Board game reviews?

[bookbard]

Sorry if this thread's already been done - wondering how people went with board games this year?

I can recommend Herbaceous. Very simple game full of prettily coloured cards with herbs on them. You 'grow' them and then you 'pot' them. You add up your score and that's how you can win. 

I could see this being a good game for an elderly person, as you can play on your own and it's quite relaxing. I play with my kids and it's nice and quick with basically no set up - that's my kind of game. 

Apart from that, I picked up a cheap game from Aldi which is a series of cards with 'mysteries' on it. Again, easy, no set-up game to play with the kids. Stuff like "I am a school which has owls and magic - where am I?" Of course the only problem will be when they're all read out, it's done, you can't replay it because you'll know all the answers. 

[wathe]

New games we've played:

Poetry for Neanderthals - super fun.  Quick to set up, quick to learn, quick to play.

Catan Pirates and Explorer - long and  complicated, but the kids (11 and 13) are totally all in and loving it.

[vonfirmath]

DS got Star Realms for Christmas and it has gotten a LOT of play around here.

 

We are also loving Chinese checkers

 

[Kareni]

My husband and I played games on New Year's Eve.

We enjoyed  WordSpot ; this is a word game we've owned for several years. My husband favors this game even though he says he rarely wins.

We also enjoyed the two player version of Codenames; we both think it would be more fun with additional players. Anyone have firsthand experience with Codenames: Duet - The Two Player Word Deduction Game?

Regards,

Kareni

[Storygirl]

Takenoko -- this is a fun and cute game with a panda theme. There are three main actions -- draw a "plot" and add to the garden; move the gardener figure to a plot space, in order to build onto stalks of bamboo; or move a cute panda figure to to a plot space to "eat" a piece of bamboo. Players draw objective cards, which contain goals of building bamboo, collecting the eaten pieces of bamboo, or placing plots of the garden in certain patterns, for points. The play is relatively simple, but there are so many choices of actions that it takes a bit of time to figure the game out. DD19 has especially enjoyed playing this one.

Splendor -- Players "purchase" cards that have points on them with colored tokens. On your turn, you can choose tokens from the bank or choose a card to purchase. This game seems fairly simple but requires strategy. I had to switch my strategy, before I could win a game against DH. It's fairly fast to play -- maybe 20 minutes per game.

7 Wonders Duel -- this is a two-player version of the 7 Wonders game. It strongly resembles the parent game but has some new mechanisms of play that make it different enough to be worth owning both. DH and I really like it for times when we want to play a game, but the kids don't want to join in.

[bookbard]

Takenoko sounds nice, I'll look into that one.

[wintermom]

Cards Against Humanity (Family version) was a complete bomb. It's similar to Apples to Apples. The choices for answers are not inventive enough. We much prefer The Game of Things, where you write down your own 'solutions' to the prompts. 

[saraha]

We are loving sushi go- short to play 3 to 5 players

Ticket to ride- uses some of the same brain as blockus 

[prairiewindmomma]

Picwit is the surprise hit of the season for us. Our 8 yo could easily play on level footing, but even our college kid liked it.

National Geographic Weird but True was another level footing game, but it’s boring.

Half of us loved Sagrada (a dice rolling game). Half of us didn’t like the format. 
 

Betrayal at House on the Hill has already been played four times since Christmas.

Wingspan has been fun.

Gloomhaven is a nice D&D spinoff but it takes forever. It took 3 hours to get through the first event (of 90+). I think we will be playing all of 2021.

We still have a few games to open and play—Lords of Waterdeep, and a couple of others. We did a game theme for Christmas of 2020 since we are all home 24/7.

[BlsdMama]

DH got me Hadara - it was spot on for me. I love games like Secen Wonders, Agricola, etc. It’s very like Seven Wonders, IMO, except a board game rather than card passing and I prefer a boardgame format. 
 

DD got Everdell last year but we didn’t learn it until this fall. Huge hit! If you like complex worker placement (like Agricola) then Everdell is similar but so whimsical and aesthetically pleasing, I think it’s my new favorite. 

