The Family Gamers Podcast

This past weekend, Anitra attended Granite Game Summit 2017 in Nashua, NH. It was a lot of fun, but also very different from the type of events we normally attend as The Family Gamers. We discuss what G2S was like, highlights of the show, and what else happened in our family the past two weeks.The Grimm Forest Kickstarter is almost over, it is funded and we are super excited about it. We talked to Druid City Games a few weeks ago about this game, and if it sounds interesting to you, you should go check it out right now. Andrew backed the Kickstarter for the newly restored version of the classic boardgame Stop Thief! Rob Daviau (designer of Pandemic Legacy and SeaFall) was instrumental in bringing this game back from the dead and modernizing it. While Anitra was gone, Andrew and the kids played: Machi Koro, Potion Explosion (although we’ve talked about this before with Married with Board Games, now we own the physical board game, and we love it), and lots of LEGO building. As a family, we all tried out Tumble Tree, a circular card-based dexterity game. It was surprisingly challenging and also surprisingly beautiful. Stay tuned for a full review soon. About Granite Game Summit Granite Game Summit (G2S) is all about playing board games. It’s not a tradeshow like PAX or even like Boston FIG, more like a scaled-up version of a local boardgame group meetup. G2S organized by a group of people from New Hampshire, including Kevin Craine (@baba_geek). You may remember Kevin from our podcast, since we interviewed him about his game Robit Riddle last year. Highlights of G2S Play to Win games: You may enter raffles to win specific board games. You earn raffle tickets by playing the game you want to win! Designer Alley: This was a little closer to tradeshow style. Each designer got a designated table in an obvious area and a 2-hour block, specifically for the purpose of showing off a game they had designed. Some designers used this for self-promotion, but many used it for playtesting a game still in development. Math Trade: a type of round-robin trade arrangement where you offer up games you no longer want, and receive new games that you want. This math trade was set up a few weeks in advance, and moderated by a computer program. All participants showed up on Saturday afternoon already knowing what games to give and what they were getting in return. There was an auction that was run in a similar way (auction happened online, and all participants were responsible for arranging exchanges on their own during the weekend). Gaming Highlights Friday: Dr. Eureka (puzzle/dexterity children’s game – review coming soon), Letter Tycoon, and Wizard (trick taking game). Saturday: Dimension (another puzzle/dexterity game), Flash Point Fire Rescue (a cooperative disaster-prevention game), and In Vino Morte (“In Wine, Death” – simple party deduction game). Honorable mention for Chroma Cubes – a competitive coloring game, not yet available but it will be sometime this summer.

This week’s podcast is a compilation of interviews from the show floor at PAX East 2017. Andrew talks to Zoink Games, Andrew Innes (creator of Anomia), Jammed Up Studios, and GameWright. Flipping Death Flipping Death is a colorful platformer video game from Zoink Games. Michael gives us some information about this game: it begins with the main character’s death. Now she must moonlight for the Grim Reaper, and hilarity ensues. Coming soon for Nintendo Switch, PS4, and other platforms. Duple and Anomia Andrew talks to Andrew Innes, creator of two of our favorite party games: Duple and Anomia. We discuss Anomia X (also known as Anomia Dark), the re-release of Duple, and the upcoming Anomia Kids, a twist on the game using pictures as cues to help young readers. Why is the game called Anomia? It’s from an old Greek word, literally “no name” or “without a name”. It’s also used in modern medical jargon for an inability to come up with the right word for everyday objects. Think of the Children Andrew talks to Adric from Jammed Up Studios, one of the creators of Think of the Children, a co-operative parenting simulator. Work together to keep your children from dying or being taken away as you try to complete other tasks. Think of the Children is scheduled to be released on Steam on Mother’s Day! Visit www.thinkofthechildrengame.com for more information. GameWright Nora tells us about GameWright’s new releases, starting with Sushi Go Party. Gameplay is similar to Sushi Go, but there is much more variety available to build the deck before gameplay, and a board to help keep track of scoring. GameWright was also demonstrating Dragonwood, which was released at last year’s PAX East. We have reviewed this game already, but it’s still a great game for families of all ages and an accessible way to bring fantasy gaming to younger children. Imagine is a new game that plays a bit like charades or pictionary, but layering transparent cards containing pre-made shapes to make your “clue” for guessing. It’s originally a French game that GameWright was able to bring over to the U.S. last fall. Forbidden Dessert and Forbidden Island are perennial favorites, with good reason. As we’ve said before, these are co-operative games that everyone enjoys. One of the things that makes GameWright a great “family” publisher is that they keep their games at a relatively low price point, to keep gaming as an affordable hobby for any family. Lastly, another of our favorites: Bring Your Own Book! Nora gives us a pro-tip: Use books by comedians. Her favorite is Bossypants by Tina Fey. We personally love Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. No matter where you look in those books, you’re sure to find something good!   Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes!

