinth!

Yes, it’s exactly the same game play as the original — but we love Harry Potter, so this is totally the way to go for us. Read on to see if it is for your family too.

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Board Game Gift Guide 2019!

Are you looking for fun board games as gifts for family and friends?

Then you’ve come to the right place!

Because for the 9th year running, we’ve got fantastic suggestions for you!

This year’s Board Game Gift Guide includes 43 great game ideas in various categories: children, family, dice, party, cooperative, abstract, and more!

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Quick Look: Charley Harper’s Spot the Birds Board Game

If you are a fan of Charley Harper (like my family is!), you are in for a treat with this new game… if you’re not a fan, just wait… you will be!

Charley Harper was an American modern artist who used a style he called “minimal realism” to create prints, posters, and illustrations of the natural world, mostly birds, in a brightly charming style.

Pomegranate Communications and designer Cory Mimms have collaborated with the Charley Harper Art Studio to create an endearing, engaging board game for kids and families that features his signature style illustrating a variety of North American birds in five common habitats.

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The Game Canopy Deep Space game bag review

One of our favorite game accessories (if you could call it an accessory) is our Game Canopy game bag.

Any time we want to take some games with us — whether on vacation, or to grandma’s house, or to a game convention, or over to a buddy’s house for game night — we fill our Game Canopy with games and we’re on our way!

While the Game Canopy can fit a bunch of games, not all game boxes are created equal. And unfortunately, this means some of the games we may like to take for a game night away just won’t fit in the Game Canopy.

Well, that’s now a concern of the past — because The Game Canopy Deep Space game bag is set to release!

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Family fishing fun with Miaui!

Grab your fishing pole and hit the islands in this fun family board game by Z-Man Games and Asmodee!

Of course, in Miaui, you’re not fishermen but instead you’re fisher-cats.

After all, isn’t it well known that cats love fish?

So why not have a game about cats catching fish?

There’s a fishing festival about to happen and the skilled Miauians are vying to bring in the most valuable fish from the lagoon.

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