The Board Game Family

EscapeWelt Puzzle Boxes review

With Spring in the air and the many shutdowns of the last couple of pandemic years coming to an end, so many of us are looking for an escape. Although we may have settled into new routines, there’s often still an urge to break free.

And our review today is all about setting things free from their confined boxes.

In particular, these are “escape room” style puzzle boxes from EscapeWelt in Germany. Taking a look at their website, you’ll see they have a nice assortment to choose from.

The two we dove into are House of the Dragon and Space Box.

May 31, 2022June 1, 2022 Trent 0 Comments EscapeWelt, puzzle, solo

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Downtown Farmers Market

Farmers markets are known the world over as almost all countries have some form of them.

At these markets, patrons enjoy a wide variety of goods that reflect the culture and economy of the area they’re being held in. From produce to handcrafted goods, you can find almost anything you want or need at one of these amazing local events.

In Downtown Farmers Market, from Blue Orange Games, players compete to gather goods from the market that fulfill 8 overlapping objectives. The player who does this the best is crowned Market Champion.

May 25, 2022 Dane Trimble 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, Blue Orange Games, puzzle, strategy, tile-laying

Card Games Dice Games Family Games Game Reviews

Star Wars: Destiny card game review

When our monthly game night fell close to Star Wars Day earlier this month, we had to dive into some Star Wars games.

And that meant it was a perfect time to play Star Wars: Destiny!

It’s a 2-player card and dice game battle that we have tons of cards for – so we could set up multiple head-to-head battles among everyone there. Plus, it can be played in 30 minutes and then we can be on to the next battle against a different opponent.

That’s also when I realized that even though we’ve had the game for a number of years, we haven’t posted our full review of Star Wars: Destiny yet.

That changes today!

May 17, 2022 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, dice, Fantasy Flight Games, luck, Star Wars, strategy

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games

Gridopolis Game Review

Imagine if Checkers married a building system like Kenex or Tinker Toys, what would their baby look like?

Well, I might have found the answer to that, Gridopolis!

On the front of the rulebook it says Gridopolis is a “3D strategy game and system”. The system part of it comes in the form of a modular playing board called the Grid-Set. The Grid-Set can be built in any manner of ways before you start playing and may change throughout the course of the game making this a truly unique experience.

May 3, 2022 Dane Trimble 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, abstract, strategy

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Everdell Board Game Review

“Within the charming valley of Everdell, beneath the boughs of towering trees, among meandering streams and mossy hollows, a civilization of forest critters is thriving and expanding. There are buildings to construct, lively characters to meet, events to host—you have a busy year ahead of yourself. Will the sun shine brightest on your city before the winter moon rises?

Prepare to be enchanted by the wondrous world of Everdell. Once you are here, you might never, ever, want to leave.”

Such is the intro text to the board game Everdell by Starling Games.

The big question is, is it true – Once you enter and play, will you ever want to leave?

April 24, 2022 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, card, luck, solo, Starling Games, strategy, theme

Dice Games Family Games Game Reviews

Twinkle Dice Game Review

“Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.”

Have you ever stared up at the night sky and thought, “I can do that.”

Well, now’s your chance! In Twinkle, players take on the role of celestial creators decorating the night sky with beautiful constellations. The player who can do this the best will be the King Celestial!

April 10, 2022May 3, 2022 Dane Trimble 0 Comments

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games

PicTwist: National Parks board game review

Whenever we visit a US National Park, we take a lot of photos!

How can you not take photos when you’re wandering around, taking in nature’s beauty?

These are also the types of photos I use for my phone and desktop backgrounds. Looking at the scenic photos can bring a sense of peace.

However, when such pictures are all broken up, mixed around, and players are racing against the clock to be the first to arrange their picture, that peace can evaporate quickly!

That’s a bit what it’s like playing PicTwist: National Parks – a new board game from The Op.

April 6, 2022April 6, 2022 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, puzzle, solo, The OP

Card Games Cooperative Games Family Games Game Reviews

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea game review

Two years ago we took off on a quest in space and now we’re searching the depths of the sea.

In fact, it was exactly 2 years ago, in March 2020, when we reviewed The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine by Kosmos. We played it a TON leading up to doing our review. And then we played it even more in the months after that while we were all shut inside as the Covid pandemic broke out around the world.

Needless to say, we absolutely loved the cooperative, trick-taking, mission-based card game. We could hardly get enough of it, even making up our own challenging mission scenarios.

Since then, Kosmos has gone ahead and outdone themselves with the follow-up game The Crew: Mission Deep Sea!

Yes, that’s right – they found a way to make a fantastic game even better. And I don’t think we’ll ever play the original again.

March 30, 2022 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, cooperative, family, Kosmos, trick-taking

Mickey and Friends: Food Fight Board Game

Board Games Dice Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games

Disney Mickey and Friends: Food Fight Game Review

As I sit here reminiscing about my lunch times in middle school and high school, it occurs to me that we didn’t see many food fights in our cafeteria. And I’m certain I was never a part of any of the ones that did occur. Of course, my memory isn’t what it used to be, but I’m pretty sure I’m innocent.

Mickey and Friends: Food Fight is a fun, fast paced game of dice chucking and food flinging for the whole family.

Are you ready for a good ole gut luggage grapple? If so, sit back and relax and enjoy Mickey and Friends: Food Fight.

March 25, 2022April 10, 2022 Dane Trimble 0 Comments children, dice game, luck, The OP

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

SaltCon 2022 Recap – 22 Games Played

I had a fantastic first weekend of March because I was hanging out and playing tons of games with my friends at SaltCon Spring 2022!

I look forward to this 4-day gaming event with much anticipation every year. And it was especially great this year because the air was finally clearing around the Covid pandemic. Which means we could see the smiling faces of the 1,700 or so people who came out to play all sorts of games.

This year I was able to attend 3 full days of the event and played 22 different board games, card games, and dice games!

It was a lot of fun and I’m ready to share my thoughts on each of the games I played.

(Consider it like a bunch of mini-reviews.)