We were inspired by our recent experiences playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild to talk about playing games collaboratively or cooperatively. We often talk about cooperative board games, but did you know there are many options for playing together with video games, too? What we’ve done in the last two weeks: Andrew went to PAX East. We played Fight for Olympus from Mayfair Games. Fun, well-balanced, two-player game. Andrew brought home Suspend Jr. from Melissa & Doug – we highly recommend it. Easier than the original, less frustrating for kids. Batman The Animated Series Dice Game from Steve Jackson Games – like Zombie Dice, but with a few twists. Wise Alec – a trivia game designed to level the playing field among family members with various difficulty levels. Review coming soon! Tried out Extraordinaires Design Studio. Really great! We will have a video soon. We tried some Hoyle Play kids’ games. Verdict is out, we will try them again before they are available to the public this summer. Check out our contributing writers’ review of Sushi Dice – when school kids played it, their opinion was very different from our first impressions. We dipped our toe into playing Potion Explosion via the iOS version (which is only $3), and now we are hooked. Anomia continues to prove itself as a great adult party game. OutFoxed is one of those games that is great for kids and at least some fun for adults playing with them. Andrew and Anitra have both been playing as much Zelda: Breath of the Wild as possible. The kids are playing Zelda: WindWaker, as well as their usuals: Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. and NintendoLand. Cooperative gaming: Zelda games is surprisingly rewarding as a collaborative game; extra eyes help solve puzzles, and the world of Breath of the Wild is so large and non-linear that there’s not much risk of “spoiling” key moments of the game. It has really brought us back to our childhood/teenage years, when it was more common to play a one player game but ask your friends for help. Our kids are doing the same sort of thing with Super Mario 3D World, although it can also be played cooperatively (up to 4 simultaneous players). Games designed to allow “couch co-op” (two or more players playing together in the same room): Standard first person shooters such as Gears of War, Call of Duty, Halo Our personal favorite: Portal 2, in which the 2-player co-operative campaign was completely different than the one player campaign. Games specifically designed to be played co-operatively: Never Alone, a gorgeous game with an Inuit girl and a wolf spirit animal. It is so well-researched, it is literally an educational game for adults. Lovers in a Dangerous Space Time Overcooked Think of the Children! (coming out on Mother’s Day – here’s an interview Andrew did with Jammed Up Studios at PAX East.) Team play games: Trivia games, music games like Rock Band, racing games like Mario Kart. One of Andrew’s favorites is Rocket League. Cooperative board games!

We interview James Hudson of Druid City Games, designer of Barnyard Roundup and publisher of The Grimm Forest. You’ll never believe what game introduced him to modern board gaming! James started playing board games with his family because he was tired of them burying their noses in smartphones and other screen-based games. The first modern game he bought was Power Grid, believe it or not! Playing Candy Land and Chutes & Ladders with his son, James thought “this doesn’t feel like a game, it feels like a job.” He wanted a game that the whole family could enjoy playing, so he designed Barnyard Roundup. There’s a great introduction to the game on the Druid City Games website. The Grimm Forest was designed by Tim Eisner, and James absolutely loved it, even in prototype form. You collect materials to build 3 houses (straw, brick, wood) while trying to deduce how the other players will collect. Lots of fairy tale references and just a bit of “take-that” gameplay. It is a gorgeous game and we can’t wait to see it. Find Barnyard Roundup at your friendly local game store or online. Check out the Kickstarter for The Grimm Forest, starting March 21st! Interested in more from Druid City Games? You can sign up for their newsletter or check out their Board Game Spotlight, where James and his friends review games.

