The aliens are attacking, and we’re plum out of viruses to upload to the mothership. They’re a crafty bunch, having erased every known record of Slim Whitman’s “Indian Love Call” from existence before setting foot on Earth. Commander Shepard is on vacation, Superman is out of logos to throw, and Schwarzenegger is still waiting for his stock of redshirts to be replenished in preparation for the final battle. Earth’s last, best hope rests with the army…who will prevail?
Board Games
All posts tagged Board Games
Magnets! There’s a lot about them that we take for granted. Not only do they keep our kids’ latest “A+” on our refrigerators, they also affect our lives on a universal scale. Magnets, put simply, are objects or materials (like iron or steel) that produce a magnetic field with opposite polarities on either end (we call them poles). Like poles repel and opposite poles attract…and that fact happens to lead us in to the game I’m about to cover.
I’m a big fan of 4x turn based space games…Galactic Civilizations II, Birth of the Federation, and Endless Space, just to name a few. I’ve always enjoyed having the ability to shape and mold my civilizations the way I like…whether that is to research ways to set my economy well above the rest or to rule the galaxy with an iron fist. Needless to say, I was happy to see Empires of the Void arrive on my doorstep.
Gold. Au. Transition Metal. No matter how you say it, most people wouldn’t mind having a few million tons of it lying around in their bank vault. Heck, I can think of a particular duck that enjoys taking regular trips to such a place so that he can dive headfirst into his stash and practice his backstroke (woo-hoo!).
It was just another day for the peaceful villagers…hunting, fishing, repairing huts, pushing numbers into a computer to prevent the island from blowing up (watch your LOST, kids)…the usual. Then, all of a sudden, Mother Nature happens in the form of a volcano that threatens to burn everything to the ground. The jury is still out as to whether or not tectonic plates were the cause or if some ten-year old found the disaster menu in SimCity for the first time…nevertheless, the race for survival is on!
Tigris & Euphrates…the day has finally come. I was looking at this game for months but was always at ends in regards to buying it. It received a lot of high praise, but I was worried that its depth would overwhelm the kids. Now that I’ve been reviewing games with them for just under a year, it was time to flex our muscles a bit to see if we were up to the challenge.
I’m not a fan of carnivals. They’re loud, there’s a lot of people, and there are clowns. Lots and lots of clowns. Sometimes, they even have Volkswagens. They just keep sending them in. I don’t know who “they” are, but I’d wish they’d stop. If mankind needed a savior, now would be the time. Anyway, I digress…Carnival.
Have you ever received something for your birthday that you really didn’t like? For me, it was clothes…every year, one or two of my presents would be clothes. I also received a stuffed animal once…I was thirteen. To be fair, I did get quite a few video games for the NES, though looking back…I’d qualify “Where’s Waldo” and “Bible Adventures” to be crappy birthday presents, even if I didn’t know it at the time. It’s the thought that counts though, right?
Our family enjoyed playing Wits & Wagers and Wits & Wagers Family. For those of you who haven’t read my reviews or have never played these games, players will be attempting to score the most points by not only coming up with the best answers to questions, but by also betting on the answers that they think could be correct. All of the answers are always in the form of a number and the “best answer” is the one that is the closest to the actual answer without going over. (Think “Price is Right”)
I recently wrote a review of the game “Spy Alley“, in which players move around the board and attempt to gather all of the items that their spy needs while keeping their identity secret. Simply Suspects is very similar to Spy Alley, but sets itself apart in a few different ways.
Being a spy is a lot of work, if television has taught us anything. You have beautiful women constantly throwing themselves at your feet and all the neat gadgets you could ever want, except for maybe the “cone of silence”…that thing never worked right.
Hello again, readers! As some of you may have read, I really enjoyed playing a recent game that I picked up called, “You’ve Been Sentenced!“. It’s highly educational and the kids and I had a blast putting sentences together. Today, I just wanted to quickly go over the six add-on decks that are currently available to compliment the main game.
Every now and then I come across games that are a joy to play, usually they end up being the ones where playing the role of referee isn’t required. What’s more, I enjoy games with an educational theme, mainly because I believe in teaching the kids all that I can in order to prepare them for life as an adult.
Ever try owning a potted plant but are the type of person who tends to forget things? Important things, like how plants need water and all of that jazz? How did that work out for you? Withered and died huh? Well, I guess you just haven’t played enough Santiago to know better…yeah, let’s go with that.
I’ve had the pleasure of playing and reviewing quite a few worker placement games this year…Agricola, Lords of Waterdeep, and Stone Age, just to name a few. I was surprised to learn about Cargo Noir, having never heard of it until last week when I visited a local board game store for the first time (amazing experience, by the way).
For whatever reason, I watched a lot of “Press Your Luck” as a kid. The Whammy animations are pretty annoying now that I’ve had the pleasure of playing the DVD version of the game recently, but I guess back then I was easy to please. The show involved players earning money by pressing a button and having the choice keep going or walk away with what they’ve won lest they stop their selection on a Whammy, in which case they lose everything.