[Lori D.]

Uno Flip
A fun version that adds a little life into the original game. Both sides of the cards are used; everyone starts with the "light" side (which has lighter penalties on the forced-to-draw cards), and then if someone plays a flip card, everyone flips to the other side, and the deck is flipped as well to the "dark" side -- which has bigger penalties on the forced-to-draw cards. Kind of keeps your brain working with the flipping! 😄 The box says for ages 7+, but if your younger-aged child understands the regular Uno, they'll understand the extra flipping pretty quickly, too. Can play with 2 to 6 or more players.

Space Base
Fun "engine building" game -- you slowly collect cards that work as an "engine" that "builds" up your spending points and your victory points. It is based on dice rolls, and the cool thing is that not only do you score points of various types on your own roll, but you ALSO score points on everyone else's rolls, too. Lots of options of cards with additional powers as well, so you can get a pretty tricky engine going for some dice rolls. Builds slowly, and then suddenly the last few turns everyone is making big point jumps and then the game is over, so we have already adapted so that we play for more total points for longer game play. Not too hard to understand, but the strategy of "engine building" is a bit tricky, so I'd say for age 12+. The box says for ages 14+. For 2-5 players; we've been playing with 3 and that's a good number -- not so long between turns, and you can sometimes build towards a strategy.

Century Golem: Endless World
3rd in the series of Century Golem games that plays as a stand-alone, OR, with edition 1, or edition 2, OR with all 3 editions. We have had edition 1 (Century: Golem Edition), which is *fabulous* -- the art on the cards! the crystals!! -- and we were very impressed with how Endless World plays well on its own AND when linked with edition 1. There is much less handling of the crystals is the only downside to playing edition 3 or edition 3+edition 1. Still very enjoyable. The box says for ages 8+, but I thought it was a bit trickier than that for strategy, so maybe for 10+?? For 2-5 players; we've been playing with 3 and that's a good number -- not so long between turns, and you can sometimes build towards a strategy.

 

ETA -- another vote for Takenoko!

Edited January 7, 2021 by Lori D.

[JustEm]

I got Photosynthesis for Christmas and I love it.  The strategy requires thinking moves ahead, which I love. It is easy to learn and not too long of a game.

[Ausmumof3]

Ticket to ride is a hit here although I wish we could speed it up a bit.  It seems to really drag on.

[JustEm]

1 minute ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Ticket to ride is a hit here although I wish we could speed it up a bit.  It seems to really drag on.

how many times have you played?  We've all played enough times that it isn't too long of a game

[cjzimmer1]

Terraforming Mars is by far our favorite game and has pretty much held that spot since the first time we played it at home over a year ago (DS had played it once with a friend so had an idea of the rules which did make it easier for the rest of us to catch on).  The one drawback is that it's a pretty serious game so it's too hard for my younger kids but that same feature is what makes it so appealing to my older kids.  There is just so much going on and so many choices that the game is never the same twice.

[Ausmumof3]

37 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

how many times have you played?  We've all played enough times that it isn't too long of a game

About four?  Maybe we will get faster 

[Meriwether]

It takes longer when Dd6 plays, but Dd17 and I can play Ticket to Ride in about 20, including set up and clean up. LOL

[Kassia]

9 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Ticket to ride is a hit here although I wish we could speed it up a bit.  It seems to really drag on.

That's why we never play.  We've had it for years and only played once.  We should really pull it out again since everyone seems to love it. 

[vonfirmath]

3 minutes ago, Kassia said:

That's why we never play.  We've had it for years and only played once.  We should really pull it out again since everyone seems to love it. 

What part of the game seems to drag on?

We love Ticket to Ride but its a lot of pieces so the end/putting up phase takes some time.  And I've thought of getting another version of Ticket to Ride in hopes it would finish faster. (I'm not sure we can play it in 20 minutes ever. On the ipad, sure. Not in person)

[Kassia]

5 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

What part of the game seems to drag on?