This week, we have special guests! Spencer & Lara Williams, of Married with Board Games, co-host the show with us and talk about their favorite games to play as a couple. What we played (MwBG) Clank, the deckbuilding adventure game (see their episode 11) from Renegade Games. They found it much more balanced with two players than with four. (MwBG) Sigil – coming to Kickstarter this week. Similar to Magic: The Gathering, but more of a boardgame/wargame. Andrew and Anitra have both been playing plenty of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Our church had a game night, so our family played lots of games! Can’t Stop Baseball Highlights 2045 – Andrew highly recommends trying out the game via the iOS app for under $5. Walk the Plank OutFoxed! (with kids) Pie Rats of the Carob Bean Farm (with kids, one of whom quit halfway through.) Zitternix (Keep it Steady) – with a group of about 4 very young kids (2 & 3s). Fun! The kids also played some games without adults, like: Mall Madness (Littlest Pet Shop Edition), Hi Ho Cherry-O Funny to see an 8 year old teaching three adults how to play Battle Sheep. Games to play as a couple Spencer and Lara have younger kids than we do, so they don’t play much with their kids (yet!) We discuss a few favorite games to chill out after the house is quiet: Tides of Madness – a 2 player drafting game from Portal Games Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle – co-op deck-building, moves through the 7 books Beyond Baker Street – deduction/clue giving game similar to Hanabi Above and Below – exploration & building with a storybook for encounters Lara and Spencer love co-operative games, building on each other’s strengths. Potion Explosion! A key component is a marble dispenser – the marbles are potion ingredients. Pull marbles in certain orders to get combos (“explosions”). We also share some of our favorites: Jaipur Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small (the two-player-only Agricola variant). Will be reprinted soon by Mayfair Games! Patchwork is another great one published by Mayfair. A little discussion of the cross-shaped piece in Patchwork (cost:0, income:3). Splendor (although we may actually prefer it on iOS; cheaper and works well with pass-and-play) Fight for Olympus, a new game from Mayfair that we will be reviewing in the future. Find more from Spencer and Lara at www.marriedwithbg.com – podcast, video reviews, etc. Don’t forget to review us on iTunes… and the

Andrew went to NY Toy Fair last week. He saw more than we could possibly talk about! We try to give you the highlights in this extended edition of The Family Gamers Podcast. What we played this week: Ark & Noah (review coming soon) Duple and Anomia some games Andrew brought home from NY – more on that later. Our friends and contributing writers, Ray & Liz, were at TotalCon this past weekend! Notes from NY Toy Fair: Andrew ran into an old college roommate: Brandt Sanderson, host of the Portal Gaming Podcast, which is also part of the Dice Tower Network! Small world. So many games! Playroom Entertainment – publisher of Unspeakable Words, Killer Bunnies games, and Geek Out! trivia games Mayfair Games – well known publisher of European games for the US market (they are the publisher that brought Catan to the USA). Mayfair publishes Agricola and Patchwork. New games: Fight for Olympus, and a 2-player version of Caverna. Also, good news, the 2-player version of Agricola (All Creatures Big & Small) will be reprinted! Mayday Games – one of our favorite Kickstarter-heavy publishers. Walk the Plank!, Get Bit!, and Dead Man’s Draw. Goliath Games – this publisher owns the Pressman toy brand (Mastermind). We saw Smath (Scrabble with equations) and Ultimate Mastermind (4 players) Blue Orange – publisher of New York 1901, Brave Rats, Battle Sheep; they introduced Dr. Eureka last year and spin-offs this year: Dr. Microbe and Dr. Beaker. Also a new game called Clear for Takeoff. UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation – doing great work to raise money to help sick children and their families, in part through selling sponsored games/toys. Our personal favorite? Digit’y Do IELLO – publisher of King of Tokyo, were showing their new game The Mysterious Forest. Winning Moves Games – publisher of an adorable kids game called Nibbled HABA – A lot of the new HABA games don’t look like the old ones! Lots of rich art – Before their art was always functional and perfectly fine, but not standout. Andrew saw a game called Heroes of Kaskaria where you have gryphons and cliff cats and you’re racing them to try to get a treasure chest – The mechanics felt balanced, as I expect, but the experience was very different than other HABA games we’ve tried. Dude Games – bringing Canadian and European games to the US. We have Sushi Dice which we will be reviewing.

