Blinks Game System Review

There’s been a big meshing of digital and physical board games over the last decade.

Many physical board games have taken on digital form and can be a blast to play with friends at a distance. And other physical board games have incorporated a digital element that we love for extending the gameplay — such as the cooperative games Star Wars: Imperial Assault, Descent: Journeys in the Dark 2nd Edition, and Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition that we love using the app to play the bad side.

Well, today we’ve got something quite different from anything we’ve reviewed in the past. It’s actually a digitally-driven complete game system called Blinks!

But it doesn’t use any computers, mobile devices, or apps. All the game data and rules are stored in the hex game pieces themselves!

The cool thing is that each hex game piece, called a Blink, stores the information/rules of one game. And that Blink “teaches” the other Blinks the rules of the game and then they’re all in!

Read more

Gorilla Marketing party game review

My day job is in marketing.

That means 25 years in marketing.

As such, I’ve heard many times about “guerilla marketing”.

So when I saw the game Gorilla Marketing, designed by Adam Wyse and published by Roxley Games, I couldn’t wait to give it a try!

I was especially excited to play with my Marketing team at work. But as luck would have it, the game arrived the very day we all started working from home because of COVID. Major bummer – no more lunch break games of any sort at the office.

But that wouldn’t deter me from giving it a shot with my family. And I’m so glad I did — because it’s been an absolute hoot!

We have yet to play a game without busting a gut laughing. And we have yet to stop playing after just one game. There’s just too much fun to be had!

Read more

Let’s get Trekking the National Parks!

Zion National Park is like a second home to me.

It was my mom’s backyard growing up. So naturally, as a family, we spent a lot of time enjoying its beauty from grandma and grandpa’s farm. My most memorable summer growing up was the summer I spent living with my grandparents and working in the park.

And heading north, Yellowstone National Park is another one of my favorite places to visit.

And when we play Trekking the National Parks the board game, I get the itch to visit a lot more of the US National Parks.

Read more

All aboard the Disney Jungle Cruise!

“This secluded elephant pool has never before been seen by civilized man. And looking at everyone on this boat, it still hasn’t.”

“Bamboo can grow to be six stories tall…although this bamboo looks about seven stories tall. But that’s a whole other story.”

These jokes probably sound very familiar if you’ve spent time aboard the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland or Disney World. And playing Disney Jungle Cruise Adventure Game, you’ll get to tell a whole bunch more!

But telling jokes isn’t the crux of the game, it’s just a by-product. Instead, the game pits players against each other racing along the river, collecting cargo, and keeping their passengers safe.

Ready to captain your boat to victory?

Read more

Time isn’t your friend in Math Rush

How good are you at math?
Will it make a difference if you’re calculating over and over with a timer ticking away?

In Math Rush by Genius Games, you and your fellow players race against time to cooperatively play your cards to accomplish various goals.

It may sound simple, but when the timer’s ticking away, you’ll quickly find there’s more to think about during the game than just addition and subtraction.

We know because the challenge of this simple-sounding game caught us by surprise.

How well will your family do?

Read more

Let’s get us some Rune Stones!

Do you like deck-building games like Dominion, Clank!, Legendary, and Thudersone Quest?
What about resource-collecting/converting games like Century: Golem?

How would you like a game that mixes those game mechanisms together?

Well, that’s what you get with Rune Stones by Queen Games!

At SaltCon 2020, I was able to get in a demo game of Rune Stones with some friends and we all enjoyed it.

And now that I’ve played it a number of times since then, it’s time to share my thoughts on this family board game.

Read more

Back to the Future: Back in Time cooperative game review

I was a teenager when the first Back to the Future movie hit the big screen in 1985. And I remember absolutely loving the movie!

The premise was a lot of fun and I laughed the whole time.

That first movie became a cultural iconic film that’s still fun to revisit to this day. That also explains why a bunch of Back to the Future games have been made since. Unfortunately, the few I’ve played over the years haven’t been very good games.

That is, until now!

Back to the Future: Back in Time, by Funko, breaks that mold. As a cooperative board game, it delivers the right type of gameplay for the theme — making a fun game!

Read more

Harry Potter: Death Eaters Rising game review

Are you ready to defeat Lord Voldemort and thwart his rise to power?

Wait…

Have we talked about this already, because it feels very familiar?

Well, we’ve got yet another new Harry Potter-themed game for you to check out from The Op — Harry Potter: Death Eaters Rising!

Over the 11 years we’ve been reviewing family board games, we’ve reviewed a bunch of Harry Potter games. Yet, we still don’t get tired of playing them.

That’s because each game has a totally different feel to it.

Read more

Decrypto board game review

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a month since we posted our last review. There have only a few periods of time over the past decade where we haven’t posted a board game review at least once a week. But we all know the past couple of months have been anything but normal.

But today we’re going to remedy that! (Not the world back to normal, but us back to posting a fun family game review.)

And to jump right back into things we’re reviewing a game we received from our BoardGameGeek.com Secret Santa for last Christmas. It’s also one of our most-played games since then – DECRYPTO!

Decrypto is a team game for up to 8 players of codebreaking and it’s addicting.

Read more

Funkoverse Strategy Game Review

When I first came across the Funko POP characters years ago, I was hooked. My favorites were the Star Wars characters and I bought a bunch to sit atop my office shelves.

Since then, the number and variety of Funko POP characters available seems endless.

When I heard they were making a board game, I immediately added it to my “want to play” list.

Thanks to Miniature Market, we got a number of Funkoverse Strategy Games in time for Christmas last year!

And now, a few months later, we’re ready to tell you all about them!

Plus – thanks to Fun.com, you may also win a copy of a Funkoverse Strategy Game of your choice!

Read more