We love Ticket to Ride but its a lot of pieces so the end/putting up phase takes some time.  And I've thought of getting another version of Ticket to Ride in hopes it would finish faster. (I'm not sure we can play it in 20 minutes ever. On the ipad, sure. Not in person)

I don't remember!  We only played it once with four or five people.  It just seemed to take forever, but we were learning it as we were going along.  

 

[BlsdMama]

20 minutes ago, Kassia said:

I don't remember!  We only played it once with four or five people.  It just seemed to take forever, but we were learning it as we were going along.  

 

Yes, this is a game that gets faster after your familiarity has grown. 
 

Honestly, with pretty much any  Euro style game, there is a learning curve where familiarity must be attained, often 3-6 plays, and then it’s far smoother. Mentally, accept the hump to get over and we generally will play a game several times in a short span (1-2 weeks) to kind of cement it in your brains because we rotate through a fair number of games. It’s worth it. 
 

i will add that I prefer Ticket to Ride  Europe. I do not like the spellings they have chosen! However, I like the train depot pieces and it takes away the part I don’t like of TTR America - “Hey! You hogged four routes to come and go from X City!”

[J-rap]

We got into Chameleon this holiday season and have been playing it like crazy.   We played it with either 4-6 people.  It's nice because you can make it quick or just keep playing.  It's a word-guessing game where everyone knows the secret word except one person (the Chameleon), but the Chameleon pretends they know the secret word too.  You have to guess who the Chameleon is.

Anyway, we had lots of laughs during the games.  I'd say probably middle-school age and up.

 

[mom31257]

We went a bit lighter on the games this year (not number, just intenseness). 

Upwords--Dh and I really like this because it is very challenging. 

Catan Dice game-I got this because we love Catan. Ds is going off to college, so I'm looking for games dh and I can play by ourselves. We like it, but it does turn it into more luck than strategy. 

The Fox and the Forest--card game for 2. We really like this game. It's simple but challenging. 

Oregon Trail--great cooperative game that is more fun with a decent sized group. You get to pick a character name for yourself and write epitaphs when people die. That can be really funny! We've yet to make it all the way to Oregon, though. 

[Hilltopmom]

I bought a ton of new games from my kid thread before the holidays (I think it wound up being around 40!!)- that’s rather embarrassing but I needed new things for this winter!
The little kids are loving Outfoxed, Skippity, and a bunch of the GameWright card games. Adults like Patchwork the best so far.

We have not opened kids Tickets to Ride or Carcassone Jr yet. The liked Castle panic jr.

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Hilltopmom

[skctgbrlis]

My favorite new game this year has been Here Kitty, Kitty. 

The little kids like Saboteur, but they want to act like a Saboteur all of the time, and that doesn’t work!  Good guys need to be helpful!

Nertz was an unexpected big win. We’ve played the game with random decks forever, but having 12 decks in one compact package is amazing. 

[Hilltopmom]

1 hour ago, skctgbrlis said:

My favorite new game this year has been Here Kitty, Kitty. 

The little kids like Saboteur, but they want to act like a Saboteur all of the time, and that doesn’t work!  Good guys need to be helpful!

Nertz was an unexpected big win. We’ve played the game with random decks forever, but having 12 decks in one compact package is amazing. 

Oh Nertz looks fun! I got back into solitaire over Xmas 

[happypamama]

We got these games for Christmas and have played and liked them so far: Ticket to Ride Amsterdam, Hues and Cues, Space Escape (my 7 and 9 yo have played it like a million times already), Suspend, and Carmen Sandiego (basically Clue), and Harry Potter Codenames.

 

We also have Onitami, Skyjo, a kiddie card game called Tug of War, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, Sherlock Express, and a couple of others that we haven't played yet. I got a bunch of games for the family, my ILs got a couple for us, and my parents also got several for us, which was really fantastic!

 

I intended to save Chemistry Fluxx and Azul for Christmas when I got them on sale, but we took them along to our socially distant vacation in the fall, and they were big hits. My husband loves Azul. 

[AurieD]

I picked up a couple of games outside our normal interests to play with the extended family group. Telestrations was a big hit, a lot of fun and if you are terrible at it it just makes it funnier. Concept is interesting but we only last a few rounds before we are ready for something else.