What do you think when you hear “educational games”? Some are pretty boring, but then there are games that are truly fun games, that happen to teach critical skills as part of their design. Welcome to our new listeners from the Dice Tower Network! Don’t forget about our giveaway, which closes on Wednesday.   What we played this week: Antidote Monsters in the Elevator (see our review) BattleGoats (review coming soon!) Adventure Pop (PS4/XboxOne) – Puzzle Bobble clone. Disney Infinity A big thank you to Scott Anthony, who reminded us that you can usually get Forbidden Island for under $20. (Currently $16 on Amazon) Both Colt Express & Pandemic on iOS (Asmodee Digital) are currently on sale for $3! Thinking about buying a digital version of a board game you enjoy? Our advice is to do it if: * the focus of the game is strategy, not social * it has lots of fiddly pieces (computers are good at keeping track of those) * you have a hard time getting people together to play a game you love On to our main topic: Games that Teach! Anyone who is a parent or has worked with children knows that games are a great vehicle for teaching skills. But not all educational games are created equal: if a game isn’t fun, it won’t get played. Our personal favorite: Robot Turtles, a game that is a platform to teach programming skills. One person creates a maze or path, the other player(s) navigate the board with a turtle, giving instructions through cards. Teaches logical progression, relative direction vs cardinal direction, and basic programming by laying out the entire path, including optional loops or functions. Most games by Gamewright specify skills taught on the box. Examples: * Take the Cake (Fine Motor Skills, Color Identification, Shape Identification) * Rolling America (Probability, Visual Discrimination) * Scrambled States of America (Visual Discrimination, Geography, Hand-Eye Coordination) Last year, we reviewed Women in Science – this is the kind of educational game where you learn “by osmosis”. The cards all have interesting information on them, even if it doesn’t help you play the game. Zeus on the Loose and Monsters in the Elevator are two great games for reinforcing math skills. Zeus in particular is good for “quick math”. Story Cubes teach creative thinking. This is something many adults need to practice, too! HABA has a whole line of “My Very First” games. These are designed for really young kids (2-4 years), with basic turn-taking, simple counting, and large pieces. HABA also makes some excellent fine-motor-skills games for (s...

Looking for a good new game to play, but short on cash? Andrew and Anitra discuss a variety of games that can be had cheaply (under $20), including one that simply needs pen and paper!What we played recently: Anomia Duple Celebrity – this is a party game that simply requires pens, paper, and a container for the slips of paper. Wikipedia has the rules more or less as we played it. Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar New York 1901   The kids had friends over during the Superbowl and played: Mmm! several times. Loudly. Don’t Break the Ice Apples to Apples Jr. Maze Racers Build a Robot Monsters in the Elevator – (here’s our review)   At the suggestion of one of our listeners (thanks Spencer!), we came up with a list of games we recommend that are under $20: Machi Koro Bright Lights: Big City (retails $30 but regularly on sale for $20) Sushi Go ($10-13) Codenames ($15-20) Zombie Dice ($7-12) Anomia ($13 if you get the 2-deck version) Monopoly Deal ($5-9) Hero Kids ($6-10) at drivethrurpg.com And of course, there are better-known favorites like Pass the Pigs, Tenzi, and Uno   Last, but certainly not least, a giveaway, sponsored by Bellwether Games! One lucky winner will receive a copy of the Princess and the Goblin board game and also a copy of the book.

