strategy Archives - Page 5 of 13 - The Board Game Family

Butterfly collecting isn’t just fun for kids

Did you ever wander through fields swinging a net trying to catch butterflies?

Or if you haven’t experienced that joy, I bet you can still picture kids having fun in such an activity.

But can you imagine adults doing that same thing?

For some reason, it’s hard to imagine adults wandering around a field swinging butterfly nets to catch the flying insects.

So when we received the game Butterfly by Rio Grande Games, we just assumed it would be a game only kids would enjoy. But we were wrong!

Butterfly can be enjoyed by players of all ages.

January 27, 2021January 27, 2021 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, kids, luck, Rio Grande Games, strategy, variable set up

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Meeple Land Board Game Review

In Meeple Land players will be creating their very own amusement park by purchasing a variety of attractions and services while luring in lots of paying customers.

Attention will need to be given to how things are laid out, making sure services are within reach of visitors, and paths don’t lead to dead ends.

The game ends after 4 rounds, at which point the player with the most reputation points wins. Reputation is earned from a diverse collection of attractions and services, number of visitors in the park, and lack of dead ends and stranded visitors at the entrance.

January 20, 2021February 2, 2021 Dane Trimble 2 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, Blue Orange Games, family, strategy, theme

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games

Smart Four Connected board game review

Growing up, I loved playing a 3D version of 4-in-a-row game called Score Four.

Playing it made me feel so clever because I could look for tons of ways to get 4 in a row. I wasn’t limited to the 2-dimensional way to get 4 in a row like in Connect 4.

However, my siblings didn’t like playing it as much as I did, so the game sat on the shelf a lot. It’s hard to play a 2-player board game when you don’t have another person to play against.

But with Smart Four Connected, by Giiker, all that has changed!

January 16, 2021 Trent 1 Comment 2-player, digital, Giiker, physical, remote, solo, strategy

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Cloud City Board Game Review

Cloud City, a board game from Blue Orange Games, should not be confused for a Tibanna gas mining colony floating in the clouds of the planet Bespin run by a smuggler named Lando.

Although that might make a really cool game…

In the game, 2 to 4 players ages 10 and up, take on the roll of architects vying to win city council votes to become the best city planner. They will zone land, build skyscrapers that reach the clouds, and connect them with spectacular walkways high above the ground. The player to do this the best wins.

January 11, 2021 Dane Trimble 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, Blue Orange Games, building, family, strategy

Articles

Can You Smell That? Aroma – a Game of Essence Q&A

One of the reasons why we love playing physical board games is because of their tactile nature. Moving pieces, rolling dice, and flipping cards is more satisfying to us than tapping an icon on a screen.

Board games give us a chance to interact face-to-face with other players and utilize more of our senses.

Yet, I can’t recall ever engaging my sense of smell as part of playing a board game. That’s why when I heard about Aroma – A Game of Essence, I was curious to learn more.

Here’s a Q&A I had with the designers about this fascinating new board game.

January 6, 2021January 6, 2021 Trent 2 Comments aromas, smell, strategy

Minecraft Builders and Biomes board game

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Minecraft Builders and Biomes – More Than Punching Trees

Back in early 2019, my four boys started asking me if we could get the hit game–Minecraft. I said “No” for a long time. Until after much research and finding out that you can play solo and in private servers, I finally relented and Minecraft entered our home.

Flash forward a year and a half and Minecraft has become a huge hit in our house, not only by my kids, but also by me!

Many hours have been spent creating worlds, adventuring to find treasure, and fighting the steady stream of monsters placed in our way.

When Ravensburger released the board game Minecraft Builders and Biomes, in late 2019 we were all very interested in how it would compare to its digital counterpart. I watch some play-throughs and sure enough, it looked like something we would enjoy very much. Once I got connected with The Board Game Family, I asked Trent to hook me up, and boy did he come through.

December 30, 2020December 30, 2020 Dane Trimble 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, children, expansion, family, luck, Ravensburger, strategy, toy

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games

Ticket to Ride: London board game review

Ticket to Ride is one of the most popular modern board games in the world. So it’s no surprise Days of Wonder keeps cranking out more iterations of the game.

Of course, we’re not complaining because we love playing Ticket to Ride in its many forms!

The first Ticket to Ride game was published in 2004 with a map of the United States. The next year Days of Wonder published Ticket to Ride: Europe and many more map versions followed. Then in 2018, they published a small version of the game focused on just one city – New York City. It plays in a fraction of the time and is essentially a bite-sized version of the original game.

Their latest iteration is the game we’re reviewing today — Ticket to Ride: London.

December 19, 2020 Trent 0 Comments 2 players, 3-players, 4 players, Days of Wonder, luck, map, strategy, Ticket to Ride

Board Games Cooperative Games Family Games Game Reviews

Break In: Alcatraz Game Review

It’s June 11, 1962, the day you’re going to break into Alcatraz.

Yes, you read that right. You’ll be breaking into the most secure prison in the world to break 4 inmates out. Months of planning has gone into this daring operation and now it’s time to act.

At least it will be if you’re playing Break In: Alcatraz!

From the publisher, Playmonster: “Throughout this collaborative experience, you must work together to follow a series of clues and solve puzzles to unfold multiple layers of the game and move deeper into the prison to help your friends escape! You’ll encounter many obstacles and characters along the way…this game provides the thrill and challenge of an escape room, combined with the experience and world-immersion of a movie”!

Do you have what it takes to break into Alcatraz?

December 12, 2020June 21, 2021 Dane Trimble 2 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, cooperative, deduction, escape room, PlayMonster, solo, strategy

Articles

We’re on The Learning Life Podcast!

The board game hobby continues to smash through boundaries. And we’re excited to be a part of it!

Today we made another such breakthrough on a podcast targeted to business leaders — The Learning Life Podcast with Jon Tota.

As you might guess from the title, The Learning Life focuses on the learning industry. They have weekly guests sharing new insight, new stories, and best practices to help organizations take their learning to the next level.

But when Jon saw our 2020 Board Game Gift Guide, he thought it would be awesome to take a break from the weekly corporate learning talk and talk about something fun — board games!

December 8, 2020December 8, 2020 Trent 0 Comments card, cooperative, couples, dice, family, family board games, luck, party, podcast, strategy

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

We’d love to be Trekking the World!

I think we all wish we could be out traveling the world right now. Traveling is the thing I’ve missed the most in 2020.

We’ve had to cancel two big vacations we’d been looking forward to for a long time. One of those would have been this week. We’re totally bummed that we couldn’t be seeing new sights in Asia right now.

But in the meantime, we can jet all around the world in our imagination while we play Trekking the World!

Trekking the World is the latest board game published by Underdog Games. It delivers a lot of the familiar game play from Trekking the National Parks while adding a few new elements we really enjoy.

December 1, 2020December 1, 2020 Trent 2 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, set collection, strategy, theme, Underdog Games