For the little kids (4 & 6) I got My First Castle Panic which they enjoy. I also got Rhino Hero but they don't have the dexterity for it yet, they knock the tower over too early to find it fun.

My husband and I got Pandemic, only played once so far and we weren't that taken with it. Found it a bit boring but will try with more players when we get a chance.

I also got a backgammon board, I haven't played since I was a kid and am enjoying that.

@happypamamais Space Escape the Peaceable Kingdom one? I've been trying to find it but no one in Australia seems to stock it!

[wathe]

11 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

Yes, this is a game that gets faster after your familiarity has grown. 
 

Honestly, with pretty much any  Euro style game, there is a learning curve where familiarity must be attained, often 3-6 plays, and then it’s far smoother. Mentally, accept the hump to get over and we generally will play a game several times in a short span (1-2 weeks) to kind of cement it in your brains because we rotate through a fair number of games. It’s worth it. 
 

i will add that I prefer Ticket to Ride  Europe. I do not like the spellings they have chosen! However, I like the train depot pieces and it takes away the part I don’t like of TTR America - “Hey! You hogged four routes to come and go from X City!”

Agreed,  Euro style games have a learning curve.  We really like them once we get over the hump.  They tend to be very re-playable and have multiple strategic options.

I also really like Ticket to Ride Europe.  When I bought it, I didn't realize that the rules were different than TTR USA.  I chose the Europe version because I thought it would be a sneaky way to get some European geography practice in (and as Canadian homeschoolers, we are already indundated with so much American content, I chose the thing that wasn't even more American content).  Now that I know more, I think TTR Europe is the better game and I made a lucky choice.

[wathe]

We played Exploding Kittens with our new expansions (Streaking Kittens and Barking Kittens).  The kids think these are hilarious.  Great for when we need a quick, fun game that's light and humorous.

[wathe]

7 minutes ago, AurieD said:

I picked up a couple of games outside our normal interests to play with the extended family group. Telestrations was a big hit, a lot of fun and if you are terrible at it it just makes it funnier. Concept is interesting but we only last a few rounds before we are ready for something else.

For the little kids (4 & 6) I got My First Castle Panic which they enjoy. I also got Rhino Hero but they don't have the dexterity for it yet, they knock the tower over too early to find it fun.

My husband and I got Pandemic, only played once so far and we weren't that taken with it. Found it a bit boring but will try with more players when we get a chance.

I also got a backgammon board, I haven't played since I was a kid and am enjoying that.

@happypamamais Space Escape the Peaceable Kingdom one? I've been trying to find it but no one in Australia seems to stock it!

We heavily modify the rules when playing concept.  Forget teams.  We play it as a co-op, with the goal to correctly guess as many words as possible in a set time (an hour or so).  We take turns presenting the concept, and everyone else guesses.  And then try to "break our record" the next time we play. 

[plansrme]

On 1/6/2021 at 3:59 PM, wathe said:

New games we've played:

Poetry for Neanderthals - super fun.  Quick to set up, quick to learn, quick to play.

Catan Pirates and Explorer - long and  complicated, but the kids (11 and 13) are totally all in and loving it.

I crashed the pre-Christmas board game thread looking for ideas for games that would be equally playable by our exchange student ("ES"), whose native language is Spanish, and PFN was one of the suggestions. We first tried it while he was home for Christmas but played for the first time with him last night. It was very fun. Easy to learn; the inflatable club is surprisingly fun; and he was surprisingly good at it. You know who's NOT good at it and keeps getting clubbed? Me. 

We still have Uno Flip and Concept to play with him. 

[BlsdMama]

10 hours ago, wathe said:

 

I also really like Ticket to Ride Europe.  When I bought it, I didn't realize that the rules were different than TTR USA.  I chose the Europe version because I thought it would be a sneaky way to get some European geography practice in (and as Canadian homeschoolers, we are already indundated with so much American content, I chose the thing that wasn't even more American content).  Now that I know more, I think TTR Europe is the better game and I made a lucky choice.

Same! I wanted to increase their geography familiarity, but the spelling is driving me nuts! But I really DO prefer this version.

[vonfirmath]

12 hours ago, happypamama said:

I intended to save Chemistry Fluxx and Azul for Christmas when I got them on sale, but we took them along to our socially distant vacation in the fall, and they were big hits. My husband loves Azul. 

Chemistry Fluxx??? I'll have to look for that. We love Fluxx here (except not the Star Trek one. That one does -not- seem balanced at all! and ends up with tears too often)

 

I had Azul on my wish list this Christmas.

[Lori D.]

re: Ticket to Ride
Feel free to adapt the rules if that helps you speed it up. Our first tweak was that we all start with an extra 2-4 cards in our hand from what the rules say, which is to start with 4 cards. That helps you get going faster with filling in train routes. Another family we know plays the rule tweak that if someone else has already used the 1 route that you really wanted/needed, you can just go ahead and lay down your own route (with the required # and color of train cars) right next to it. 

Also, when you put the game away, be sure that all the cards are sorted into their separate decks again, and that each train color is sorted back into it's back. Set up is super easy that way: pull out a ziplock bag of train cars and hand it the player, shuffle each of the card decks and deal out the cards, and GO! 😄 

re: Europe version spellings
I *love* this historical aspect! The game has a time setting as well as a geographic setting. It takes place right at the turn of the century, or in the early 1900s, so the names spelled the way they were spelled at that time. From the rulebook: "Geographical Note: We strove to accurately represent the political boundaries of Europe in 1900 and preserve the cities' common name in their local language at the time."

re: Asian version
This is an expansion, so you need either the U.S. or Europe game for those train cards (and possibly the plastic trains?). It is similarly set at the turn of the century and has those great historical names for the cities. It is actually 2-sided; one side for team play (which we tried and didn't care for), and then the solo play "legendary" Asia side which has the really cool design.

It's a toss up between the Europe and the Legendary Asia version as to which we love most. 😉 

Edited January 8, 2021 by Lori D.

[BlsdMama]

18 hours ago, skctgbrlis said:

My favorite new game this year has been Here Kitty, Kitty. 

The little kids like Saboteur, but they want to act like a Saboteur all of the time, and that doesn’t work!  Good guys need to be helpful!

 

Love Saboteur. This cracked me up - it really is more fun to be a saboteur. 😂 

[Lori D.]

1 hour ago, BlsdMama said:

Love Saboteur. This cracked me up - it really is more fun to be a saboteur. 😂 

So true! While we've not played Saboteur, we are looking seriously at getting the Disney Villainous  board game + several expansions so we can all be evil and play our favorite Disney villain/ess!! [insert evil cackle here]

 🧟‍♂️

[happypamama]

19 hours ago, AurieD said:

I picked up a couple of games outside our normal interests to play with the extended family group. Telestrations was a big hit, a lot of fun and if you are terrible at it it just makes it funnier. Concept is interesting but we only last a few rounds before we are ready for something else.

For the little kids (4 & 6) I got My First Castle Panic which they enjoy. I also got Rhino Hero but they don't have the dexterity for it yet, they knock the tower over too early to find it fun.

My husband and I got Pandemic, only played once so far and we weren't that taken with it. Found it a bit boring but will try with more players when we get a chance.

I also got a backgammon board, I haven't played since I was a kid and am enjoying that.

@happypamamais Space Escape the Peaceable Kingdom one? I've been trying to find it but no one in Australia seems to stock it!

Yes, that's the one!  Mole rats in space!  MIL needed an idea, so I suggested that one because they love the naked mole rat book by Mo Willems. If you can find it, I'd recommend it. It was interesting enough to me when I played with them but easy enough for them to play on their own. Even the 12yo really liked it. 

[SabrinaSpelman]

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Edited December 1, 2022 by SabrinaSpelman

[Tree Frog]

Maybe Zombie Alert! is a board game.

[BlsdMama]

Timely zombie thread at that… I needed to reread that review on Takenoko.