We talk this week to Dennis Hoyle, one of the founders of Bellwether Games. We discuss a few of the games Bellwether Games publishes: The Princess and the Goblin – a maze-building, path-discovery game based on the George MacDonald story of the same name. Coldwater Crown – a fishing puzzle game. Figure out how to catch the right fish at the right time. Windup War – the Family Gamers reviewed this game and we also backed it on Kickstarter. Should be shipping by July! You can pre-order it if you missed the Kickstarter campaign. Antidote and the expansion, Antidote: Lab Alliance which is coming to Kickstarter in March. Since Bellwether publishes a variety of games, Dennis talks about his philosophy of game publishing. “Release and produce the best games possible.” Dennis even gives some tips to first-time game designers, starting around 22:00. You can find more information about Bellwether Games at their website, bellwethergames.com. Also on Twitter @bellwethergames, Facebook and Instagram. Stay tuned for a giveaway coming soon sponsored by Bellwether Games, and don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes and check us out on Facebook or Twitter.

Welcome to the first show of 2017! We did a lot of gaming over the holiday season. What were your favorite games of 2016? What we have been doing: Went to Worcester Gamer Group Yankee Swap. Fun to play games with different people, and got Zany Penguins. Played Guillotine and Lanterns. Rhino Hero with the kids. Mmm! and New York 1901 and Batman Fluxx and baseball die-rolling game (more information on this one later) and Battle Sheep 5 Second Rule Jr for the kids Pandemic Legacy with gaming group. Kids bought Disney Infinity characters with Christmas gift cards (75% off at Toys R Us!) and have been creating even more new worlds. Anitra has been playing more Stories: The Path of Destinies. Andrew is completing Tomb Raider: Rise of the Tomb Raider Takenoko with the kids. We are so, SO excited for Nintendo Switch. LEGO Boost also looks cool. Favorites from 2016 For adults: Bring Your Own Book World’s Fair 1893 (here’s our review) Check the book Andrew mentioned – non-fiction about both the Chicago World’s Fair and a serial killer: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson For kids: Dragonwood (here’s our review)   Lords of Waterdeep was Andrew’s favorite game to play in 2016, even though it’s been around a few years.   Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes!

We talked this week about gifts (’tis the season, after all), new games, and games we are looking forward to in 2017. But first, what we played! Stories: The Path of Destinies (free on Playstation Plus until the end of December!) Very fun, but rated T for “violence, blood, and mild language”. For Andrew, it’s a “popcorn” game – like comfort food. Castles of Mad King Ludwig Anitra waxes on about boardgamearena.com. Can’t Stop – a vintage press your luck game Spray and Play, a temporary glue for LEGO (or similar toys) seems like a great idea. Some unique gift ideas: Sending a doll to the American Girl Doll Hospital (for a “checkup” or for major surgery). A parent-child cooking class (geared for age 3 and up!) from Cooking Schools of America Probably going to try Panera’s Bakers-in-Training program for a birthday party soon. Here is what we are already looking forward to in 2017: Pie Rats of the Carob Bean Farm has just shipped and will be at our house by early January! We have previously talked about this game back in the spring; in episodes 19, 20, and 21. Windup War is going to print and should be shipping to backers in February. We enjoyed playing it as we’ve mentioned on the show and in our written review. Campaign Trail – We’ve reviewed Campaign Trail, and as you can guess, we love it and can’t wait to play it again! Robit Riddle – Here’s our interview with Kevin Craine. Here’s the Robit Riddle review. Granite Game Summit – coming April 7-9 in Nashua NH. Tickets are $50/person until March 7. And kids are free! Pandemic Legacy Season 2 Toy Fair 2017 – February 18-21 in New York City. PAX East – March 10-12 in Boston. Andrew might even be on a panel. Nintendo Switch looks so cool! And we saw Rogue One! No spoilers in this show. Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes and check us out on Facebook or Twitter.

It’s that time of year again. If you are wondering what games make good gifts, we are here to help! We also played a few new-to-us and new-to-the-show games this week.We have recommendations for all ages and ability levels, as well as two-player and party games. See the full list at thefamilygamers.com/holiday2016 One of our perpetual favorites is Maze Racers. We interviewed the creator of Maze Racers, Andy Geremia, all the way back in episode 8.   Here’s what our family played this week: Shadows over Camelot Seasons Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization Monty Python Fluxx Andrew expresses his disappointment at this year’s Black Friday sales, although Codenames was a fantastic deal on Amazon – just $7. Now back up to $14 (still worth it!) Anitra has discovered BoardGameArena.com, which is a good place to play turn-based board games online against real (non-AI) opponents. We’re all enjoying the new LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the kids have also gotten back into Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Do you like Machi Koro? Check out our review of Petting Zoo! Please subscribe to our podcast, and leave a review on iTunes, so more people can find us. That’s it for this week. Have a happy holiday and don’t forget to play games with your kids!

Do you let your kids win? That’s our pressing question for the week. How do you teach graceful winning and losing?What we played this week: Ticket to Ride (we highly recommend the 1910 expansion as well) Duple Go Bong! Rhino Hero (made by HABA who also makes Zitternix / Keep It Steady –  one of our favorites) Watch Ya’ Mouth Super Smash Bros (for Wii U) Check out our review of Gimme 5.   Obviously, winning and losing gracefully is a hugely important skill that kids need to learn, the sooner the better. Our recommendation: Don’t “let” your kid win! Apply a handicap, on purpose, explaining what you’re doing. Then when your kid beats you, they will have learned good strategy, and they will feel the real sense of accomplishment that they have won! Explain strategy to your children as you’re playing; both what you are doing (and why) and what options are good for them. And play co-operative games!

We talk new games for us, old games for our kids, and fast food advertising. Then we interview the creator of Robit Riddle, Kevin Craine! What we played recently: Tokaido Ticket to Ride Pennsylvania (which one of two maps in the United Kingdom expansion) Battle Goats – like a cross between War and Memory, with special powers. Expect a review in a few weeks. The kids have been playing Battleship and Mastermind. Andrew highly recommends the new Tomb Raider: Rise of the Tomb Raider. (Not for kids, though!) We talk Burger King and the self-conscious advertising on the kids’ meal bag. Good job, Burger King! It’s helping us to teach our kids to be more aware of the advertising being targeted towards them. Kevin Craine is the creator of Robit Riddle (which we recently reviewed) and founder of Baba Geek Games. We talk about the art of John Ariosa (“why are you working on my game?”), influences in his life that helped shape the game, and about his other project, the Granite Game Summit (Spring 2017 event is scheduled for April 7-9 in Nashua, NH).

We saw more digital games aimed towards kids than kid-friendly tabletop games this year. Weird! But we still had quite a few favorites. What we’ve been doing: We tried out a party game called Gimme 5 Crazier Eights: Camelot Tokaido We discuss Takenoko (cute pandas) vs. Ragnaroll (pillaging Vikings, everyone dies)… revisiting the fun from Episode 9 Duple (of course!) The Family Gamers is published! The Yankee Express (central Massachusetts free newspaper) now has a Family Gamers column. We had a special guest – our five-year-old son. His favorites? Clean Up Your Room, Pollywog Pond, and cookies. Clean Up Your Room by Dan Riles Dragoon by Lay Waste Games – expensive ($75) but really cool Gamewright was showing Imagine – like Pictionary, but with translucent picture cards instead of drawing. Gamewright also had “Cardventures” – Stowaway 52 & Jump Ship – a solitaire story game, choose-your-own-adventure style Complicated Board Game the Card Game (Similar to Fluxx in that anyone can draw cards that change the rules of how pieces can be played – Kickstarter is now complete) Spider’s Cradle by Tony Tran – our two-year-old’s favorite Robit Riddle by Kevin Craine Cubist by Bored Geekz & Natalie Traber (symbol matching & manipulation. Think Quirkle meets Tetris) eBee – quilted circuits board game, from students at Northeastern (won Most Innovative Game) In the Loop by Katherine Whalen (teaching about scarcity of elemental resources, recycling – a truly educational resource management game) G.I. Germ Fighters (card game with a similar feel to Pokemon/etc. just finishing a Kickstarter) Monsters in the Elevator by Yaya Play – semi-cooperative, early math skills – mostly counting by 10s. (won Best Family Game) Rocket Cats in Space by PBJ Games (manipulative game, like classic marbles, but with strategic path-building) Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes!